Film and cultural identity

1. Film and Cultural Identity
Jasmine Hylton

2. Film Industry
• The history of film began in the 1890s, with the invention of the first motion-picture
cameras and the establishment of the first film production companies. The films of
the 1890s were under a minute long and until 1927, motion pictures were produced
without sound.
• On December 28th, 1895, the Lumiere Brothers screened the very first film - a short
documentary, about 20 seconds long.
• George Melies was the first person to come up with the concept of editing, back in
the end of the 19th century.
• Edwin Porter put together documentary shots and studio shots. Yep, for the very first
time in history, Porter took documentary shots of firemen and attached them to the
scenes he directed in his studio, creating an illusion of danger.
• Between 1913 and 1914 David Griffith made five long films, an hour and some each,
and from that point forward, that was the standard length.
• Entertainment is big business in the United States. Forecasts predict that the
entertainment industry will grow to over 679 billion US dollars in value over the
next four years, proving its worth in domestic markets and as a major U.S. export.
• Currently, the largest business centre of film making is in the United States
and India.
• In Europe the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, and Germany are the
countries that lead movie production.
Jasmine Hylton

3. Definitions
• Ideology- a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the
basis of economic or political theory and policy.
• Culture-the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or
society.
• Power- the ability or capacity to do something or act in a particular way
• Representation- the action of speaking or acting on behalf of someone or
the state of being so represented.
Jasmine Hylton

4. Four Corners
• Director: Ian Gabriel
• Written By: Hofmeyr Scholtz
• Running Time: 114 minutes
• Country: South Africa
• Language: Afrikaans, English
• Four Corners is a 2013 South African coming of age crime drama film about family
lost and family regained, directed by Ian Gabriel. Fatherless and raised by his
grandmother, thirteen year old Ricardo Galam lives in South Africa's Cape Flats, a
unique and volatile sub culture dominated by two Number gangs, the 26 and 28.
Ricardo's future as a chess prodigy is threatened by his growing interest in the 26
whose local leader is grooming him as a potential member. Unknown to Ricardo,
the father he's never known has been released from prison. Farakhan, a reformed
general in the 28, is back in his old neighbourhood, an intruder in 26 territory. In a
story that is at times raw and violent at other times touching and true. FOUR
CORNERS is a gripping drama set against the backdrop of a gang war in Cape
Town which has been raging for a 100 years; a little known fact.
Jasmine Hylton

5. Tsotsi
• Director: Gavin Hood
• Country: South Africa, United Kingdom
• Language: Afrikaans, isiZulu, isiXhosa and English
• Running time: 94 minutes
• A South African hoodlum named Tsotsi (Presley Chweneyagae) lives by a
code of violence, and he and his gang of thugs prowl the streets of
Johannesburg day and night, attacking those who fail to give them what
they want. After casually shooting a woman and stealing her car, he
discovers her baby in the back seat. Instead of harming the mewling
infant, he takes it home and cares for it. The child acts as a catalyst for
the hardened thug to regain his humanity.
Jasmine Hylton

6. Boy Called Twist
• Director: Timothy Greene
• Running Time: 1h 55m
• Country: South Africa
• Language: English
• Boy Called Twist, is a 2004 film that tells the story of a Cape Town street kid,
based on Dickens’ classic, Oliver Twist. Abandoned at an orphanage, a boy
(Jarrid Geduld) runs away from his fieldwork job and joins a gang of South
African pickpockets. It is the harrowing tale of a South African street-kid's
search for love, based on Charles Dickens' classic Oliver Twist. Growing up
neglected in a rural orphanage, Twist escapes to the unpredictable freedom of
Cape Town, where he falls in with Fagin's gang of street urchins. With a gritty
honesty steeped in its vibrant characters, Boy called Twist superbly captures the
contemporary equivalents of Dickens' seedy individuals as it shadows the
timeless tale in its own inimitable style.
Jasmine Hylton

7. Sarafina!
• Director: Darrell Roodt
• Running Time: 117 minutes
• Country: United States, South Africa
• Language: English
• Sarafina! is a 1992 South African film, the plot centres on students
involved in the Soweto Riots, in opposition to the implementation
of Afrikaans as the language of instruction in schools. The character
Sarafina (Leleti Khumalo) feels shame at her mother's (Miriam Makeba)
acceptance of her role as domestic servant in a white household
in apartheid South Africa, and inspires her peers to rise up in protest,
especially after her inspirational teacher, Mary Masombuka (Whoopi
Goldberg) is imprisoned.
Jasmine Hylton

8. Stereotypes
• The most common south African stereotypes that I found on yahoo
answer are:
• They smell bad, are dumb, steel, murder and rape, are racists and love
chicken.
• They are in gangs, they don’t care about politics and they rob people on
the streets with knives.
• They wear khaki clothes, listen to bad afrikaans country music and they
are fraudsters and swindlers.
Jasmine Hylton

9. Relatable?
• I think that I can slightly relate to the films such as Sarafina as even
though I have never personally experienced any racism or had to
struggle through apartheid, I am of “colour” so I can understand the
characters feelings and relate slightly to how difficult life can be for
“coloured” people as even in the 21st century, racism exists and black
people are still oppressed. I can also relate to ‘Boy Called Twist’ as in the
film, he was searching for freedom and love and those are two things
that I care a lot about. I don’t feel as though I can relate to ‘Four Corners’
as much as I can relate to the other films as I have never experienced any
of the things in the story however I can relate to Tsotsi and I think a lot of
other people can as well as I'm sure many people have gone through life,
maybe not living life the best way they can and one day, experienced
something that was a catalyst for change and helped them change for
the better.
Jasmine Hylton