The Devil You Dance With: Film Culture in the New South Africa

250 Pages·2009·1.578 MB·English

by  Audrey McCluskey

film / “An extremely important work, The Devil You Dance With is the fi rst comprehensive study
african of South African fi lmmaking in the critical postapartheid period. This book gives vital in-
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studies sight into how globalization actually impacts a non-Western society that has few defenses h
beyond the awareness and canniness of the artists involved. Strongly recommended to
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anyone interested in fi lm.”
— peter davis, director of award-winning documentary fi lms Winnie Mandela and d
In Darkest Hollywood: Cinema and Apartheid e
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“This engaging and very readable book is an original and important contribution to the i
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fi elds of fi lm studies, African studies, and the sociology of race. It addresses the current

state of cinema in South Africa, in which the fi lmmakers see cinema as a metaphor for y you dance with
their newly formed society as it emerges from the apartheid system.” o
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— manthia diawara, author of We Won’t Budge: An African Exile in the World

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South African fi lm culture, like so much of its public life, has undergone a tremen-
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dous transformation during its fi rst decade of democracy. Filmmakers, once in exile,
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banned, or severely restricted, have returned home; subjects once outlawed by the
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apparatchiks of apartheid are now fair game; and a new crop of insurgent fi lmmakers
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are coming to the fore.
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This extraordinary volume presents twenty-fi ve in-depth interviews with established t
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and emerging South African fi lmmakers, collected and edited by Audrey Thomas
McCluskey. The interviews capture the fi lmmakers’ spirit, energy, and ambition as
they attempt to give birth to a fi lm culture that refl ects the heart and aspirations of
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their diverse and emergent nation. The collection includes a biographical profi le of eil
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each fi lmmaker and an introductory essay by McCluskey that points to the themes, s c
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creative differences, and similarities among the fi lmmakers. ul
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audrey thomas mccluskey is an associate professor of African American and ae
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African diaspora studies and served for seven years as the director of the Black Film in
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Center/Archive at Indiana University. Her book publications include Imaging Black- ath
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ISBN 978-0-252-07574-2
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The Devil You Dance With

The Devil
boo
You Dance With
Film Culture in the New South Africa
EditEd ANd with
AN iNtroduC tioN by
Audrey thomas McCluskey
uNivErSity oF illi NoiS pr ESS
Urbana and Chicago
© 2009 by Audrey Thomas McCluskey
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
1 2 3 4 5 c p 5 4 3 2 1
∞ This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The devil you dance with : film culture in the new
South Africa / edited and with an introduction by
Audrey Thomas McCluskey.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-252-03386-5 (cloth : alk. paper)
isbn 978-0-252-07574-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Motion pictures—South Africa—History.
2. Motion picture producers and directors—
South Africa—Interviews.
I. McCluskey, Audrey T.
pn1993.5.s6d48 2009
791.430968—dc22 2008021801
To the next generation of
Africa’s descendants who,
having inherited a taste of freedom,
must not rest until it is won

Contents
Acknowledgments . ix Introduction . 1
interviews
Beathur Baker . 21 Zola Maseko . 112
Pascal Mzwandile Damoyi . 27 Khalo Matabane . 120
Mike Dearham . 33 Teddy Errol Mattera . 130
Mickey Madoba Dube, Jyoti Mistry . 139
Sechaba Morojele, Palesa Letlaka-Nkosi . 150
Akin Omotoso . 38
Akin Omotoso . 159
Ingrid Gavshon . 48
Bhekizizwe Peterson . 166
Angus Gibson . 52
Dumisani Phakathi . 175
Kevin Harris . 61
Bridget Pickering . 183
Letebele Masemola Jones . 67
Maganthrie Pillay . 192
Ntshaveni wa Luruli . 75
Isabelle Rorke and
Norman Maake Dumisani (Dumi) Gumbi . 196
and Tongai Furusa . 84
Xoliswa Sithole . 207
Kgafela oa Magogodi . 94
Motshabi Tyelele . 217
Teboho Mahlatsi . 103
Partial List of Theatrical Bibliography . 229
and Other Selected Releases in Index . 231
South Africa, 1994–2008 . 225

Acknowledgments
Since my first visit to Cape Town, Pretoria, and Johannesburg, South Africa,
in 2000 with the International Faculty Development Seminar, I have been
captivated by the political volatility of South Africa and the rich culture and
warmth of its people. The germination of this project began shortly after my
second visit to Johannesburg. I have many to thank for their encouragement
and helpfulness from the beginning of this project and all along the way to its
completion. In 2004 I participated in the Indiana University Office Interna-
tional Programs’ faculty exchange with the School of Arts at the University
of Witwatersrand, a program initiated by Paula Girshick along with Patrick
O’Meara, director of OIP. Without their generous support, this work would
not have been possible. While at Witwatersrand, I was welcomed at every
turn and treated graciously by faculty, staff, and students.
I want to acknowledge the support of Arnitra Nettleton, acting dean of the
School of Arts, and the helpful assistance of professors Haseenah Ebrahim and
Kgafela oa Magogodi Kgafela and staff member Matilda Nong, who provided
guidance in facilitating my relationship with the Letsibogo Girls’ High School
in Soweto. On the custodial staff, “Sophie” always greeted me with a smile and
a warm Xhosa greeting. I thank my driver, David N., for helping me to navi-
gate the sprawling city and for answering my nonstop questions. I am forever
grateful to Canadian filmmaker Peter Davis for providing contact information
for many of the filmmakers I interviewed. Peter’s various film works are in
a special collection at the Black Film Center/Archive at Indiana University,
and he regularly visits Indiana to update this important resource.