When xenophobic attacks broke out across South Africa in May 2008 many found themselves caught off guard, shocked by a violence that felt like a violation of the principles of their newly democratic nation. Over two months, 62 people were killed, hundreds injured and over a hundred thousand displaced. In the midst of this violence, many young people clad in the bright greens and maroons of their school uniforms, looted neighbourhood shops while some of their classmates, refugees themselves, fled to safer ground. Some youth tried to find a way to help, but still more stood by, watching from their windows or on television.
WHERE DO I STAND? is a window into the lives of seven young people who are thinking deeply about their actions during and after the violence, their communities, and the state of their country.
They include a Rwandan refugee, a girl wrestling with the reality of foreigners in her township, a boy facing calls of cowardice, and a girl whose family sheltered their Malawian gardener. WHERE DO I STAND? captures the optimistic voices of youth carving out their own places in this complex and divided country.


directed by Molly Blank · South Africa 2010 · 38m · Digibeta · English and Xhosa with English Subtitles · Documentary