FILMGOERS can sup at a feast of independent cinema playing for the next two weeks in Johannesburg, arriving in Durban on July 15 and in Cape Town on July 28. Here are some of the best: The Funeral (Abel Ferrara, 1996) This 1930s-set gangster pic finds fierce and furiously transgressive director Ferrara on strangely penitent […]
Ken Barris RUDE SHELTERS by Robert Kirby (Jonathan Ball, R79,95) RUDE SHELTERS is a collection of Robert Kirby’s columns and articles that, judging by the content, span a three-year period from 1994 to 1996. It includes selections of his work as a television critic for The Star Tonight, satirical columns in the Sunday Times and […]
Journalists in Somalia have to be wary … before publishing by photocopier. ALEX BELLOS reports from Mogadishu THE press in Britain is often referred to as the fourth estate. In Somalia – where uniquely there has been no government for six years – it is definitely the first. Mogadishu is an unlikely place to have […]
The sound of scandal from the controversial Aids musical continues to reverberate around its creator Mbongeni Ngema. SUZY BELL reports NEW evidence has emerged in a fraud investigation into controversial director and playwright Mbongeni Ngema. The investigation concerns allegations, made in February, that Ngema used R3-million advanced to him from the R14,2-million spent on Sarafina […]
Wally Mbhele A FORMER commander of Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) recently granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission allegedly tried to derail the amnesty applications of Jerry Richardson and other jailed members of the Mandela United Football Club. Yet Richardson, who is seeking amnesty for the murder of teenage activist “Stompie” Seipei and three other […]
Hazel Friedman `LIFE should not be cheap and love ain’t for free.” This is one of the messages behind the Lovers Plus commercial on SABC, South Africa’s first branded condom television ad. Filmed and produced in South Africa and flighted during prime time on SABC1 and 2 since June 23, the ad is the brainchild […]
As both Unita and the Angolan government begin to redeploy their troops, US diplomats are desperately trying to save the Lusaka Peace Accord, reports Chris Gordon AS evidence emerges of massive Unita military duplicity in Angola and the government in Luanda mobilises for full- scale war, frenetic diplomatic activities are under way to try to […]
Suren Pillay GANGSTERISM has been at the centre of much debate and discussion of late. Gang leaders have become peace crusaders and peace crusaders are breaking the law. Social scientists, community workers and clergy have argued convincingly that gangsterism is a historical response by working-class communities to unemployment, poverty and loss of self-esteem. Sociologists say […]
NAOMI CAMPBELL IN SA INTERNATIONAL supermodel Naomi Campell arrived in South Africa on Friday. Campbell is in the country to begin her advertising campaign for a South African retail store. She will leave the country on Tuesday after a four-day shoot. TRC TO PROBE BUSINESS THE Truth Commission has belatedly decided to probe the role […]
Wonder Hlongwa and Mukoni T Ratshitanga THE Inkatha Freedom Party has closed three of its 14 national offices, amid a cash crunch caused by falling membership fees. Senior IFP officials say the party, due to hold its annual conference in Ulundi this weekend, has been hit by poor management and administration and a breakdown in […]