From this week’s episode on the early years of South African cinema — here are four significant films that bring the stories and context to life. Each entry includes a longer synopsis and a viewing option if available.

1. Sarie Marais (1931)

🎞 Directed by Joseph Albrecht

Synopsis:
The first South African film to use synchronized sound and Afrikaans dialogue. Set during the Anglo-Boer War, this short film shows Boer prisoners in a British war camp. One of them begins to sing the patriotic song "My Sarie Marais", evoking a deep longing for home and national identity.

Why it matters:
This marked the beginning of sound cinema in South Africa and signaled the growing use of film as a medium to preserve and promote Afrikaner identity.


📚 Source: IMDb, Maingard (2007)

2. They Built a Nation / Die Bou van ‘n Nasie (1938)

🎞 Directed by Joseph Albrecht

Synopsis:
Commissioned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Great Trek, this film dramatizes key moments in Afrikaner settler history. With both English and Afrikaans versions, it recounts colonial struggles, political triumphs, and military victories from the Afrikaner perspective.

Why it matters:
One of the clearest examples of cinema used as nationalist propaganda. It helped cement Afrikaner historical narratives through film at a time when their political power was rising.


📚 Source: IMDb, Tomaselli (1989)

3. King Solomon’s Mines (1918)

🎞 Directed by Horace Lisle Lucoque

Synopsis:
Based on H. Rider Haggard’s novel, this silent film follows adventurer Allan Quatermain in a quest for treasure deep in “unexplored Africa.” Filmed in South Africa and featuring sweeping landscapes and colonial mythology, it combines action, discovery, and imperial fantasy.

Why it matters:
This film helped establish the colonial-adventure genre. It also marked early transatlantic collaboration between South African locations and British-American studios.


📚 Source: IMDb, BFI

4. In the Land of the Zulus (1930)

🎞 Produced by African Film Productions

Synopsis:
A semi-documentary sound film showing aspects of Zulu life, including ceremonies, attire, and traditions. Created from a colonial perspective, the film attempts to present an "ethnographic" view of Zulu society, though with significant cultural bias.

Why it matters:
The first South African sound film centered on Black life. Despite its problematic lens, it remains a rare archival visual record of pre-apartheid Zulu culture.


📚 Source: IMDb, Maingard (2007)

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