Event

COME BACK AFRICA

In collaboration with the South African Consulate in Chicago, ADIFF-Chicago 2012 will pay homage to the 100 year anniversary of the ANC on South African Youth Day, June 16, with the screening of two important South African films: Come Back Africa, shot in 1960 during the apartheid era. and Nothing But The Truth, a film about the new South Africa directed by John Kani, one of the major cultural figures in that country.

FACETS CINEMATHEQUE

COME BACK AFRICA
Saturday, June 16 @ 6pm
Screening followed by a discussion with a South African Consulate representative and a reception. Sponsored by the South African Consulate - Chicago

Come Back, Africa (Brand New 35mm-Print!) Chicago Premiere

Filmed in secret from the South African government, Come Back, Africa is a devastating, yet uplifting street-level portrait of the inhumanities of state-sponsored racism, and the glimmers of hope found through community, dance and music. Convincing authorities that he was there to simply make a musical travelogue, director Lionel Rogosin went underground to film the fish-out-of-water story of a rural African who comes to Johannesburg looking for a dignified job, only to be mentally and physically battered by the realities of Apartheid. Ignored in the segregated U.S. upon its initial 1960 release, Come Back, Africa has brilliantly resurfaced to become one of the great cinematic historical documents of its era. Features young Miriam Makeba, who performs two full songs.

"A HEROIC FILM! This picture opened the eyes of many people to Apartheid myself included." Martin Scorsese

USA/South Africa, 1960, 83 min, drama, English, Lionel Rogosin, dir.