The first screening of this new film on the militant shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo — which has set up a series of linked communes across Durban & Cape Town — will be in London on 24 November 2008.
A Place in the City
a film about Abahlali baseMjondolo,
the shackdwellers' movement
that started in Durban, South Africa
30 minutes long
filmed and directed by Jenny Morgan
Monday 24 November 2008
London International Film School
(which is in Shelton Street, WC2, but the entrance to the viewing theatre is around the corner in Langley Street)
6.15 for 6.45pm
RSVP
to
morganjk@dircon.co.uk
Jenny's mobile
(in case you get lost on the night)
07780 702 547
A PLACE IN THE CITY
Nearly 15 years since apartheid ended, millions of black South Africans still live in self-built shacks -- without sanitation, adequate water supplies, or electricity.
But A Place in the City will overturn all your assumptions about 'slums' and the people who live in them.
In this film, shot in the vast shack settlements in and around Durban, members of Abahlali baseMjondolo, the grassroots shackdwellers' movement with more than 10 000 paid up members, lay out their case -- against forcible eviction; for decent services -- with passion, eloquence, and sweet reason. The film captures the horrible conditions in which shackdwellers live -- but it also captures Abahlali's bravery and resilience, in a political climate where grassroots campaigners like them are more likely to be met with rubber bullets than with offers to talk.
'For the first time now', says S'bu Zikode, Abahlali's elected leader, 'poor people have started to speak for themselves. Now, that challenges those who are paid to think for us -- who are paid to speak for us.'
At the heart of Abahlali's struggle is the struggle for meaningful citizenship rights for South Africa's poor majority. 'Or does freedom in South Africa,' asks Abahlali volunteer organiser Louisa Motha, 'only belong to the rich?'
Made with assistance from Fahamu -- Networks for Social Justice (
www.fahamu.org) through a grant from TrustAfrica (
www.trustafrica.org)
Edited at VET, Hoxton Square, London
Editor: Duncan Harris
Filmed, produced and directed by Jenny Morgan
Hosted by London Friends of Abahlali baseMjondolo
