A Revolution in Four-part Harmony, Lee Hirsch, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, Abdullah Ibrahim, Vusi Mahlasela, Schonell, Chauvel, Nova, Perth Film Festival, outh Africa, apartheid, Sharpeville, United Democratic Movement, Congress of South African Trade Unions, Nelson Mandela, African National Congress, music, Revolutionary song, songs, toyi-toyi, Vuyisile Mini, Beware Verwoerd, jazz, Sibongile Khumalo, power">
The power of revolutionary song
Amandla! A Revolution in Four-part Harmony
Directed by Lee Hirsch
With the music of Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, Abdullah Ibrahim and Vusi Mahlasela
Screening in November at the Schonell Cinema, St Lucia, Brisbane; the Chauvel Cinema, Paddington, Sydney; the Nova Cinema, Melbourne; and as part of the Perth Film Festival in December
REVIEW BY TERRICA STRUDWICK
Amandla! takes you on a revolutionary journey like no other. Revolutionary songs and music inspired the South African people as they mobilised in their millions to overthrow South Africa's racist apartheid system. Nine years in the making, this outstanding film captures the mood and anger of black people and explores how they used music to fight brutal oppression.
The film uses original and archival footage from the decades-long anti-apartheid struggle. An array of activists and freedom fighters, singers, songwriters and performers provide an entertaining narrative of South Africa's anti-racist revolution.
Amandla! slowly builds momentum, as did the struggle. It takes us on a journey through the 1950s, when the government made it illegal for black people to move around the country without a pass. We witness the 1960 Sharpeville massacre, in which 69 people were shot dead by apartheid police. In 1976, the movement again erupted in the wake of the mass Soweto student uprising and the spectacular growth of the black consciousness movement, whose most prominent leader was Steve Biko.
In the late 1970s and 1980s, this upsurge spread from the youth to the black unions and communities, marked by the formation of the United Democratic Movement and the Congress of South African Trade Unions. By the 1990s, it was unstoppable and formal apartheid came to an end at the historic 1994 election, won by Nelson Mandela's African National Congress.
The film brilliantly captures how at each stage in the struggle, revolutionary song and dance also developed — the toyi-toyi being a potent symbol of this.
Amandla! brings dozens of freedom songs to the screen, drawing upon original recordings and thrilling, sometimes impromptu live performances by celebrated South African musicians and non-professionals alike.
The film unearths the story of an extraordinary unsung hero, composer and activist Vuyisile Mini. Mini gave voice and hope to a powerless people with anthems like "Beware Verwoerd", in which an infectious melody and lyrics warn the architect of apartheid, Hendrik Verwoerd, that his day of reckoning will come.
The story of Amandla! features some famous South Africa artists who took the message of the South African people's struggle to the rest of the world, including jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela, singer Miriam Makeba, celebrated jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, singer-song writer Vusi Mahlasela and singer Sibongile Khumalo.
The freedom songs of the apartheid era remain popular today, reminding younger generations of the price that so many paid in the freedom struggle.
Amandla! (which means "power") certainly lives up to its title. There is also an accompanying soundtrack CD and DVD, visit <http://www.amandla.com> for more details.
From Green Left Weekly, November 12, 2003.
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