Four men were assassinated by an Apartheid police hit squad in 1985, becoming one of SA's most notorious political murders. The murders were a turning point, triggering a state of emergency and led to the release of Mandela within five years.

Winner: Best South African Documentary Durban International Film Festival 2010 and Shortlisted for Amnesty International Durban Human Rights Award.

SATURDAY 26 MARCH 2011 (3 FILMS)

Theme: Hip-Hop and culture

3.00 p.m. – 4.00 p.m.  FREE ENTRY! DONATIONS WELCOME!

HIP-HOP: Beyond Beats and Rhymes. Byron Hurt 2006. 56 minutes. USA.   Courtesy of Byron Hurt. Co-hosted with Magosi. Discussion after the film to be facilitated by local hip-hop artists. AGE RESTRICTION 16!

Filmmaker Byron Hurt, a life-long hip-hop fan, was watching rap music videos on BET when he realized that each video was nearly identical. Guys in fancy cars threw money at the camera while scantily clad women danced in the background. As he discovered how stereotypical rap videos had become, Hurt, a former college quarterback turned activist, decided to make a film about the gender politics of hip-hop, the music and the culture that he grew up with. “The more I grew and the more I learned about sexism and violence and homophobia, the more those lyrics became unacceptable to me,” he says. “And I began to become more conflicted about the music that I loved.” The result is HIP-HOP: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, a riveting documentary that tackles issues of masculinity, sexism, violence and homophobia in today’s hip-hop culture. The film includes interviews with famous rappers such as Mos Def, Fat Joe, Chuck D and Jadakiss and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons; along with commentary from Michael Eric Dyson, Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Kevin Powell and Sarah Jones and interviews with young women at Spelman College, a historically black school and one of the nation’s leading liberal arts institutions.

Official Selection: Sundance Film Festival; Urban World Film Festival; Full Frame Documentary Film Festival; Altanta Hip Hop  Film Festival; American Black Film Festival; San Francisco Black Film Festival Best Documentary; Melbourne International Film Festival; International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam; Hot Docs International Film Festival and Roxbury Film Festival Audience Award.

SATURDAY 26 MARCH 2011

Theme: Indigenous and Minority Peoples

7.00 p.m. – 8.10 p.m.

Old Peter. Ivan Golovnev 2008. 8.05 minutes. Russia. Courtesy of Steps International - Why Democracy?

Old man Peter Sengepov is the last surviving Shaman of the Kazym River, who lives alone in the depths of the Siberian taiga. The region of the Khanty people is the basic source of oil recovery in Russia. About 70 percent of all Russian oil is extracted here. The oil companies actively buy huge territories in the North of Siberia. Indigenous people are compelled to leave these places, their own patrimonial territories, and so a modern civilization gradually absorbs an ancient culture.

Winner: Best International Documentary 8^th Cortopotere Short Film Festival 2008; Winner: Best Documentary Film 13^th Tehran International Short Film Festival 2008; Winner: Special Prize of the Directorate of the IFF 2009; Shaken Stars: International Almaty Film Festival; Winner: Best Documentary Film 39^th ROSHD Film Festival  2009; Winner: Best Short Documentary 10^th Sichuan TV Festival; Special Mention: 21^st Aguilar de Campoo: Festival de Cortometrajes de Castilla y Leon 2009; Winner: Best Documentary - Audience Award 8^th Espiello: Muestra de Doumental Etnografico de Sobrarbe 2010; Special Mention 6^th Inkafest: Mountain Film Festival  2010; Winner: Special Prize of the State Forest Management Centre 8^th Matsalu Loodusfilmide Festival 2010; Winner: Best Editing Matsalu International Nature Film Festival; Winner: Best Editing International Festival of Ethnological Film  2010; Winner: Best Ethnographic Film Festival de Cine Social 2011.

