On Thursday, January 26, 2012, at 10:00 p.m. Eastern (check local listings), Independent Lens will present the final installment of Have You Heard from Johannesburg, “Free at Last.” The series, the work of filmmaker Connie Field, traces the history of apartheid in South Africa from inception through the anti-apartheid movement to the fall of apartheid and its aftermath.
Disturbing images of the South African military occupying villages and towns, murdering residents, and the escalation of violent protest by freedom fighters (The United Democratic Front) illustrate the “rivers of blood” that flowed before the end. Countering these images are scenes of worldwide support for the anti-apartheid movement. It was this grass roots support that led to the isolation of South Africa from the world community, with its only hope of salvation the abandonment of apartheid.
“Free at Last” recaps the protests and actions in the United States and the ultimate reversal by Congress of the Reagan administration’s refusal to impose sanctions. The program also focuses on Nelson Mandela’s transformation from an unknown dissident to a well-known celebrity, becoming the symbol of the wrongs of apartheid.
Celebrating and commemorating the fall of apartheid, Mandela’s release after 27 years in prison, and the end of Oliver Tambo’s thirty-year exile, “Free at Last” captures the joy felt around the world when the decades of struggle finally paid off. Have You Heard from Johannesburg? is both a history of apartheid and the anti-apartheid movement and a tribute to those who dedicated decades of their lives to fighting a social system that was--simply--wrong.
Read more: http://technorati.com/entertainment/tv/article/have-you-heard-from-johannesburg-pbs/#ixzz1k9WEBQcL
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