Witness to Apartheid (1986)
56 mins | Documentary | 30 April 1986
Director:
Sharon I. SopherWriters:
Sharon I. Sopher, Peter KinoyProducer:
Sharon I. SopherEditor:
Laurence SolomonProduction Designer:
Beverly LittlewoodProduction Companies:
Developing News, Inc., Channel Four ProductionsThe Summary and credits for this unviewed film are derived from documents in AMPAS library files, and may not reflect what appears onscreen.
Funding for the film was provided by PBS, the Catholic Communication Campaign, the Episcopal Church, Friends of Harry Belafonte, the J. Roderick MacArthur Foundation, the Lutheran Church of America, and the United Methodist Church.
Witness to Apartheid screened in competition at the American Film Festival, 27 May-1Jun 1986, and received the festival's Red Ribbon Award. The film also received an Academy Award nomination in the category Best Documentary Feature for the year 1986.
According to David Chute's 6 May 1986 LAHExam review, "The picture was slammed together in four months" by former NBC [National Broadcasting Company] news producer Sharon I. Sopher. According to a 3 May 1986 LAT article by John Voland, Sopher shot with a three-man crew moving around in an unmarked van. At one point she and her crew were detained by South African police and some of their footage was confiscated.
The 11 Mar 1987 Var stated that the film had been banned in South Africa. The 1 Apr 1987 Var reported that the South Africa Publications Appeals Board had lifted the ban, allowing the film to be shown to audiences of no more than 200, and aged over 18. Filmmaker Sharon I. Sopher was quoted as saying, "Before I agree that the ban has been lifted, the South African government must remove all restrictions."
The film was screened at New York City's Town Hall theater, 18-19 Apr 1986. It was
also included at ...
The Summary and credits for this unviewed film are derived from documents in AMPAS library files, and may not reflect what appears onscreen.
Funding for the film was provided by PBS, the Catholic Communication Campaign, the Episcopal Church, Friends of Harry Belafonte, the J. Roderick MacArthur Foundation, the Lutheran Church of America, and the United Methodist Church.
Witness to Apartheid screened in competition at the American Film Festival, 27 May-1Jun 1986, and received the festival's Red Ribbon Award. The film also received an Academy Award nomination in the category Best Documentary Feature for the year 1986.
According to David Chute's 6 May 1986 LAHExam review, "The picture was slammed together in four months" by former NBC [National Broadcasting Company] news producer Sharon I. Sopher. According to a 3 May 1986 LAT article by John Voland, Sopher shot with a three-man crew moving around in an unmarked van. At one point she and her crew were detained by South African police and some of their footage was confiscated.
The 11 Mar 1987 Var stated that the film had been banned in South Africa. The 1 Apr 1987 Var reported that the South Africa Publications Appeals Board had lifted the ban, allowing the film to be shown to audiences of no more than 200, and aged over 18. Filmmaker Sharon I. Sopher was quoted as saying, "Before I agree that the ban has been lifted, the South African government must remove all restrictions."
The film was screened at New York City's Town Hall theater, 18-19 Apr 1986. It was
also included at the Creteil [France] Women's Film Festival which took place 11-19 Mar 1989.
The film documents a period of civil unrest in South Africa, highlighting protests that occurred in the black townships in 1985, and police and army brutality toward black South African youth, some as young as four years old, during what the government called the "State of Emergency." A black undertaker recounts burying thirty-four children shot by police, while other blacks display their scars and describe their imprisonment and torture. On the other hand, white South Africans appear indifferent to what their government is doing out of sight, and one woman suggests that only a massacre of blacks will solve the country's problems. When the filmmaker interviews a father and brother of a murdered fourteen-year-old boy, South African police briefly detains her and her crew. The film incorporates television news footage and interviews with South African President Pieter Botha, Nobel Prize winner Bishop Desmond Tutu, and Winnie Mandela, leader of the outlawed African National Congress (ANC). "Near the end of the film," according to The Milwaukee Journal television-radio critic Mike Drew, "we see 40 armed troops closing in on [Sharon I.] Sopher before the screen goes dark. Then an artist depicts the producer's capture and questioning. Somehow, she talked authorities into releasing her, and letting her keep her ...
The film documents a period of civil unrest in South Africa, highlighting protests that occurred in the black townships in 1985, and police and army brutality toward black South African youth, some as young as four years old, during what the government called the "State of Emergency." A black undertaker recounts burying thirty-four children shot by police, while other blacks display their scars and describe their imprisonment and torture. On the other hand, white South Africans appear indifferent to what their government is doing out of sight, and one woman suggests that only a massacre of blacks will solve the country's problems. When the filmmaker interviews a father and brother of a murdered fourteen-year-old boy, South African police briefly detains her and her crew. The film incorporates television news footage and interviews with South African President Pieter Botha, Nobel Prize winner Bishop Desmond Tutu, and Winnie Mandela, leader of the outlawed African National Congress (ANC). "Near the end of the film," according to The Milwaukee Journal television-radio critic Mike Drew, "we see 40 armed troops closing in on [Sharon I.] Sopher before the screen goes dark. Then an artist depicts the producer's capture and questioning. Somehow, she talked authorities into releasing her, and letting her keep her film."
Viewed by AFI
Partially Viewed
Offscreen Credit
Name Occurs Before Title
AFI Life Achievement AwardTOP SEARCHES
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