Film tourism might be an ambiguous term, but it refers to the idea that every time a specific location or destination is used in a film, the film indirectly promotes the destination to its viewers. "This has been evident within the Bollywood film market," says Mark Visser of the Cape Film Commission.
Globalisation is reducing diversity to a minimum of conservative, standardised products: homogenised, predigested, regurgitated, slickly packaged goods for universal, easy, unthinking consumption. That’s happening all over the world. But closer to home, and to our hearts, is the problem that there is less space for African filmmakers to be seen or heard.
A few years ago if you had seen Leon Schuster’s Mr Bones you would have watched one of the highest grossing and, dare it be said, best films South Africa had to offer. Thankfully the same can’t be said of our industry’s current output with the advent of films such as Bunny Chow and Tsotsi.
Portia’s story: Patience in our lives by Dawn Baaba Arthur.
Forensic experts exhumed a baby on Tuesday who was drowned and buried in a yard — allegedly by her mother — last year, Pretoria police said. ”I can confirm that forensic experts found the remains of the child in the yard,” Inspector Paul Ramaloko said. He said the child was buried in July last year just after being born.
Al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, on Tuesday threatened more attacks on Britain two weeks after failed bombings in London and Glasgow. ”I say to [former British prime minister Tony] Blair’s successor that the policy of your predecessor drew catastrophes in Afghanistan and Iraq,” he said in a tape posted on a website.
Oscar Pistorius believes he has the talent to compete against the best Olympic-level runners in the world. Pistorius, a double-amputee who races on carbon-fibre blades attached below his knees, will get his chance this weekend when he runs in a world-class able-bodied race for the first time.
Lesotho on Tuesday charged five men, including three members of the African mountain kingdom’s defence force, with treason in connection with recent attacks on leading politicians. They were arrested by soldiers in the city last weekend, weeks after houses belonging to three government ministers and the leader of the main opposition party were shot at.
The Labour Court has ordered that striking South African National Parks (SANParks) employees must comply with all provisions of the picketing rules, park authorities said on Tuesday. ”In practical terms this means that striking Hospersa [Health and Other Services Personnel Trade Union of South Africa] members will cease their unlawful conduct in the park.”
A ”typing error” has put paid to an application by three Ekurhuleni metro police for a restraining order against their chief, Robert McBride. It emerged in the Johannesburg High Court on Tuesday that McBride was informed in a notice of motion that the urgent application would be heard on Monday ”July 9”, instead of July 10.