The Cradock Four August 16, 2011
Posted by Andreas in Cape Town, Film screening, History, Politics.add a comment
The Cradock Four, a dramatic documentary about the brutal murder of four prominent Eastern Cape anti-Apartheid activists, will be shown in Cape Town at the Labia on Orange cinema on Sunday 21 August at 6:15pm, on Monday 22 August at 8:30pm and on Tuesday 23 August at 6:15pm.
On a winter’s night in 1985, an Apartheid police hit squad assassinated four young activists in the Eastern Cape. Among South Africa’s most notorious political murders, the abduction and brutal killing of Matthew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sparrow Mkonto and Sicelo Mhlauli became a major turning point in the country’s history, triggering a state of emergency and eventually leading to the release of Mandela.
Having taken seven years to complete, David Forbes’ award-winning feature documentary film The Cradock Four explores who the four victims were and investigates the circumstances that led to their deaths. The murders became one of Apartheid’s murkiest and most controversial episodes and the film allows the viewer to perceive the oppressive climate of the racist regime and looks at both inquiries into the murders (in 1989 and 1992), as well as into the investigations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) which denied amnesty to the killers. The Cradock Four weaves together interviews, archival footage, dramatic recreations and lyrical visual images to create a chilling story that reminds all of us of the many bloody sacrifices with which our democratic freedoms were won.
The Cradock Four is a must-see for anyone hoping to understand South Africa’s past, present and future.
Tickets are R20 and can be reserved by calling The Labia at (021) 424 5927. We strongly recommended that you reserve tickets to avoid disappointment.
This event is presented by the Labia and While You Were Sleeping, a Cape Town-based non-profit film collective committed to bringing progressive, non-mainstream documentaries with important social, political and environmental messages to South African audiences.
Contacts:
The Labia:
021 424 5927
Official film website:
http://www.thecradockfour.co.za
The War You Don’t See May 27, 2011
Posted by Andreas in Film screening, History.add a comment
The War You Don’t See, a documentary about the role of the media in war, will premier in Cape Town at the Labia on Orange cinema on Sunday 5 June at 6:15pm, on Monday 6 June at 8:30pm and on Tuesday 7 June at 6:15pm.
The War You Don’t See is powerful and timely investigation into the media’s role in war, tracing the history of embedded and independent reporting from the carnage of World War One to the destruction of Hiroshima, and from the invasion of Vietnam to the current war in Afghanistan and the disaster in Iraq.
As weapons and propaganda become even more sophisticated, the nature of war is developing into an electronic battlefield in which journalists play a key role, and civilians are the victims. But who is the real enemy?
John Pilger says in the film: “We journalists… have to be brave enough to defy those who seek our collusion in selling their latest bloody adventure in someone else’s country… That means always challenging the official story, however patriotic that story may appear, however seductive and insidious it is. For propaganda relies on us in the media to aim its deceptions not at a far away country but at you at home… In this age of endless imperial war, the lives of countless men, women and children depend on the truth or their blood is on us… Those whose job it is to keep the record straight ought to be the voice of people, not power.”
The screenings will be followed by a facilitated audience discussion.
Tickets are R20 and can be reserved by calling The Labia at 021 424 5927. We strongly recommended that you reserve tickets to avoid disappointment.
This event is presented by the Labia and While You Were Sleeping, a Cape Town-based non-profit film collective committed to bringing progressive, non-mainstream documentaries with important social, political and environmental messages to South African audiences.
The Most Dangerous Man In America October 18, 2010
Posted by Andreas in Cape Town, Film screening, History, Politics, Society, South Africa.add a comment
Documentary about freedom of information to be shown in Cape Town
Are you worried about the Protection of Information Bill currently before Parliament? Join the Right2Know Campaign for a screening of The Most Dangerous Man In America, a documentary which illustrates the dangers of restricted public access to information – even in a democracy – and was nominated for an Oscar in 2010.
The Most Dangerous Man In America will be shown at the Labia on Orange cinema in Cape Town on Monday 25 October at 6:15pm.
In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg, a high-level Pentagon official and leading Vietnam War strategist, concludes that the war is based on decades of lies and leaks 7,000 pages of top-secret documents to The New York Times, making headlines around the world. Hailed as a hero, vilified as a traitor and ostracised even by his closest colleagues, Ellsberg risks life in prison to stop a war he helped to plan.
The Most Dangerous Man In America tells the riveting story of one man’s profound change of heart and takes a piercing look at the world of government secrecy as revealed by the ultimate insider. Characterised by an epic battle between America’s greatest newspapers and its president, which goes all the way to the Supreme Court, this political thriller unravels a saga that leads directly to Watergate, Nixon’s resignation and the end of the Vietnam War.
The scenario described by The Most Dangerous Man In America is incredibly relevant to the situation faced by South African’s at this very moment in time. If you care about your right to access to information, don’t miss this feature-length documentary.
The Right2Know Campaign is an umbrella campaign representing a broad front of over 700 civil society groups. We believe a responsive and accountable democracy able to meet the basic needs of our people is built on transparency and the free flow of information. The Right2Know campaign statement – “Let the truth be told. Stop the Secrecy Bill!” – was drafted following parliamentary hearings on the Bill in July 2010 and demands that secrecy legislation must comply with constitutional values. It is based upon detailed submissions made to Parliament by civil society groups. For more information about the Right2Know Campaign consult www.r2k.org.za.
The screening will be followed by a facilitated audience discussion.
Tickets are R20 and can be reserved by calling The Labia at (021) 424 5927. This is a once-off screening and we strongly recommended that you reserve tickets to avoid disappointment.
