SPLA : Portal to cultural diversity
Cultures-Uganda

Come Back, Africa

  • Come Back, Africa
Genre : Drama
Type : Docu-drama
Original title :
Principal country concerned : Column : Cinema/tv
Year of production : 1959
Format : Feature
Running time : 95 (in minutes)
http://www.lionelrogosin.com/the-films-of-lionel-rogosin

Inhalt

Zachariah, ein in Armut lebender Zulu, geht auf Arbeitssuche nach Johannesburg. Er übernimmt mehrere kleine Jobs und ist dabei jedesmal von Rassismus umgeben. Er wird Bergbauarbeiter, Diener einer weissen Familie, später arbeitet er in einer Garage und einem Restaurant. Seine Freizeit verbringt er in Bars, die nur für Schwarze bestimmt sind, wo illegaler Alkohol fliesst und hitzige Debatten zum Thema Rassentrennung geführt werden. Seine Frau und sein Kind reisen ihm nach, aber die Hoffnung weicht bald einem Drama.


Kommentar

Come Back, Africa wurde 1958 heimlich in einem Ghetto von Johannesburg gedreht - Lionel Rogosin gab den Behörden gegenüber vor, eine Musikdokumentation zu drehen - und ist einer der markantesten Anti-Apartheid-Filme. Dokumentarisches Material und Fiktion werden vermischt,und vor der Kamera bewegen sich die radikalsten Intellektuellen dieser Zeit sowie Künstler wie Miriam Makeba, deren Karriere hier begann. Come Back, Africa ist ein Bestandteil der südafrikanischen Geschichte, weil er als einziger Film dieser Epoche nicht nur zeigte, wie die afrikanische Realität aussah, sondern auch, wie sie von Afrikanern erlebt wurde. "Der Film wurde überall in Afrika gezeigt", sagt Rogosin, "und afrikanische Filmemacher habenmir gesagt, er sei der Auslöser der gesamten dortigen Filmbewegung gewesen. Es ist eine grosse Ehre, wennman erfährt, dassman die filmische Kultur eines ganzen Kontinents geprägt hat."


Sprache der Originalversion zulu, fanakalo; s-t. englisch
Produktionsjahr 1959 Produktionsland Südafrika
Spielzeit 95min. Format 35 mm

Drehbuch Lionel Rogosin
Montage Carl Lerner
Kamera Ernest Artaria, Emil Knebel
Ton Walter Wettler
Musik Lucy Brown
Darsteller Miriam Makeba, Vinah MakebaZachria MakebaMolly Parkin

Producteur: Lionel Rogosin

Verleih
contact copie:
Cineteca di Bologna
Carmen Accaputo
Archivio Film
Via dell'Industria, 2
40138 Bologna - Italie
tél: +39 051 6018607
fax: +39 051 6018628
cinetecaarchiviofilm1
[at]comune.bologna.it

Filme am FIFF 2008
"Willkommen an der Cineteca di Bologna"
Schweizer Premiere


____________________________

EN
Zachariah, a Zulu living in poverty, moves to Johannesburg looking for work. He finds several different jobs, all marred by ambient racism. He becomes a miner, a servant for a white family, works in a garage and a restaurant. During his free time he goes to blacks-only bars, full of illegal liquor and heated debates over racial segregation. His wife and child join him, but hope soon gives way to tragedy.




Comment
Filmed secretly in 1958 in a Johannesburg ghetto - Lionel Rogosin had told the authorities that he was making a musical documentary - Come Back, Africa is one of the most influential anti-apartheid films. Blending documentary with fiction, the film is populated with the most radical intellectuals of the time as well as artists such as singer Miriam Makeba, whose international career was launched by the film. Come Back, Africa is an essential part of South African history, the only record on film about that time, showing what African reality looked like and - even more important - how Africans themselves felt about it. "The film," said Rogosin, "has been shown all over Africa and I've been told by African filmmakers that it influenced and started the whole cinema movement there. It's rewarding to learn that you've influenced an entire continent's movie making."


Come Back, Africa had a profound effect on African Cinema. It is of great historical importance as a document which preserves the unique cultural heritage of the townships in South Africa in the 1950's. Come Back Africa, through its unforgettable images, preserves for posterity the memory of what Sophiatown was like. A Man possessed is the book documenting the diaries of the filming. An American in Sophiatown is a documentary film which tells the stories behind the making of Come Back Africa.


Language of the o.v. zulu, fanakalo; s-t. english
Year of production 1959 Country of production South Africa
Running time 95min. Format 35 mm


Directed by Lionel Rogosin
Produced by Lionel Rogosin

Written by Lionel Rogosin with Bloke Modisane and Lewis Nkosi
Cinematography: Ernest Artaria and Emil Knebel
Sound: Walter Wettler
Music: Lucy Brown
Editing by Carl Lerner

Release date: 1960
Running time: 83 minutes

ACTORS
Miriam Makeba, Vinah Makeba, Zachria Makeba, Molly Parkin


Producteur: Lionel Rogosin

Distribution
contact copy:
Cineteca di Bologna
Carmen Accaputo
Archivio Film
Via dell'Industria, 2
40138 Bologna - Italie
tél: +39 051 6018607
fax: +39 051 6018628
cinetecaarchiviofilm1[at]comune.bologna.it


FESTIVALS / AWARDS

Film presented in the FIFF 2008
* Selection "Welcome to the Cinematheque of Bologna"
* Swiss Premier

Venice Film Festival, 1959
* Italian Critics Award

Vancouver Film Festival, 1959
* Winner of the award for "the film showing the most significant advance in content means of expression and technique."-The Canadian Federation of Film Societies,

Selected by Time Magazine as one of the "Ten Best Pictures of 1960"

Selected by Chevalier de la Barre, Paris, as "Most Worthy Picture of 1960"

Articles

3 files

Events

18 files

Partners

  • Arterial network
  • Guerrilla Arts
  • HOT
  • Bayimba
  • Uganda Women Writers Association
  • Arts 256
  • 32º East
  • Amakula Festival

With the support of