Marikana is a mining town in South Africa where police opened fire on striking workers in 2012, killing a shocking total of 34 men. It marked the start of a grim conflict between women from the community and the mining company, which breached its obligations for worker housing in scandalous ways. The two leading campaigners are grandmothers, one of whom, the indomitable Primrose, even manages to win a seat in parliament, raising their battle for justice to a whole new level. In this intimate, close-up account, the poor but utterly determined women question why they get so little in return for the valuable platinum that's mined there, day in and day out, for wealthy British people. Their years-long struggle for justice and recognition is being ignored by the higher-ups at the company, so what should the women do to make sure they are heard? Will the solidarity and close friendships in the village survive the onslaught from the forces at the center of power, or will their struggle be used for political gain?
In 1970s apartheid South Africa, one white woman: 'Miss South Africa', and one Woman of Colour: ‘Miss Africa South’ were sent to Miss World. Told by their superfan, a 62 year-old drag queen, this is the unheard story of South Africa’s forgotten Black beauty-queens competed against their own country.
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‘You have to know the ways of an animal before you can eat it.’ This is the philosophy on which the San Bushmen’s way of life is based. In only a few places in the Kalahari desert in Namibia, this philosophy is still put into practice. Ngate is one of the last San hunters. With spears, arrows, but especially with stamina and knowledge handed down from one generation to the next, he hunts the dwindling number of wild animals. It is a tough life; sometimes, it takes a whole day to catch a single springbok. What is more, the number of places where hunting is allowed is rapidly decreasing. The makers of this beautifully composed documentary travelled to places in South Africa and Namibia where the descendants of the Bushmen live. BEING SAN shows how they, after watching the film, are overwhelmed by pride and a desire to live as their ancestors did.
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