A rough guide to South African cinema history

[Trevor]

  Written by a nutcase, in a nutshell. 

SOUTH AFRICAN FILM INDUSTRY TRIVIA
1896 ~ 2006

1.   The S A film industry is the oldest in Africa and one of the oldest in the world ~ it officially started in May 1896.

2.   The Anglo~Boer War (1899 ~ 1902) was the first conflict to be captured on motion picture film.

3.   South Africa's film production officially began in 1910 with the release of the film The Great Kimberley Diamond Robbery, a.k.a. The Star of The South.

4.   The first African motion picture studio was established in 1913 in Johannesburg and was called African Film Productions. The "Killarney Mall" shopping centre and a Toyota dealership now stand on this site on Riveria Road, Johannesburg.

5.   The African Mirror newsreel was first produced in 1913 by AFP ~ well known worldwide, it only ceased production in 1984; making it the most likely candidate for being the world's longest running newsreel.

6.   Harold Shaw's De Voortrekkers a.k.a. Winning A Continent was released in 1916 and is the oldest, complete surviving feature film in Africa.

7.   South Africa's first sound full length feature films were entitled Sarie Marais and Moedertjie ~ released in 1931 and directed by Joseph Albrecht.

8.    South Africa's first feature film with an all-Black cast ~ Donald Swanson's African Jim, a.k.a. Jim Comes To Jo'burg ~ was released in 1949.

9.   The first South African musical genre film ~ Pierre de Wet's Kom Saam, Vanaand ~ was released in 1949.

10.   Africa's first full length feature film in colour ~ Jamie Uys' Daar Doer In Die Bosveld ~ was released in 1951.

11.   The first drive-in cinema in South Africa ~ the 'Johannesburg Drive-In' ~ was established by Max Jude  in 1951.

12.   "Inrybelange" (Pvt) Ltd. is established in 1957 ~ later to become known as Ster Films.

13.   Ken Annakin's The Hellions is released in 1961. Starring Richard Todd, Lionel Jeffries and co-produced by Jamie Uys, it is South Africa's first film in the Western genre.

14.   The South African Censor Board ~ known officially as the 'Publications Control Board' or PCB for short ~ is established in 1963.

15.   South African actress Truida Pohl becomes the first woman to direct a full length feature film ~ entitled Die Man In Die Donker  ~ in 1963.

16.    The National Film Board is established in 1964 ~ one of its' divisions is the SA Film Institute, which would later become known as the National Film, Video and Sound Archives.

17.   Cy Endfield's Zulu ~ with Sir Stanley Baker, Michael Caine and Dr Mangosuthu Buthelezi ~ is released to worldwide success in 1964. The film is banned for screenings to Black South Africans by the Minister of 'Native Affairs' as "the screening thereof might encourage them to rise up in revolt."

18.   Elmo de Witt's Debbie, based on the novel Groen Koring by Tryna du Toit, runs the censorship gauntlet in 1965 as the PCB impose first one, then another audience attendance restriction on a simple tale of forbidden love between a doctor and a university student.

19.   The S A Parliament and the Afrikaans media denounce the S A cinema as 'the American influenced anti-Christ' in 1966. In this period and later, there are calls by various parties for cinemas to be shut down and that should this not be possible, that all imported films have their soundtracks dubbed into Afrikaans. There is however one entirely sane request among all this hysteria: there are calls made for a subsidy system to encourage film production in South Africa.

20.   The Benoni born cinematographer Ted Moore becomes the first South African to win an Academy Award for his work on the film A Man For All Seasons (1966) in 1967.

21.   Sanlam and the Schlesinger Organization buy out the 20th Century Fox franchise in South Africa in 1969 and create a rival film distribution company to Ster Films, named "Kinekor".

22.    The restrictions imposed on filmmakers by the PCB invade almost every section of life in South Africa during the 1970's as censorship's grip closes even tighter on not only the film industry, but also the publishing, broadcasting and recording media. Further restrictions occur in 1974 when the Publications Appeal Board is established.

23.   In 1972, Peter Henkel's Three Bullets For A Long Gun becomes the first South African feature film to be banned.

24.   South African filmmaker David Millin is admitted to the American Society of Cinematographers in 1972.

25.   When U'Deliwe is released in 1974, it becomes the first full length feature film directed by a Black South African, Simon M. Sabela. Gibson Kente's How Long follows close on its' heels.

