Nelson Mandela was released from 27 years in prison twenty years ago tomorrow – February 11th 1990. I just read his extraordinary autobiography Long Walk to Freedom and have been thinking about Mandela and South Africa a great deal recently so I’m really pleased to be moderating a discussion after the screening of Mandela: Son of Africa, Father of a Nation at Union Docs on Friday, February 19th. Here’s a description of the film: A captivating view of the indomitable…
Sorry for protracted blogging silence. Like last year, I disappeared after BRITDOC into the rural wilderness of South Africa (with a little urban time in my birth city of Joburg too). It was strange how fast the chaos of my working life dropped away and felt so far away. I started to think I had made up Shooting People and BRITDOC and the world of docs and independent film in general. In a weird double-move it all felt very irrelevant…
Before we get down to business I feel it would be remiss of me not to bore you with some of my holiday snaps. It was fantastic to be back in South Africa and I managed to drive all over the country seeing old friends and family. I did a lot of sitting and looking – the Peter Biskind book on my lap didn’t get read very much! The wonderful Keiskamma Art Project in the Eastern Cape. You…
