South Africa's Renegade Reels : The Making and Public Lives of Black-Centered Films

Despite incredible political upheavals and a minimal national history of film production, movies such as Come Back, Africa (1959), uDeliwe (1975), and Fools (1998) have taken on an iconic status within South African culture. In this much-needed study, author Litheko Modisane delves into the public critical engagements around old 'renegade' films and newer ones, revealing instructive details both in the production and the public lives of South African movies oriented around black social experiences. This illuminates the complex nature of cinema in modern public life, enriching established methodologies by expanding the cultural and conceptual boundaries of film as a phenomenon of textual circulation. A study of South African cinema with a critical eye to its complexity not only as a signifying system, but also as a cultural product with a public life. South Africa's Renegade Reels seeks to understand the way certain films take on exemplary/iconic status in a country like South Africa where the historical production of film has been minimal, and in a context of intense political reality. The book lays bare the public critical engagements around old renegade films and new ones. It dissects their subtleties in the public lives of forgotten films from South Africa that are oriented to black social experience-Come Back, Africa (1959), uDeliwe (1975), Mapantsula (1988), alongside a new one, Fools (1998), and a television comparator Yizo Yizo (1999-2001)-excavating from the record iconic and newer black-centered films and television. Through analysis of public reflections on the films' representations of black identity, the book shows the complex nature of films in modern public life. In doing so, the book enriches and is enriched by established methodologies of film study, by expanding the cultural and conceptual boundaries of film as a phenomenon of textual circulation South Africa's Renegade Reels seeks to understand the way certain films take on exemplary/iconic status in a country like South Africa where the historical production of film has been minimal, and in a context of intense political reality. The book lays bare the public critical engagements around old renegade films and new ones. It dissects their subtleties in the public lives of forgotten films from South Africa that are oriented to black social experience; "Come Back, Africa" (1959), "uDeliwe" (1975), "Mapantsula" (1988), alongside a new one, "Fools" (1998), and a television comparator "Yizo Yizo" (1999-2001) excavating from the record iconic and newer black-centered films and television. Through analysis of public reflections on the films' representations of black identity, the book shows the complex nature of films in modern public life. In doing so, the book enriches and is enriched by established methodologies of film study, by expanding the cultural and conceptual boundaries of film as a phenomenon of textual circulation Front Matter....Pages i-xii Opening Shots....Pages 1-23 From Africa to America, and Back Again: Come Back, Africa (1959)....Pages 25-69 Propagandistic Designs, Transgressive Mutations: uDeliwe (1975)....Pages 71-96 Engagé Film and the Public Sphere: Mapantsula (1988)....Pages 97-124 Gender in the New Nation: Fools (1998)....Pages 125-155 Orchestration of Debate through Television Drama: Yizo Yizo (1999, 2001)....Pages 157-174 Closing Shots....Pages 175-187 Back Matter....Pages 189-228