Africa Shafted: Under One Roof(2011)

Frontline(fr)

The Man Who Fell From The Sky(en)

The Man Who Fell From The Sky is a Channel 4 documentary. It tells the fascinating story of two men who stowed away on a flight from South Africa to the UK in 2012. But what was their story, and what happened to the two men? The documentary is billed as a ‘stranger than fiction’ story, that features two men who made the ‘most extreme journey’ ever taken by humans. South Africans Themba Cabeka and Carlito Vale made the trip clinging onto the undercarriage of the plane. Together, they made the 11-hour, 5,639-miles trip braving -60C temperatures. The incredible journey made news around the world.

Winnie(en)

While her husband served a life sentence, paradoxically kept safe and morally uncontaminated, Winnie Mandela rode the raw violence of apartheid, fighting on the front line and underground. This is the untold story of the mysterious forces that combined to take her down, labeling him a saint, her, a sinner.

The Boers at the End of the World(af)

In a remote stretch of Patagonia, Argentina, there is a family - the Dickasons - who speak a language from a country 7,000km to the east. They are part of a 114-year-old Afrikaans Boer community - South Africans of Dutch descent who sailed across the ocean to South America after the destruction of a war with the British. Today, less than 50 still speak the language and they struggle to keep their culture alive. Patriarch "Ty" Dickason, 82, is a cowboy who has never flown in a plane - and yet he yearns to one day visit the country of his blood before he and his compatriots pass away. This multiple SAFTA award-winning documentary is a portrait of the last days of the community - a parallel world where Afrikaans was never linked to Apartheid - and one family's journey to reconnect with South Africa.

Forest of Crocodiles(en)

How do white South Africans deal with their fears of crime and violence? Like crocodiles, some survive without evolving, living with their fears. Others make fear their friend and evolve in ways you'd never imagine.

Palme's Secret Agent(en)

At the height of the cold war a struggle broke out between Governments from all over the world as to which position to take about the system of apartheid in South Africa. Leading the fight was Olof Palmes' Swedish Government, which covertly funneled over US$ 1 billion to the resistance movement. This money was given without the knowledge of either the Parliament or the Swedish populace. At the center of the net in South Africa was a Swedish diplomat called Birgitta Karlström Dorph. Meanwhile at the UN the Swedes with their Scandinavian counterparts attempted to win the argument for economic sanctions. This led to bitter arguments which saw Palme leading the fight against the Reagan and Thatcher administrations.

Life and Death at Mala Mala(en)

Journey to the banks of the Sand River, where seven magnificent creatures reign supreme. In this captivating 24-hour odyssey, witness their pursuit, survival, and delicate balance of power-Marvel at their strength, vulnerability, and relentless determination. Encounter the neighbours from hell, territorial battles, and the intricate dance of interactions. Within this unfolding drama, the biggest, most potent, fastest, and smartest thrive while others meet their fate. Brace yourself for an unforgettable adventure-a testament to resilience, survival, and the raw beauty of seven of Africa's magnificent creatures.

Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony(en)

The struggle to eradicate apartheid in South Africa has been chronicled over time, but no one has addressed the vital role music plays in this challenge. This documentary by Lee Hirsch recounts a fascinating and little-known part of South Africa's political history through archival footage, interviews and, of course, several mesmerizing musical performances.

South Africa: A Journey of Discovery(en)

This is a country of gold, diamonds, and great natural wonders. An ancient land undergoing a dramatic political change. A place where wild animals and modern high-rise cities exist side-by-side, where great deserts contrast with lush farmlands. Visit Johannesburg a city built on gold, and Durban where spices of the East mingle with the influence of the Zulu people. View Cape Town from the summit of Table Mountain and fly over the dramatic Drakensburg Mountains. Take a photo safari at the Londolozi Game Reserve where elephants and lions roam freely in the African wilderness. Out of the conflicts of the past is emerging a new country, a land of amazing natural beauty; one of the world's best-kept secrets.

Aleph(es)

Structured as a labyrinth-like game and inspired by Jorge Luis Borges, Aleph is a travelogue of experience, a dreamer's journey through the lives, experiences, stories and musings of protagonists spanning ten countries and five continents.

End of the Dialogue(zu)

The first film to ever show what life was in South-Africa under the Apartheid state. The film was released as an anonymous production under the aegis of the Pan Africanist Congress in 1970.

Pretoria to Durban(en)

This Traveltalk series short gives a glimpse into South African history, albeit from a white person's viewpoint. South Africa is a union of four separate states: the Transvaal, the Orange Free State, Natal, and the Cape Provence.

Johannesburg: 'City of Gold'(en)

This Traveltalk series short discusses how Johannesburg began as a farming community, but with the discovery of gold in the area, the city embraced mining as its primary industry. Native workers came to the area to train to be miners, and even after their work in the mines ended, many decided to remain in Johannesburg. The natives' music and dance are highlights.

Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit 1996(en)

Sexy supermodels Tyra Banks, Valeria Mazza, Kathy Ireland, Stacey Williams, Ingrid Seynhaeve, Rebecca Romijn, Angie Everhart, Manon von Gerkan and newcomer Georgianna Robertson hit South Africa for the 1996 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

Ithuteng (Never Stop Learning)(en)

Tells the stories of four students who are turning their lives around at the Ithuteng Trust School.

Tapologo(en)

In Freedom Park, a squatter settlement near the platinum mines in SA, a network of former sex workers create Tapologo. They learn to be Home Based Carers for their community, transforming degradation into solidarity and squalor into hope. Catholic Bishop Kevin Dowling participates in Tapologo and raises doubts on the official doctrine of the Catholic Church regarding AIDS and sexuality in the African context.

Dawn of Humanity(en)

Nova and National Geographic present exclusive access to an astounding discovery of ancient fossil human ancestors.

A Question of Madness: The Furiousus(en)

In Capetown, South Africa, in September 1966, Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd, the architect of apartheid, was stabbed to death in Parliament. The course of South African history was changed by the assassin, Dimitri Tsafendas, who was written off as mad and condemned to twenty-eight years of imprisonment. A Question of Madness tells the extraordinary human story of a man, born of a black mother, but classified white, who travelled the world in hopeless search of sanctuary - eventually returning to the land of apartheid to wreak vengeance on the one who symbolized the racism which had haunted his life.

Sathima's Windsong(en)

Shot in New York, Cape Town, St Helena and the Atlantic Ocean, Sathima's Windsong, is a lyrical portrait of South African jazz singer, Sathima Bea Benjamin. In her Chelsea Hotel apartment, home for over thirty years, she patches together her journeys, from apartheid's 'pattern of brokenness', to a chance meeting and recording with Duke Ellington in Paris, to making a life in New York. The narrative of her journeys are inter-woven with her music and the musings of folks who know her work. Like her haunting song, Windsong, the film is a meditation on displacement, exile and belonging.

Abortion Democracy: Poland/South Africa(en)

Why are illegal abortions more accessible in Poland than legal ones in South Africa? This documentary feature explores and contrasts changes in Poland and South Africa regarding abortion laws and their impact on the lives of women. In the 90's, Poland banned abortion due to the increasing influence of the Catholic Church after the fall of communism; around the same time South Africa legalized it, reforming the health system after the fall of apartheid. The film reveals how the legal status of women is a direct result of the silencing or empowering of women's voices. In the Polish society and media, women's perspectives were made invisible; in South Africa, on the other hand, they were invited to give public hearings in the parliament about problems in the realm of reproduction.