Mapantsula tells the story of Panic, a petty gangster who inevitably becomes caught up in the growing anti-apartheid struggle and has to choose between individual gain and a united stand against the system. The first anti-apartheid feature film for and about Black South Africans. It was banned by the government of the day, but has subsequently won several South African Film Awards. Mapantsula (SA classic film, director Oliver Schmitz, 1988, 103 min). The film is at times brutal in its realistic depiction of the physical and psychological tortures employed by the regime of that time. At other times, it is a lyrical and believable evocation of the growing consciousness, and evolving conscience, of the title character, as he encounters more overtly political prisoners in the jail
Classics O’Clock VIII, Sunday April 6, 11:30 CET