This event is presented by the Right2Know Campaign, the Tri- Continental Film Festival, the Labia and While You Were Sleeping, a Cape Town-based non-profit film collective committed to bringing progressive, non-mainstream documentaries with important social, political and environmental messages to South African audiences.
Contacts:
The Labia:
021 424 5927
The Right2Know Campaign:
Sarah Duff
079 862 6696
sarahemilyduff@gmail.com
While You Were Sleeping:
Andreas Späth
084 772 1056
Andreas_Spath@yahoo.com
http://www.whileyouweresleeping.wordpress.com
Chernobyl Day Commemoration April 21, 2010
Posted by Andreas in activism, Cape Town, Environment, History, Nuclear Power, South Africa.add a comment
Cape Town launch of Black Flame February 24, 2010
Posted by Andreas in anarchism, Book launch, Cape Town, History, Politics, Society, South Africa.add a comment
The Book Lounge presents the Cape Town launch of :
Black Flame: the revolutionary class politics of anarchism and syndicalism by Lucien van der Walt and Michael Schmidt.
Black Flame examines the anti-authoritarian class politics of the anarchist/syndicalist movement, and its 150 years of popular struggle on 5 continents. An indispensable conceptual and historical road map, with close attention to Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America, looking at its:
· Opposition to hierarchy, capitalism and the state
· Strategy: building revolutionary counter-power
· History: labour, community, anti-imperialism
· Agenda: participatory, cooperative economics
· Revolutions: Mexico, Spain, Ukraine, Korea
· Revival: today’s struggles
This groundbreaking volume has been praised by reviewers as “deeply impressive”, “fascinating, revealing and often startling”, “a grand work of synthesis”, “remarkable” “outstanding”, “inspired” and “a welcome antidote to Eurocentric accounts”.
All welcome!
Please RSVP to booklounge@gmail.com / 021 462 2425.
More info: http://black-flame-anarchism.blogspot.com/
You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train February 12, 2010
Posted by Andreas in anarchism, Film screening, History, Politics.Tags: Howard Zinn, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train
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OK, so this one’s a bit of a labour of love:
You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train – a thought-provoking tribute to renowned and much-loved US historian, activist and author Howard Zinn – will be shown at the Labia on Orange cinema in Cape Town on Monday 22 February at 6:15pm.
Howard Zinn passed away on 27 January of this year. For most of his life and during some very turbulent times, he inspired generations of young people to actively work for social change around the world. This acclaimed film looks at his amazing and inspiring life.
Following his early days as a shipyard labour organizer and bombardier in World War II, Zinn became an academic rebel and leader of civil disobedience in a time of institutionalized US racism and war. His influential writings, most notably his masterpiece, A People’s History of the United States, gave a voice to factory workers, immigrant labourers, African Americans, Native Americans, women and the working poor.
“He has changed the consciousness of a generation.” – Noam Chomsky
Featuring rare archival materials and interviews with Zinn and colleagues such as Noam Chomsky, You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train captures the essence of this extraordinary man who was a catalyst for progressive change for more than 60 years. The film is narrated by Matt Damon and includes music by Pearl Jam, Woody Guthrie and Billy Bragg.
For more information and articles about and by Howard Zinn, consult:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Zinn
http://www.zmag.org/zspace/howardzinn
http://www.progressive.org/zinn
The screening will be followed by a facilitated audience discussion. Tickets are R20 and can be reserved by calling The Labia at (021) 424 5927. This is a once-off screening and we strongly recommended that you reserve tickets to avoid disappointment.
This event is presented by the Labia and While You Were Sleeping, a Cape Town-based non-profit film collective committed to bringing progressive, non-mainstream documentaries with important social, political and environmental messages to South African audiences.
Contacts:
The Labia:
021 424 5927
While You Were Sleeping:
Andreas Späth
084 772 1056
Andreas_Spath@yahoo.com
R.I.P. Howard Zinn January 28, 2010
Posted by Andreas in activism, anarchism, History, Politics, Society.Tags: Howard Zinn
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“Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it. “
Howard Zinn: August 24, 1922 – January 27, 2010
Rock art in the Cederberg July 7, 2009
Posted by Andreas in History, holiday, Life, South Africa.1 comment so far
We spent a couple of days at Bushmans Kloof in the amazing Cederberg mountains last week. I was totally taken by the rock art in the area. There are over 130 individual sites (and many more in the Cederberg as a whole), ranging in age from around 2000 years to as old as 8000 years. Incredible!
The origins of May Day April 30, 2009
Posted by Andreas in "The Economy", activism, anarchism, History, Politics, Work.add a comment
For many people it comes as a bit of a surprise that May Day doesn’t have its origins in, say, revolutionary Russia, the Soviet Union or China – what with all those hideous military parades on Red Square and Tiananmen Square of rows and rows of rocketry filing past gigantic banners of Marx, Lenin and Mao.
The celebration of the first of May as International Workers’ Day, in fact, goes back to the United States in the 19th Century and involves several high-profile anarchists. In the late 1800’s there was a widespread movement for the establishment of an 8-hour working day which coincided with massive repression of workers by authorities, factory owners and the police. At a workers’ rally in Chicago’s Haymarket Square on the 4th of May 1886 a bomb was thrown at police.
Who threw the bomb was never discovered, but police used the incident to charge eight prominent anarchists with the crime, four of which were subsequently hanged.
For a more thorough and detailed re-telling of the events, have a look at this article by Chicago indymedia.
The efficacy of violence January 21, 2009
Posted by Andreas in History, Israel and Palestine, Politics.1 comment so far
A classic little extract from a recent Chomsky article called “Exterminate all the Brutes”: Gaza 2009
…there is often a tendency to underestimate the efficacy of violence. It is particularly odd that such a belief should be held in the United States. Why are we here?
The Antidote 