 A Place Without People. Andreas Apostolidis 2009. 55 minutes. Greece/Tanzania. Maa with English subtitles. Courtesy of Anemon Productions. Co-hosted with The Centre for San Studies, University of Botswana. Discussion after the film to be facilitated by  Centre for San Studies. P25 PER TICKET

A film about how the local population of Tanzania has been evicted to make way for the creation of the world’s most famous nature reserves. Set in the spectacular Serengeti Park and the Ngorongoro crater, the film explores how the parks came to be and how Western perceptions about nature radically altered east African landscape and society. The film focuses on the people who “shouldn’t be there” not only because their voices are rarely heard but also because they are still being antagonised and excluded, while the tourist industry is rapidly depleting the area's natural resources.

Winner: RTBE Award, Festival des Libertes in Brussels; Winner: Jury Award, The Green Film Festival, Seoul; Winner: The Environment Award, Patras International Film Festival 2010 and Honorary Mention – Cine ‘Eco Festival in Portugal.

SUNDAY 27 MARCH 2011 (2 FILMS)

Theme: Genocide in Africa

7.00 p.m. – 8.25 p.m.

Are Dictators Ever Good? Interviews with prominent leaders, celebrities, intellectuals and everyday people. 6 minutes. From Dinner With The President. 2007. Courtesy of Steps International - Why Democracy?

My Neighbor, My Killer. Anne Aghion 2009. 80 minutes. English and Kinyarwanda or French sub-titles. Courtesy of Director Anne Aghion. P25 PER TICKET

Could you ever forgive the people who slaughtered your family? In 1994, hundreds of thousands of Rwandan Hutus were incited to wipe out the country’s Tutsi minority. From the crowded capital to the smallest village, local ‘patrols’ massacred lifelong friends and family members, most often with machetes and improvised weapons. Announced in 2001, and ending this year, the government put in place the Gacaca Tribunals—open-air hearings with citizen-judges meant to try their neighbors and rebuild the nation. As part of this experiment in reconciliation, confessed genocide killers are sent home from prison, while traumatized survivors are asked to forgive them and resume living side-by-side. Filming for close to a decade in a tiny hamlet, award-winning filmmaker Anne Aghion has charted the impact of Gacaca on survivors and perpetrators alike. Through their fear and anger, accusations and defenses, blurry truths, inconsolable sadness, and hope for life renewed, she captures the emotional journey to coexistence.

Winner: Human Rights Watch Nestor Almendros Award 2009; Official Selection: Festival de Cannes, Official Selection; Nominee:  Best Documentary Film Gotham Award 2009; Winner: Current TV Viewers ‘ Choice; Official Selection, Pan African Film Festival; Official Selection – Netherlands Black Soul Film Festival; Winner – Our Stage Viewers’ Choice; Official Selection Festival International; Official Selection Zanzibar Film Festival.

MONDAY 28 MARCH 2011 (3 FILMS)

Theme: Democracy in Africa

7.00 p.m. – 8.30 p.m.

Coming of Age. Judy Kibinge 2007. 12 minutes. Kenya. Courtesy of Steps International - Why Democracy?

Coming Of Age takes us through the development of Kenyan democracy through the eyes of a young Kenyan girl. The naïve post-independence euphoria is reflected in an innocent young girl’s outlook; Moi’s oppressive regime is narrated through her teenage turmoil; and a more mature narrator comes of age with the election President Kibaki. But after disputed election results in December 2007, we are left to wonder if democracy ever truly comes of age.

Winner: Africalia Distinction Documentary Festival des Cinemas Africain in Belgium 2008.

Are Women More Democratic Than Men? Interviews with prominent leaders, celebrities, intellectuals and everyday people. 6 minutes. From Iron Ladies of Libera. 2007. Courtesy of Steps International - Why Democracy?

