The struggle of a young lesbian to be accepted within the community of a local township, a teenager coming to terms with the domestic violence her mother has been subjected to for years, and a high school pupil troubled by the darkness of his skin are among the issues highlighted in videos to be screened at the Hill Street library on Tuesday.
The struggle of a young lesbian to be accepted within the community of a local township, a teenager coming to terms with the domestic violence her mother has been subjected to for years, and a high school pupil troubled by the darkness of his skin are among the issues highlighted in videos to be screened at the Hill Street library on Tuesday.
The participatory videos have been produced by third-year television students at Rhodes University in collaboration with Grahamstown youth-development programme Upstart. They focus on various aspects of societal discrimination. The screening, at 2.30pm on Tuesday 16 October at the Makana Public Library in Hill Street will be followed by a discussion and is open to the public.
For more details call Amaal Salie. Email: g10s1966@campus.ru.ac.za or cell: 079 1202 581.
In Homosexuality, Sisipho speaks of the challenges that face homosexual women and comments on corrective rape. She explains her homosexuality as a means of protection from the world. She explains how dressing like a man makes her feel “awesome” she struggles to understand why her sexuality makes other people uncomfortable and why her choices seem to annoy them.
Teenage Girl on the Beat is different and striking in that it's a teenage voice engaging with the issue of abuse. It is shot in Joza at the home of Upstarter Anathi Maswana, who describes how her mother had been a victim of domestic violence from the early years of her marriage. The use of animation in this production helps with the dilemma of how to represent a shocking subject.
Athi Nkosi is a high school pupil troubled by the dark colour of his skin in A Dark Black. It hurts him that he is referred to as ‘Blacky’ and he speaks of his attempts to change his skin-colour, explaining that even when he tries to wash it off, the water turns black. Athi Nkosi touches on very deep issues of identity facing many black youths. His attempts to recolour his face are indicative of the attempts most black people have tried to be anything else but black.
