SA’s first anti-apartheid film Mapantsula will finally premiere locally, 35 years after it was banned by the apartheid government.
Mapantsula, which features stars such as the late music diva Dolly Rathebe, actress Thembi Mtshali-Jones, late Lesedi FM radio presenter Meshack “Mesh” Mapetla and lead actor Thomas Mogotlane, was censored because it exposed apartheid and how black people were treated by the then government.
The film also features popular music group Stimela.
It premiered in 1988 at the Cannes Film Festival in France.
Written and co-produced by Oliver Schmitz, Mapantsula will premiere during the 44th Durban International Film Festival, which starts on July 20. Early this year, it was screened at the Berlin Film Festival with Schmitz saying this made a lot of white people uncomfortable.
Speaking to Sowetan from his Cologne home in Germany, Schmitz said he was excited that Mapantsula will finally be seen by local audiences.
“Pity, I won’t be there for this moment because I am busy shooting a TV series for German TV. I have been based here for a while, producing TV shows. The film was censored because it was the first film that unashamedly showed apartheid for what it was towards blacks. It was showing white privilege, which is still not gone. The apartheid government wanted us to cut some parts of it and we refused.
“We tried to release it on video at the time, which was not commercially viable. Since it was kept in storage it deteriorated overtime. We could have brought the film back earlier but it is expensive to restore a film. Me and my partner who is based in London started the restoration process,” said Schmitz.
The film was shot in Soweto in areas like Orlando East and features political riot scenes. Schmitz explained that while shooting the film, they had a few encounters with police but they outsmarted them.
Schmitz explained the title Mapantsula was not inspired or associated with any dance style.
“There were times where they would come and ask if we had permission to do what we were doing I would say yes, I have. But we filmed it and we were happy with the final product. Mapantsula was the simplest title, and I cannot remember who came up with it.
"But it was inspired by Mogotlane’s contribution. We looked at the defiance of black people who refused to bow down and follow rules. That is what Mapantsula is about.
“Mapantsula is about this smart criminal who is arrested. In the film people will be able to see his life before he is arrested and after. Once arrested, the police put him in a cell full of political activists and want to turn him into an informer. He realises that this will not work for him and refuses. The story is portraying him not as a victim but a fighter who refused to bow down.”
bambalelep@sowetan.co.za
Iconic Mapantsula comes back home at long last
Film has been shown at Berlin and Cannes film festivals
SA’s first anti-apartheid film Mapantsula will finally premiere locally, 35 years after it was banned by the apartheid government.
Mapantsula, which features stars such as the late music diva Dolly Rathebe, actress Thembi Mtshali-Jones, late Lesedi FM radio presenter Meshack “Mesh” Mapetla and lead actor Thomas Mogotlane, was censored because it exposed apartheid and how black people were treated by the then government.
The film also features popular music group Stimela.
It premiered in 1988 at the Cannes Film Festival in France.
Written and co-produced by Oliver Schmitz, Mapantsula will premiere during the 44th Durban International Film Festival, which starts on July 20. Early this year, it was screened at the Berlin Film Festival with Schmitz saying this made a lot of white people uncomfortable.
Speaking to Sowetan from his Cologne home in Germany, Schmitz said he was excited that Mapantsula will finally be seen by local audiences.
“Pity, I won’t be there for this moment because I am busy shooting a TV series for German TV. I have been based here for a while, producing TV shows. The film was censored because it was the first film that unashamedly showed apartheid for what it was towards blacks. It was showing white privilege, which is still not gone. The apartheid government wanted us to cut some parts of it and we refused.
“We tried to release it on video at the time, which was not commercially viable. Since it was kept in storage it deteriorated overtime. We could have brought the film back earlier but it is expensive to restore a film. Me and my partner who is based in London started the restoration process,” said Schmitz.
The film was shot in Soweto in areas like Orlando East and features political riot scenes. Schmitz explained that while shooting the film, they had a few encounters with police but they outsmarted them.
Schmitz explained the title Mapantsula was not inspired or associated with any dance style.
“There were times where they would come and ask if we had permission to do what we were doing I would say yes, I have. But we filmed it and we were happy with the final product. Mapantsula was the simplest title, and I cannot remember who came up with it.
"But it was inspired by Mogotlane’s contribution. We looked at the defiance of black people who refused to bow down and follow rules. That is what Mapantsula is about.
“Mapantsula is about this smart criminal who is arrested. In the film people will be able to see his life before he is arrested and after. Once arrested, the police put him in a cell full of political activists and want to turn him into an informer. He realises that this will not work for him and refuses. The story is portraying him not as a victim but a fighter who refused to bow down.”
bambalelep@sowetan.co.za