Controversial documentary Black Lives Matter premieres at DIFF

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Controversial documentary Black Lives Matter premieres at DIFF --

Mon, 27 Jun 2016 12:09

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Black Lives Matter, directed by Joseph Oesi, is a powerful and damning indictment on the current state of affairs for tens of thousands of miners working and living in abysmal conditions across South Africa. The film had its global premiere at the Durban International Film Festival on 19 June 2016.

Taking the Marikana Massacre as its starting point, the film digs into the history of the mining sector as well as the political backstory that led up to the tragedy, and demonstrates that even since this defining moment, nothing has changed for most miners across South Africa.

Director Joseph Oesi, a South African filmmaker and TV journalist, was moved to produce the film after witnessing the devastating events of 16 August 2012 play out on TV screens across South Africa and the world. Oesi knew that this event was the manifestation of a much larger story that was taking place, not just in South Africa, but across the continent. He explains his motivation for making the film: This film being produced is a very important one at this juncture of my country s change of course. South Africa has certainly set a course, fuelled by a betrayal to the original course set by the original struggle heroes and to the Freedom Charter. Mining, at the heart of the country s economy, has underpinned the course in the interest of big business. In essence the struggles, sufferings from colonialism and Apartheid still persist in modern day South Africa to the disappointment of the vast majority.

For more information visit the films official website.

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