26.   The establishment of a television service in South Africa in 1975 proves almost disastrous for the local film industry.

27.   The Metro cinema group is established by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1975.

28.   Former SA film industry rivals Ster and Kinekor merge in 1977 to form Ster~Kinekor Films.

29.   The South African government bans the screening of films on Sundays in 1977, citing the 1898 "Sunday Observance Act" in its' defence. Cinemas countrywide remain shut on Sundays until 1993, but video rental stores ~ somehow exempt from this law ~ do good business in the 1980's.

30.   After tremendous battles both in the media and in Parliament, the National Film Board is closed down in 1979, but one of its' divisions ~ the SA Film Institute, later to be re-named the National Film Archives ~ is permitted to continue with its' duties.

31.   South African film producer Paul Kemp wins an Academy Award in 1982 ("Best Live Action Short Feature") for the American Film Institute production Violet.

32.   Jamie Uys' The Gods Must Be Crazy becomes a world-wide success from 1983 to 1984.

33.   The "Hollyveld" (films made locally by exploitation filmmakers, supposedly shot in the USA) film boom strikes South Africa in 1985.

34.   Cinemas officially become multi-racial as from 1986, partly as a result of a threatened worldwide ban on film distribution in South Africa.

35.   The Israeli film distribution company New Century Entertainment buys out the Metro cinema chain in South Africa in 1986 and re-names it Nu-Metro Cinemas.

36.   Sir Richard Attenborough's Cry Freedom  is a box-office disaster in 1987. The film's passing by the PCB in 1988 leads the Bureau For State Security to order the Police to seize copies of the film from cinemas and their respective distribution offices. The film is not seen in South Africa until 1991.

37.   Richard Donner's Lethal Weapon 2 is released in 1989. Starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, this anti-South African feature film, masquerading as a police action comedy, is a worldwide success (surprisingly in South Africa as well, where it is screened uncut) and was the only anti-South African film to be a success where other far more serious attempts to highlight apartheid, such as Euzhan Palcy's A Dry White Season, Chris Menges' A World Apart and Cry Freedom failed.

38.   The revelations of the so-called 'film subsidy' scandal cause major problems for the industry in the early 1990's as company after company is shut down and the industry goes into a serious tailspin from which it is only recently recovering.

39.   The dawn of a new dispensation in South Africa in 1994 spells the end for the once all powerful censor boards, both of whom are later replaced by the more representative but no less powerful 'Film and Publications Board'.

40.   South African born filmmaker Jon Blair wins an Academy Award for "Best Documentary Feature" for his film Anne Frank Remembered in 1996.

41.   South Africa holds its' first film and television market ~ "Sitenghi" ~ in 1996.

42.   South African born filmmaker Eric Abraham wins an Academy Award for 'Best Foreign Feature Film' for his Czechoslovakian production of Jan Sverak's Kolya in 1997.

43.   A film retrospective of the careers of filmmakers Emil Nofal and Jans Rautenbach is showcased at the Klein Karoo Arts Festival in 1998.

44.   The huge Kyknet / MNet film digitization project is launched by the NFA and MNet in 1999 ~ after four years, the upshot of all this effort is that almost 98% of all the feature films in the NFA holdings are transferred to digital video at an estimated cost of R6 million. The NFA's failing holdings building facilities are also upgraded to state-of-the-art facilities at a cost of R5 million.

45.   The National Film and Video Foundation is launched in 1999.

46.   The NFA's Outreach Program is launched in 2001.

47.   South African born screenwriter and playwright Ronald Harwood wins an Academy Award for his screenplay for Roman Polanski's The Pianist in 2003.

48.   The NFA turns forty in 2004.

49.   South African actress Charlize Theron wins an Academy Award as "Best Actress" for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wournous in Monster in 2004, becoming the first South African actress to win such an award.

50.   Darrell Roodt's Yesterday becomes the first South African feature film to be nominated for an Academy Award ~ in this case, the category "Best Foreign Feature" in 2005, losing to Spain's The Sea Inside.

51.   Gavin Hood's Tsotsi wins the "Best Foreign Feature Film" Academy Award in 2006 while, at the same ceremony, South African raised cameraman Dion Beebe wins an award for his cinematography on Rob Marshall's Memoirs of A Geisha.

