South Africa has always captured the imagination of film-makers, even from the earliest days of cinema. Seen as the land of gold, diamonds and savage warrior tribes, the country came to epitomize the whole of Africa as the white man's playground. Cinema, in Hollywood as much as in Johannesburg, uncritically took over the image of South Africa created by the literature of imperialism. This study, based on interviews with directors, scriptwriters, actors and historians, and on considerable research, analyzes and describes the development and history of films on South Africa - the racist and the colonial, the subtle and the poignant, the commercial and the politically committed. It relates developments in film-making to broader changes both in South African society and elsewhere, and provides a comprehensive history and analysis of films about South Africa. The author concludes that the explanation for the world's tolerance of apartheid and racial brutality for so long, may lie in the overwhelming impact of cinema in fashioning culture and world opinion.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Ravan Press (Pty) Ltd
ISBN-13
9780869754436
eBay Product ID (ePID)
94443978
Product Key Features
Book Title
In Darkest Hollywood: Exploring the Jungles of Cinema's South Africa