Johnny Masilela Eight short films by emergent and not-so- emergent black film-makers will be showcased next month at an all-powerful film festival in Italy. The Emergent Black Film-makers of South Africa is a three-hour package to be presented at the 51st International Short Film Festival of Montecatini in Italy from July 1 to 8. The […]

There is a significant yet unexplored link between the abuse of alcohol and drugs and the spread of HIV/Aids Khadija Magardie All indicators point to the fact that the young and economically productive are the most likely to be felled by the HIV/Aids pandemic. According to a recently released report by Love-Life, an advocacy body […]

Fuel shortages, roadblocks, hijackings and intimidation are all part of daily life in Harare. Mercedes Sayagues reports I returned to Harare after two weeks in Latin America and found a city that lives in fear. Many – I am one – fear when the needle on the fuel indicator drops below half a tank. Grief, […]

David Beresford ANOTHER COUNTRY Many years ago I interviewed the former British prime minister, James Callaghan. He was foreign secretary at the time. The event was unremarkable, except that it was conducted in a nursery school classroom. We could not find anywhere to sit and he ended up wedging his considerable frame into one of […]

Siki. Dutch director Niek Koppen, who will be a guest of the festival presents his hour-long work of 1992 about Louis M’Barick Fall, who in 1922 became the first African to win a world boxing title. The documentary recounts the life of Battling Siki, the intelligent “savage”, activist, dandy, husband and womeniser. Using unique film […]

Valentine Cascarino Iboh ART Painting in watercolour is frowned upon – the victim of a disturbing myth, mostly harboured by critical modernists who believed watercolour is Victorian and amateurish. Those critics don’t even consider the fact that painting in watercolour presents a direct link to the development of romantic painting in the 19th century. Neither […]

Thebe Mabanga IN YOUR EAR The community radio sector has received an impressive boost with the launch of the Coca-Cola Enjoy hour. The project was started in February as a six-week pilot project on Alex FM. The project then became national, incorporating a selection of drive-time presenters, including Alex FM and Voice of Soweto in […]

Kit Peel Don’t be fooled by the stoepville houses, the laid-back feel, the picture-book tranquillity. The fact that it was mostly Afrikaans civil servants until the 1970s and thereafter arty eccentrics. The oh-so- carefully maintained fib that says: “We’re this alternative little lamb in the commercial beast city of Africa.” The old Melville crowd will […]

The scenery in the Pilanesberg is exquisite: a mix of undulating granite hills and broad plains Angus Begg I’ve had an itch to go camping again for a good while now, thinking I might take my five-year-old nephew, Tadeu, away to one of the bigger game reserves, where he can have his first glimpse of […]

Evidence wa ka Ngobeni The South African Association of Youth Clubs (SAAYC), the national youth organisation that boasts four-million- strong membership, has refocused its course again – this time it is working on changing the attitudes of millions of young people and motivating them to take charge of their fortune. “Gone are the times of […]