Africa Underground: Democracy in Dakar. Ben Herson, Magee McIlvaine and Chris Moore 2007. 69 minutes. Senegal. Wolof, French and English. Courtesy of Director Ben Herson. Co-hosted with Kast Foundation. Discussion after the film to be facilitated by local hip-hop artists, including Kast. P 25 PER TICKET

African Underground: Democracy in Dakar is a groundbreaking documentary film about hip-hop youth and politics in Dakar, Senegal. The film follows rappers, DJs, journalists, professors and people on the street at the time before, during, and after the controversial 2007 Presidential Election in Senegal, and examines hip-hop's role on the political process. Originally shot as a seven part documentary mini-series released via the internet, the full length feature documentary bridges the gap between hip-hop activism, video journalism and documentary film-making, and it explores the role of youth and musical activism on the political process.

Winner: Media That Matters Film Festival 2008; Winner: Current TV; Winner: Our Stage Winners Circle Film Festival; Official Selection Cape Town Tri Continental Festival; Official Selection NXNE; Winner: Best Documentary Texas Black Film Festival 2008; Official Selection Womex Sevilla; Official Selection: Milan Italy Festival Winner: Accolade Award; Official Selection: Festival International; Official Selection: Pan African Film Festival; Official Selection: Netherlands; Official Selection: Zanzibar.  

NOTE: NO SCREENING ON TUESDAY 29 MARCH 2011

WEDNESDAY 30 MARCH 2011

Theme: Youth and HIV and AIDS

7.00 p.m. – 8.30 p.m.

Transit. Niall MacCormick 2005. 90 minutes. UK. Russian, Spanish, Swahili and English. Courtesy of SIDA. AGE RESTRICTION 16! Co-hosted with YOHO.  FREE ENTRY! DONATIONS WELCOME!

Shot on location in Nairobi, Los Angeles, Mexico City and St. Petersburg. It follows the lives of 4 main characters on a journey across four continents and finds them exploring emotion and sexuality in a candid and gripping way. In Kenya, Matthew finds inspiration by diving into Nairobi’s burgeoning hip-hop culture. In Los Angeles, Asha discovers that the man of her dreams has been cheating on her. In Mexico City, Champinon struggles to find himself a girlfriend and in St. Petersberg, Tatjana dreams of escaping the city.

Transit was made as part of MTV's Staying Alive campaign, which aims to raise HIV awareness and reduce discrimination against HIV positive individuals.

Staying Alive is a partnership between MTV Networks International, YouthNet spear- headed by Family Health International, the Kaiser Family Foundation, USAID, UNAIDS, UNFPA, The World Bank, DFID, SIDA and other organisations. Transit is Staying Alive’s first TV film which premiered on World Aids Day (December 1) 2005.

Transit was made as part of MTV's Staying Alive campaign, which aims to raise HIV awareness and reduce discrimination against HIV positive individuals.

Winner: One World Award 2006.

THURSDAY 31 MARCH 2011 (2 FILMS)

Theme: Globalisation

7.00 p.m. – 8.35 p.m.

Who Rules The World? Interviews with prominent leaders, celebrities, intellectuals and everyday people. 6 minutes. From For God, Tsar And The Fatherland. 2007. Courtesy of Steps International - Why Democracy?

The Yes Men Fix The World. Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonamo 2009. 87 minutes. France/UK/USA. Courtesy of Good Screenings Productions. P 25 PER TICKET

The Yes Men are anti-corporate troublemakers who get themselves invited to high-level corporate conferences and onto television, where they hilariously unmask global injustice. They care less about changing consciousness than changing policy. Announcing, as spokespeople for Dow Chemical, that they will at last take full financial responsibility for the victims of the Bhopal disaster, they create a media sensation that embarrasses the real powers that be. Outfitted in their wacky “Survivaball” getups, they address a room full of straight-laced suits who don’t think there’s anything funny about going to insane lengths to assure one’s personal safety in the event of any and all climate calamities. The Yes Men collaborated on the entirely fake issue of The New York Times, originally printed in fall 2008, to the great amusement of many. They don’t exactly speak truth to power – but their lies are just as powerful and very, very funny. [Synopsis courtesy of Film Forum].

Winner:  Amsterdam International Film Festival Doc U! 2009; Winner:  Berlin International Film Festival Panorama Audience Award, 2009; Official Selection:  Sundance Film Festival 2009.