Amazon.com
Cast interviews have rarely been so compelling as these of teenage performers describing their memories of the 1976 Soweto riots. The South African adolescents are the cast of
Voices of Sarafina!, the Broadway musical that told how black students protesting the replacement of English with the Dutch language Afrikaans led to police brutality and student deaths. This apartheid-era documentary combines the personal stories of these actor-singers with scenes from the Broadway show. While the music by Hugh Masekela and Mbongeni Ngema is often celebratory, the play's scenes of violence against the children are harrowing. Film director Nigel Noble won an Amnesty International Film Festival award for this 82-minute film, which features scenes of barren townships in South Africa and an examination of the cast's temporary life in the United States. Highlights include classes in which teachers openly discuss South African history and an emotional meeting with exiled freedom fighter Miriam Makeba. It's a mystery why the then-restrictive South African government allowed these young people out to share this story, but this video makes sure it will never be forgotten.
--Kimberly Heinrichs
