Come Back, Africa (1959)

Part documentary, part narrative film, Come Back, Africa (1959) follows the lives of real inhabitants of South Africa’s segregated townships during the late 1950s, a decade into the government’s consolidated and implemented apartheid laws that restricted the freedoms and movement of Black South Africans and other multiethnic groups who fell under the category of “coloured.” Not trained in acting, the cast members dramatize real events from their lives in a scripted yet improvised way, highlighting the cruelties and injustices of apartheid in everyday moments. The narrative tells the story of Zachariah, a young Zulu farmer who arrives in Johannesburg from his rural village to find work in the gold mines. State-mandated “pass laws” heavily restrict Zachariah’s ability to find employment and housing, forcing him to contend with the cruel reality of apartheid while trying to provide for his family. Generously sponsored by Jane P. Watkins, M.P.H. 1979. 

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Offered in conjunction with the exhibition David Goldblatt: No Ulterior Motive. Exhibition co-organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Yale University Art Gallery, in collaboration with Fundación MAPFRE, Madrid.  

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