Woza Albert!

Duration: 54

Year Published: 1982

Creator: California Newreel

Format: 16mm

Color: Color

Sound: sound

Description: A film of the internationally renowned play by two black South Africans. Percy Mtwa and Mbongeni Ngena, two former music hall performers, have created a series of sketches alternately humorous and moving, concerning the oppression of South Africa's black population. Their revue centers around the premise that Jesus Christ (Morena in Sotho) makes a second coming to the self-proclaimed Christian nation of South Africa. Between scenes of the play, the playwrights/actors reveal how Woza Albert developed out of their life experiences. Excerpts from the play are intercut with visits to markets, the labor exchange and train station where Mtwa and Ngena found the characters for their work.