fbpx
Wikipedia

Cinema of South Africa

October 16, 2023

The cinema of South Africa refers to the films and film industry of the nation of South Africa. Many foreign films have been produced about South Africa (usually involving race relations).

Cinema of South Africa
No. of screens857 (2010)[1]
 • Per capita1.9 per 100,000 (2010)[1]
Main distributorsSter-Kinekor 38.8%
Nu-Metro 35.7%
Uip 21.7%[2]
Produced feature films (2016)[3]
Total28
Number of admissions (2011)[4]
Total22,400,000
Gross box office (2016)[3]
TotalR1.14 billion
National filmsR69 million (6%)

The first South African film to achieve international acclaim and recognition was the 1980 comedy The Gods Must Be Crazy, written, produced and directed by Jamie Uys. Set in the Kalahari, it told the story about how life in the community of Bushmen is changed when a Coke bottle, thrown out of an airplane, suddenly lands from the sky. Despite the fact that the film presented an incorrect perspective of the Khoisan san people, by framing them as a primitive society enlightened by the modernity of a falling Coke bottle. The late Jamie Uys, who wrote and directed The Gods Must Be Crazy, also had success overseas in the 1970s with his films Funny People and Funny People II, similar to the TV series Candid Camera in the United States. Leon Schuster's You Must Be Joking! films are in the same genre, and were popular among the white population of South Africa during apartheid.

Another high-profile film portraying South Africa in recent years was District 9. Directed by Neill Blomkamp, a native South African, and produced by The Lord of the Rings trilogy director Peter Jackson, the action/science-fiction film depicts a sub-class of alien refugees forced to live in the slums of Johannesburg in what many saw as a creative allegory for apartheid. The film was a critical and commercial success worldwide, and was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, at the 82nd Academy Awards.

Silent Era Edit

 
Dick Cruikshanks as Piet Retief in the 1916 silent film, "The Voortrekkers" (or "Winning a Continent" in the USA).

The first film studio in South Africa, Killarney Film Studios, was established in 1915 in Johannesburg by American business tycoon Isidore W. Schlesinger when he traveled to South Africa against his family's wishes after he read about the discovery of gold in Witwatersrand and was interested in exploring what he could find.[5]

During the 1910s and 1920s, a significant amount of South African films were made in or around Durban. These films often made use of the dramatic scenery available in rural KwaZulu-Natal, particularly the Drakensberg region. KwaZulu-Natal also served as the appropriate location for historical films such as De Voortrekkers (1916) and The Symbol of Sacrifice (1918). American filmmaker Lorimer Johnston directed several films in the area in the late 1910s which starred American actresses Edna Flugrath and Caroline Frances Cooke. Despite the participation of Johnson, Flugrath and Cooke, these were South African productions featuring local actors and stories.

A notable theme in early South African cinema was the ethic confrontation between Boer and British South Africans stemming from the Second Boer War.[6]

Sound Era Edit

Sarie Marais, directed by Joseph Albrecht, the first South African sound film and Afrikaans-language sound film, was released in 1931.[7] Subsequent sound releases such as Die Wildsboudjie (1948), a 1949 Sarie Marais remake, and Daar doer in die bosveld (1950) continued to cater primarily to white, Afrikaans-speaking audiences.

The 1950s saw an increased use of South African locations and talent by international filmmakers. British co-productions like Coast of Skeletons (1956) and American co-productions like The Cape Town Affair (1967) reflected a growing trend of shooting in real locations, rather than using backlots.

International Productions Edit

From 2009, there was an increased use of South African locations and talent by international film studios. US productions like District 9 (2009), Chronicle (2012), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), The Dark Tower (2017), Tomb Raider (2018), The Kissing Booth (2018), Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018), Escape Room (2019) and Bloodshot (2020) reflect a growing trend by large international houses to use Cape Town, Johannesburg and other South African locations for their film productions.[8][9]

Film distributors Edit

 
Open-Air-Cinema in Johannesburg.