[Trevor]

Sorry, I forgot to add this one:  Yikes:

20.1/2: Trevor Moses born in Bulawayo, Rhodesia, 11 September, 1967.

[Doc Daneeka]

I found what I read to be most interesting! But what I found most interesting was:

50.   Darrell Roodt's Yesterday becomes the first South African feature film to be nominated for an Academy Award ~ in this case, the category "Best Foreign Feature" in 2005, losing to Spain's The Sea Inside.

Darrel Roodt? Of DRACULA 3000 fame?!?

[Trevor]

Thanks, MrBriggs! 

That Darrell Roodt? Yes, that's the man: he started off so well with great films like The Stick and Place of Weeping, then started working for a pay check in that film that you mentioned, MrB. 

[Scott]

It would be neat to see film history documentaries of each country.

[frank]

It would be neat to see film history documentaries of each country.

I’m not as skilled and definitely less qualified as Trevor, but I give it a very short try for Germany:

1895   Nov.1: first public presentation of a couple of short films by the Skladanowsky brothers in Berlin (notice that this is before the Lumiere brothers’ presentation on Dec 28 in Paris). This might well be the dawn of movie theaters, although the Lumiere’s projector was superior by far and became the sate of art at this time.

1913   “Der Student von Prag” by Stellan Rye is the first „cultural“ movie with a clear plot line (as opposed to mere „scenes“ of wild animals, trains and the like before)

1917   first movie by Fritz Lang (later “Metropolis”)

1917   formation of the UfA (Universum Film AG), the first German film company

1920   first fantastic movie “Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam” (The golem, as it entered the world) by Paul Wegener. Most successful Horror-Movie of these times! (also „The cabinet of Dr. Caligari” by Robert Wiene); also “Die Todeskarawane” starring Bela Lugosi!

1922   “Nosferatu” by Murnau

1924   “non-static” cameras become common (e.g. “The last man”; camera by Karl Freund)

1930   virtually all movies with sound

1931   first colored German movie: “Bunte Tierwelt” (Colorful Animal life)

1933   more than 1,500 artist emigrate because of the Nazi-regime, e.g. Fitz Lang, Marlene Dietrich, Peter Lorre. In the next years mainly propaganda and entertainment movies. Notably Leni Riefenstahl’s documentaries, although technically impressive, politically fatal.

1945 – present   mostly harmless


A few international recognized movies:

1959   “Serengeti darf nicht sterben” (Serengeti shall not die), documentary by Grzimek, won Oscar for best documentary in 1960

1970   “Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen” (Even Dwarfs Started Small), Werner Herzog (later tons of movies with Klaus Kinski – Kinski rules!)

1979   “Die Blechtrommel” (The Tin Drum), Volker Schöndorff, won Oscar as best foreign movie

1981   „Das Boot“ (The Boat), Wolfgang Petersen (later The neverending story, Enemy mine, In the line of fire, Outbreak, Air Force One, Troy)

1990   “Moon 44”, Roland Emmerich (later Universal Soldier, Stargate, Independence Day, Godzilla, The Patriot)

1998   “Lola rennt” (Lola runs), Tom Tykwer

1999   “Buena Vista Social Club”, Wim Wenders

2004   “Der Untergang” (Downfall), Oliver Hirschbiegel

2006   “Das Leben der anderen” (The Lives of Others), Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

"Bad" movies, however, are a different topic.....

[Trevor]

  Thanks Frank, very interesting indeed.   

I have written a book on the film industry in our country but no publisher will touch it, as they say it is too controversial. It is 400 pages in length and makes for good night reading.

I say 'good night reading' because if it does not bore you and put you to sleep, you can always get someone to drop it on your head and that should do the trick nicely. 

[frank]

Hey Trevor, that's prety awsome. A friend of mine tries to find a publisher for a couple of fantasy and scifi stories. I imagine it is even harder for non-fiction. However, that would be extremely valuable, as all information someone has gathered shall not be lost in the future. And film industry seems to be quite an interesting topic - so good luck!


No problems handling 400 pages in bed! I once bougfht the Complete Far Side by Gary Larson in three volumes, one weighing about 9 kg. That was a challanging night time re-reading. And it did not stop me from repeating that with the Complete Calvin and Hobbs....

