Lionel Ngakane, who died on November 26 at the age of 83, was born in Pretoria in 1920 and educated at the Fort Hare University College and the University of the Witwatersrand. From 1948 to 1950 he worked on the early editions of the legendary magazines Zonk and Drum.
Ngakane entered the film industry in 1950 as director Zoltan Korda’s assistant during the making of Alan Paton’s co-production of his novel Cry, the Beloved Country. Ngakane was never credited for his function behind the camera as a location and casting scout, but is known for playing the role of Absalom alongside Sidney Poitier in that work.
Film legend has it that Ngakane intended to interview Korda for Zonk, but the director was not given to granting interviews. Ngakane paraded as an actor and when he confessed the ruse Korda auditioned him and he got a part.
It was during the post production of Cry, the Beloved Country that Ngakane left the country for London. There he was to remain until his return to South Africa in 1994. From 1951 to 1980 Ngakane lived mostly in Britain where he appeared in a number of politically conscious though critically average dramas like the Mark the Hawk with Ertha Kitt (1957), Two Gentlemen Sharing in which a black Jamaican lawyer shares digs with a British advertising executive (1969) and a crime melodrama The Squeeze with Stacey Keach (1977).
Ngakane also functioned as consultant and advisor on Euzhan Palcy’s anti-apartheid feature A Dry White Season that starred Marlon Brando and Donald Sutherland (1989). But it was his own short movie Jemima and Johnny (1966) for which Ngakane will be remembered. The work was inspired by riots on Notting Hill and uses children to tell of the political tension of the time. The film garnered a number of awards including first prize at the Venice and Rimini film festivals.
Later Ngakane directed a number of documentaries about apartheid and African development and was present at the inaugural conference of the Pan-African federation of Filmmakers (Fepaci) in Tunis in 1967. He becme the organisation’s honorary president and was elected regional secretary for Southern Africa.
Upon his return to South Africa he collaborated on the drafting of official policy in the film industry and aided distributor Ster-Kinekor in establishing a network of township cinemas. He was awarded an honorary doctorate of literature In 1997 from the University of Natal and on October 29 the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) established a Dr Lionel Ngakane Scholarship Fund with an annual pledge of R 1-million.
In its statement after Ngakane’s death, Chief Executive officer of the NFVF, Eddie Mbalo is quoted saying: ”Dr Ngakane’s passion for this industry was contagious, and his dedication has inspired generations of film makers including myself. He dedicated his life and experience for the advancement and development of the film industry in this country and the continent. The South African film industry and the NFVF owe their existence to him.”
Ngakane is survived by two brothers and 3 sisters.
Lionel Ngakane, born 17 July 1920, died 26 November 2003