Listed alongside each distributor are the studios they represent:

Notable South African Filmmakers Edit

Here are several notable South African filmmaker's that have added to South Africa's cinema history:

  • Joseph Albrecht (1894–1977): A South African director, writer, producer and actor, he is often referred to as "the father of South African film."[7] He directed and co-directed several feature films and shorts such as The Piccanin's Christmas (1917), Isban; or, The Mystery of the Great Zimbabwe (1920) and South Africa's first sound film Sarie Marais (1931).[7]
  • Jamie Uys (1921-1996): An award winning South Africa director, producer, writer and actor who films include Beautiful People (1999) and the 1981 Grand Prix winner from Festival International du Film de Comedy VeveyThe Gods Must be Crazy (1980).[10]
  • Zola Maseko (born 1967): Swazi born film director who's best known for his filmsThe Foreigner (1994) addressing South African xenophobia[11] and The Life and Times of Sarah Baartman (1998) portraying the life of a Koi woman kidnapped and displayed in 19th century Europe as "the Hottentot Venus".[12] In 2004, Maseko produced his first feature entitled Drum, telling the story of an anti-apartheid journalist in 1950's Johannesburg. This film was the first South Africa film to receive the Golden Stallion of Yennenga at FESPACO in 2005.[13]
  • Gavin Hood (born 1963): a director and filmmaker most famous for his Oscar award winning film Tsotsi (2005) based on the novel of the same name by Athol Fugard. He has achieved international credits and recognition, directing films such as the Polish film In Desert and Wilderness and Marvel's X-Men Origins: Wolverine.[14]

See also Edit

References Edit

  1. ^ a b . UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  2. ^ "Box Office Report: South Africa (January – December 2013)" (PDF). National Film and Video Foundation South Africa. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  3. ^ a b "South African Box Office 2016" (PDF). National Film and Video Foundation. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  4. ^ . UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  5. ^ Anonymous (21 March 2011). "A History of the South African Film Industry timeline 1895-2003". South African History Online. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  6. ^ . February 2010. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020.
  7. ^ a b c "Joseph Albrecht - ESAT". esat-sun-ac-za.translate.goog. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  8. ^ "20 Films shot in South Africa - TravelGround Blog". www.travelground.com. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  9. ^ "Did you know that these Hollywood movies were shot in SA?". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  10. ^ "Lost Continent: Cinema of South Africa - Movie list". MUBI. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  11. ^ "Who's Who at FESPACO: Zola Maseko". British Broadcasting Corporation. BBC World Service. Archived from the original on 23 August 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  12. ^ Sweet, Matthew (14 November 1999). "The rebirth of the Hottentot Venus". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  13. ^ Knight, James; Manson, Katrina (5 March 2005). "South African Wins Africa's Top Film Prize". The Washington Post. Reuters. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  14. ^ Gilstrap, Peter; Fleming, Michael (19 July 2007). "Fox says Hood good for 'Wolverine'". Variety