[Doc Daneeka]

Hey Frank, did you know the oldest living actor was Hitler's favorite? http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0373535/

[frank]

Hey Mrs. Briggs Inc.,

I always thought of Johannes Heesters as a sort of sad personality. He was already well in his 90s when I first heard of him. I remember thinking that it was a very indecent thing to do, when I saw him on a TV show a couple of years ago. He probably shouldn't be on stage anymore, but, again, if he wants to, why not. Just not my cup of tea, watching VERY old men performing badly.

Somehow I can't imagine him being Hitler's favorite. He is actually dutch and never got the German citizenship, although he was working here from 1936 on. He never joined the NSDAP ether, but there are several connections between him and regime officials and Hitler visited several of his performances. But there might be better candidates, like Heinz Rühmann (for movies) and Gustav Gründgens (for theater). However, both later denied any political involvement and there are hints that they actually tried to avoid any connectence to political issues (Gründgens trying to resign from his official office at the Berlin theater house after arrestment of jewish actors and the like). Many artists were pretty much unbothered by the nazi officials, as long as they entertained the masses and distracted them from more urgent issues. But, it was a sad period for arts here in Germany. Most of the best actors showed up in some propagana movie eventually. Even Hans Albers, who raised concerns against the regime in public and refused to accept any awards from any nazi officials.

As I said, a sad period....

[Rev. Powell]

Frank, your last post reminds me of the excellent Faustian movie MEPHISTO (1981) about a mediocre German actor who sells his soul to the Nazi propaganda machine.  I bet you've seen it, though IMDB says it was banned in Germany until 2000 (!), presumably because it was based on the life of a real actor (Gustaf Gründgens).

[frank]

Hey Rev. Powell,

It is indeed a excellent movie. You probably know the main actor, Klaus Maria Brandauer, from one of the Bond movies, he was the bad guy and I think Kim Basinger was sort of his girl (Domino?). There was some kind of computer game between him and James Bond involved...

However, it was definitely not banned over here. It actually won an Oscar as best foreign movie, we discussed it in class in high school, it is regularly on TV (and was well before 2000). I wonder, if it was banned in the former DDR, though, but since the reunion was 1989, it should have been ineffective then already.

For the movie, and the novel by one of the Mann brothers, they substituted "Gustav Gründgens" with "Hendrik Höfgen", very imaginative! Gründgens bio is quite interesting and the movie captures this well, but there are, of course, some dissimilarities, e.g. Gründgens had no affair with a black women, but was gay (even worse back then!).

Klaus Maria Brandauer had another excellent role in a movie, where he played Georg Elser,a guy who tried to assassinate (with a bomb) Hitler all by himself, and just failed because Hitlers departed earlier than announced due to bad weather conditions. Georg Elser is sadly less known than von Stauffenberg or the members of the white rose group. He was caught at the Swiss border rather by accident (he still carried some material related to bomb building) and was executed later in a concentration camp shortly before the war ended.

[Rev. Powell]

I thought you would have seen it.  The information on the film being banned came from the IMDB "trivia" page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082736/trivia.  Who knew those unmoderated anonymous Internet submissions could be wrong sometimes? 

[frank]

OK, this bugged me, so I did some research.

It was not the movie, but the book that was banned, and that's not entirely true ether. The book is written by Klaus Mann, the son of Thomas Mann (Noble Prize winner). Klaus Mann fled from Germany 1933 and was involved in some kind of "writers resistance", publishing anti-nazi journals and stuff. Sometimes, he decided to write a story based on a homosexual artist working in Nazi-Germany, Gustav Gründgens (he did not include the gay theme). The book was published in 1936 in the Netherlands and finally after the war in 1956 in Germany.
When Gründgens died, his son and only heir sued the publisher of the book in 1966, because of mocking his father. The son won and the book was not allowed to be sold (for some reasons lawyers still find the details of the case very interesting). However, as the lawsuit was against the publisher, in 1981 another one just published the book and since then it is freely available everywhere.

Since the last war we usually only ban horror movies, and plenty of these...

Also printed media showing any nazi-symbols, which often turns out being rather silly as they once banned "Maus" ("Mouse" in English?), the comic by Art Spiegelmann from New York about his father's experiences during the war. By the way, a fine piece of work.

[Rev. Powell]

Thanks for the research.  I assumed that it was a defamation issue, not a Nazi issue.  "Maus" was published under the title "Maus" here also.  I've never read it, but it's fairly well known.