Screening of “Sophiatown – Surviving Apartheid” (OV, English), Sunday, 10th February 2013, 5pm, HackescheHöfe Kino

On Sunday, 10th of February 2013, at 5 pm AfricAvenir will present the documentary ’Sophiatown’ by Pascale Lamche at Hackesche Höfe Kino. „Sophiatown“ tells the story of a district of Johannesburg which became the embodiment of resistance, diversity and artistic expression, but also one of the symbols of South African Apartheid. The artistic documentary accompanies musicians, gangsters and activists in their everyday lives in a South Africa after Apartheid. It gives an impression on the dimension of Sophiatown as a symbol for destructive fury and the traces of the Apartheid in present days, but it also stands as an example of the resistance of art, its artists and ordinary people – in wonderful pictures, stories and music. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Katharina Fink (IwalewaHaus, Bayreuth) and Thabo Thindi (jozi.tv) and a small reception in the cinema foyer. nPicture: From the Series "Kofifi Beauty", Michael Abrahams 2012. 
facebook ist: http://www.facebook.com/abrahams.mikespics www.500px.com/Mikefoto 

Synopsis
From the beginning of the 20th century until the mid-1950s, Sophiatown has been a symbol for diverse lifestyles and an active artistic scene within a South Africa stroke by segregation politics and later by Apartheid. Here, in "South African’s Harlem", situated in the west of Johannesburg, Miriam Makeba started her career, Trevor Huddleston fought against repressions of the regime and Bloke Modisane and Henri Nxumalo wrote for DRUM-magazine. At the same time, Sophiatown was the district for gangsters with impressive names such as “The Berliners” who displayed their American cars in the streets alongside normal people trying to lead a normal life within a perfidious system.

On 9th February of 1955, trucks came and over the next years Sophiatown was systematically destroyed, its inhabitants lost their land and property and were resettled. Divided into the categories of time, Sophiatown’sinhabitants were moved to Lenasia, Soweto and the so-called Western Coloured Township. Subsequent to the complete destruction of Sophiatown, the regime built the White housing project "Triomf".

Today, marking 58 years since the beginning of the district’s destruction, everything looks different: neither like before 1955 nor like after 1961. Rather like contemporary South Africa. Sophiatown regained its original name in 2006. The power of a myth is what remained, even if there are just scarce physical traces left of the „old“ Sophiatown. It is this myth which finds its expression in  different cultural forms of literature, fashion and jazz, as a spirit that survived. The documentary calls this: „Surviving Apartheid“. nThe artistic documentary accompanies musicians, gangsters and activists in their everyday lives in contemporary South Africa. It gives an impression on the dimension of Sophiatown as a symbol for the destructive fury and the traces of the Apartheid in present days, but it also stands as an example of the resistance of art, its artists and ordinary people – in wonderful pictures, stories and music.

Little Bird’s first South African production, SOPHIATOWN has won the award for Best Documentary at the Cape Town World Cinema Festival 2003.

This event takes place in cooperation with IwalewaHaus Bayreuth and Jozi.tv.

Press Reviews
“This documentary is an unsentimental portrayal of a time experienced and cherished by a community at odds with a senseless vision of the world. More emphasis on the plight of other ethnic groups would have provided additional breadth, but this is a story of the little man fighting his corner against a bully. When crushed and beaten to the ground, the little man’s soul emerges triumphant, with faith and integrity.” David Stanners, Eye for Film

“Pascale Lamche’s award-winning film presents this amazing story in full, and gathers the legendary jazz giants of the scene to recreate some of the best known songs of the time.” Biocentral

“SOPHIATOWN celebrates the great popular jazz music of the 1950’s in South Africa; a rich tradition deserving international attention. Director Pascale Lamche, traces the music, uncovers the artists who created it and the unique culture in which it thrived, concentrated in Sophiatown, Johannesburg’s own Harlem, which fuelled by liberation politics until its destruction by the Apartheid regime.” The Writing Stuido

The director 
The filmmaker Pascale Lamche has come to be known particularly for her films „Accused Number One“, „Pakistan Zindabad“ and „Life and Death in Soweto“. Two years in the making, Sophiatown won Best Documentary at the Cape Town World Cinema Festival 2003. Lamche’s latest film „Black Diamond: Fool’s Gold“ has been realised, as „Sophiatown“, in close cooperation with the South African journalist Peter Makurube. Pascale Lamche lives in London and Paris. http://www.blackdiamond-lefilm.com/ 

Filmographyn

• Black Diamond (2010) 
• Pakistan zindabad: Longue vie au Pakistan (2007) (TV)
• French Beauty (2005) (TV)
• Accused Nr. 1- Nelson Mandela (2004) (TV) 
• Sophiatown (2003) 

nSophiatown
South Africa 2003, 82 Min. 
Director: Pascale Lamche

Sunday, 10th February 2013, 5pm 
Entrance fee: 7,50€
Dicsount via Berlinpass, Gildepass, Heavy User Card, Filmreihe-Pass (Further information: www.hoefekino.de/preise-und-rabatte)

Tickets and Info:   030 283 46 03nHackescheHöfe Kino
Rosenthaler Str. 40/41
10178 Berlin
S HackescherMarkt
U Weinmeisterstraße


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