Further reading Edit

  • Botha, Martin (2012). South African Cinema 1896-2010. Bristol: Intellect. ISBN 9781841504582. OCLC 755881432.
  • Botha, Martin. Marginal Lives and Painful Pasts: South African Cinema After Apartheid. Parklands: Genutig!, 2007
  • Botha, Martin and Van Aswegen, Adri. Images of South Africa: The Rise of the Alternative Film. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council, 1992.
  • Blignaut, Johan, and Botha, Martin. Movies, Moguls, Mavericks : South African Cinema, 1979-1991 . Cape Town: Showdata, 1992
  • Davis, Peter. In Darkest Hollywood: Exploring the Jungles of Cinema's South Africa. Randburg, South Africa: Raven Press; Athens: Ohio University Press. 1996.
  • Gutsche, Thelma. The History and Social Significance of Motion Pictures in South Africa: 1895 - 1940. Cape Town: H.Timmins, 1972.
  • Le Roux, Andre and Fourie, Lilla. Filmverlede: Geskiedenis van die Suid-Afrikaanse speelfilm. Pretoria: Universiteit van Suid-Afrika, 1981
  • McCluskey, Audrey T. The devil you dance with: film culture in the new South Africa. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2009.
  • Maingard, Jacqueline. South African National Cinema . London ;: Routledge, 2007.
  • Tomaselli, Keyan G. Encountering Modernity : Twentieth Century South African Cinemas . Amsterdam: Rozenberg, 2006
  • Balseiro, Isabel., and Ntongela. Masilela. To Change Reels : Film and Culture in South Africa . Detroit, Mich: Wayne State University Press, 2003
  • Modisane, Litheko. South Africa’s Renegade Reels : the Making and Public Lives of Black-Centered Films . 1st ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013
  • Saks, Lucia. Cinema in a Democratic South Africa: The Race for Representation. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010.
  • Tomaselli, Keyan G. The Cinema of Apartheid : Race and Class in South African Film . London: Routledge, 1989.
  • Treffey-Goatley, Astrid. South African Cinema After Apartheid: A political-economic exploration. Communicatio: South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research, 36 (1). 37-57. 2010.
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cinema of South Africa.
  • The Latest News, Job Offers and Opportunities in the South African Film Industry
  • South African movie website
  • Focus on the industry – SouthAfrica.info
  • African Media Program. Comprehensive database of African media
  • A History of the South African Film Industry
  • The South African Movie Database Showcasing the South African industry
  • The Callsheet Newspaper Monthly South African film industry trade publication

