South Africa Belongs to Us

Duration: 58

Year Published: 1980

Creator: Gerhard Schmidt Productions

Format: 16mm

Color: Color

Sound: sound

Description: Presents five portraits of black women in South Africa, all of whom are separated from their children, husband, or friends by the laws and demands of white society. Indicates that apartheid treats workers as interchangeable labor units and tends to make blacks feel homeless in their own land. Shows discrimination and economics affecting black women the most, interspersing interviews with women activists who comment on the political climate, their own incarcerations and exile, the likelihood of interracial violence, and the role of the South African woman in such conflict., A film about black women in South Africa, shot secretly with the help of two black women journalists. Through interviews with five typical women, and with comments from four women activists, the film makes clear the devastating impact of apartheid on black women and the black family. Examined are the lives of a domestic servant; women and children in illegal black shantytown; a nurse at one of the few family planning clinics for blacks; and a woman on one of the barren "homelands" who lives with her 13 children, forbidden to join her husband who has worked for 20 years hundreds of miles away, in Johannesburg. Winnie Mandela and four other activists are interviewed. Finalist, 1982 American Film Festival.

Complete Record: Presents five portraits of black women in South Africa, all of whom are separated from their children, husband, or friends by the laws and demands of white society. Indicates that apartheid treats workers as interchangeable labor units and tends to make blacks feel homeless in their own land. Shows discrimination and economics affecting black women the most, interspersing interviews with women activists who comment on the political climate, their own incarcerations and exile, the likelihood of interracial violence, and the role of the South African woman in such conflict., Through portraits of nine Black South African women, including four movement leaders, this film depicts the struggle of the Black woman for human dignity in the face of apartheid. Working covertly, the filmmakers captured the lonely and impoverished lives of the women in sex-segregated barracks built for migrant workers and in arid, isolated reserves. , , NOTE: Two (or more) records have been merged together to create this data.