October 16, 2023
cinema, south, africa, cinema, south, africa, refers, films, film, industry, nation, south, africa, many, foreign, films, have, been, produced, about, south, africa, usually, involving, race, relations, screens857, 2010, capita1, 2010, main, distributorsster, . The cinema of South Africa refers to the films and film industry of the nation of South Africa Many foreign films have been produced about South Africa usually involving race relations Cinema of South AfricaNo of screens857 2010 1 Per capita1 9 per 100 000 2010 1 Main distributorsSter Kinekor 38 8 Nu Metro 35 7 Uip 21 7 2 Produced feature films 2016 3 Total28Number of admissions 2011 4 Total22 400 000Gross box office 2016 3 TotalR1 14 billionNational filmsR69 million 6 The first South African film to achieve international acclaim and recognition was the 1980 comedy The Gods Must Be Crazy written produced and directed by Jamie Uys Set in the Kalahari it told the story about how life in the community of Bushmen is changed when a Coke bottle thrown out of an airplane suddenly lands from the sky Despite the fact that the film presented an incorrect perspective of the Khoisan san people by framing them as a primitive society enlightened by the modernity of a falling Coke bottle The late Jamie Uys who wrote and directed The Gods Must Be Crazy also had success overseas in the 1970s with his films Funny People and Funny People II similar to the TV series Candid Camera in the United States Leon Schuster s You Must Be Joking films are in the same genre and were popular among the white population of South Africa during apartheid Another high profile film portraying South Africa in recent years was District 9 Directed by Neill Blomkamp a native South African and produced by The Lord of the Rings trilogy director Peter Jackson the action science fiction film depicts a sub class of alien refugees forced to live in the slums of Johannesburg in what many saw as a creative allegory for apartheid The film was a critical and commercial success worldwide and was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture at the 82nd Academy Awards Contents 1 Silent Era 2 Sound Era 3 International Productions 4 Film distributors 5 Notable South African Filmmakers 6 See also 7 References 8 Further readingSilent Era Edit nbsp Dick Cruikshanks as Piet Retief in the 1916 silent film The Voortrekkers or Winning a Continent in the USA The first film studio in South Africa Killarney Film Studios was established in 1915 in Johannesburg by American business tycoon Isidore W Schlesinger when he traveled to South Africa against his family s wishes after he read about the discovery of gold in Witwatersrand and was interested in exploring what he could find 5 During the 1910s and 1920s a significant amount of South African films were made in or around Durban These films often made use of the dramatic scenery available in rural KwaZulu Natal particularly the Drakensberg region KwaZulu Natal also served as the appropriate location for historical films such as De Voortrekkers 1916 and The Symbol of Sacrifice 1918 American filmmaker Lorimer Johnston directed several films in the area in the late 1910s which starred American actresses Edna Flugrath and Caroline Frances Cooke Despite the participation of Johnson Flugrath and Cooke these were South African productions featuring local actors and stories A notable theme in early South African cinema was the ethic confrontation between Boer and British South Africans stemming from the Second Boer War 6 Sound Era EditSarie Marais directed by Joseph Albrecht the first South African sound film and Afrikaans language sound film was released in 1931 7 Subsequent sound releases such as Die Wildsboudjie 1948 a 1949 Sarie Marais remake and Daar doer in die bosveld 1950 continued to cater primarily to white Afrikaans speaking audiences The 1950s saw an increased use of South African locations and talent by international filmmakers British co productions like Coast of Skeletons 1956 and American co productions like The Cape Town Affair 1967 reflected a growing trend of shooting in real locations rather than using backlots International Productions EditFrom 2009 there was an increased use of South African locations and talent by international film studios US productions like District 9 2009 Chronicle 2012 Avengers Age of Ultron 2015 The Dark Tower 2017 Tomb Raider 2018 The Kissing Booth 2018 Maze Runner The Death Cure 2018 Escape Room 2019 and Bloodshot 2020 reflect a growing trend by large international houses to use Cape Town Johannesburg and other South African locations for their film productions 8 9 Film distributors Edit nbsp Open Air Cinema in Johannesburg Listed alongside each distributor are the studios they represent Nu Metro pre 2013 Times Media Films 20th Century Studios Warner Bros New Line Cinema DreamWorks Pictures DreamWorks Animation Ster Kinekor Walt Disney Pictures Sony Pictures and formerly PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and 20th Century Fox United International Pictures Universal Pictures Paramount Pictures VideoVision EntertainmentNotable South African Filmmakers EditHere are several notable South African filmmaker s that have added to South Africa s cinema history Joseph Albrecht 1894 1977 A South African director writer producer and actor he is often referred to as the father of South African film 7 He directed and co directed several feature films and shorts such as The Piccanin s Christmas 1917 Isban or The Mystery of the Great Zimbabwe 1920 and South Africa s first sound film Sarie Marais 1931 7 Jamie Uys 1921 1996 An award winning South Africa director producer writer and actor who films include Beautiful People 1999 and the 1981 Grand Prix winner from Festival International du Film de Comedy VeveyThe Gods Must be Crazy 1980 10 Zola Maseko born 1967 Swazi born film director who s best known for his filmsThe Foreigner 1994 addressing South African xenophobia 11 and The Life and Times of Sarah Baartman 1998 portraying the life of a Koi woman kidnapped and displayed in 19th century Europe as the Hottentot Venus 12 In 2004 Maseko produced his first feature entitled Drum telling the story of an anti apartheid journalist in 1950 s Johannesburg This film was the first South Africa film to receive the Golden Stallion of Yennenga at FESPACO in 2005 13 Gavin Hood born 1963 a director and filmmaker most famous for his Oscar award winning film Tsotsi 2005 based on the novel of the same name by Athol Fugard He has achieved international credits and recognition directing films such as the Polish film In Desert and Wilderness and Marvel s X Men Origins Wolverine 14 See also EditList of South African films Media of South Africa Cinema of the world World cinema African cinema South African Film and Television AwardsReferences Edit a b Table 8 Cinema Infrastructure Capacity UNESCO Institute for Statistics Archived from the original on 24 December 2018 Retrieved 5 November 2013 Box Office Report South Africa January December 2013 PDF National Film and Video Foundation South Africa Retrieved 14 August 2014 a b South African Box Office 2016 PDF National Film and Video Foundation Retrieved 15 January 2018 Table 11 Exhibition Admissions amp Gross Box Office GBO UNESCO Institute for Statistics Archived from the original on 24 December 2018 Retrieved 5 November 2013 Anonymous 21 March 2011 A History of the South African Film Industry timeline 1895 2003 South African History Online Retrieved 4 November 2017 Almost 100 years old and still rolling The history of SA cinema Part 2 February 2010 Archived from the original on 17 October 2020 a b c Joseph Albrecht ESAT esat sun ac za translate goog Retrieved 2 April 2023 20 Films shot in South Africa TravelGround Blog www travelground com Retrieved 12 August 2020 Did you know that these Hollywood movies were shot in SA www iol co za Retrieved 12 August 2020 Lost Continent Cinema of South Africa Movie list MUBI Retrieved 2 April 2023 Who s Who at FESPACO Zola Maseko British Broadcasting Corporation BBC World Service Archived from the original on 23 August 2007 Retrieved 9 October 2008 Sweet Matthew 14 November 1999 The rebirth of the Hottentot Venus The Independent Archived from the original on 7 May 2022 Retrieved 31 October 2020 Knight James Manson Katrina 5 March 2005 South African Wins Africa s Top Film Prize The Washington Post Reuters Archived from the original on 19 October 2019 Retrieved 9 October 2008 Gilstrap Peter Fleming Michael 19 July 2007 Fox says Hood good for Wolverine VarietyFurther reading EditBotha Martin 2012 South African Cinema 1896 2010 Bristol Intellect ISBN 9781841504582 OCLC 755881432 Botha Martin Marginal Lives and Painful Pasts South African Cinema After Apartheid Parklands Genutig 2007 Botha Martin and Van Aswegen Adri Images of South Africa The Rise of the Alternative Film Pretoria Human Sciences Research Council 1992 Blignaut Johan and Botha Martin Movies Moguls Mavericks South African Cinema 1979 1991 Cape Town Showdata 1992 Davis Peter In Darkest Hollywood Exploring the Jungles of Cinema s South Africa Randburg South Africa Raven Press Athens Ohio University Press 1996 Gutsche Thelma The History and Social Significance of Motion Pictures in South Africa 1895 1940 Cape Town H Timmins 1972 Le Roux Andre and Fourie Lilla Filmverlede Geskiedenis van die Suid Afrikaanse speelfilm Pretoria Universiteit van Suid Afrika 1981 McCluskey Audrey T The devil you dance with film culture in the new South Africa Urbana University of Illinois Press 2009 Maingard Jacqueline South African National Cinema London Routledge 2007 Tomaselli Keyan G Encountering Modernity Twentieth Century South African Cinemas Amsterdam Rozenberg 2006 Balseiro Isabel and Ntongela Masilela To Change Reels Film and Culture in South Africa Detroit Mich Wayne State University Press 2003 Modisane Litheko South Africa s Renegade Reels the Making and Public Lives of Black Centered Films 1st ed New York Palgrave Macmillan 2013 Saks Lucia Cinema in a Democratic South Africa The Race for Representation Bloomington Indiana University Press 2010 Tomaselli Keyan G The Cinema of Apartheid Race and Class in South African Film London Routledge 1989 Treffey Goatley Astrid South African Cinema After Apartheid A political economic exploration Communicatio South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research 36 1 37 57 2010 nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cinema of South Africa The Latest News Job Offers and Opportunities in the South African Film Industry South African movie website South Africa s film industry Focus on the industry SouthAfrica info African Media Program Comprehensive database of African media Timeline 1895 2003 A History of the South African Film Industry The South African Movie Database Showcasing the South African industry The Callsheet Newspaper Monthly South African film industry trade publicationThis film related list is incomplete you can help by adding missing items October 2021 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cinema of South Africa amp oldid 1170198467, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.