Yeoville in 1994 was the radical, hedonistic heart of South African creativity. Thirty years later, Carlos Amato asked some of its denizens what the dream meant – and where it went
In the mystically charged Grahamstown, more drama took place in the streets than on the stages and in the theatres, writes John Matshikiza.
In the 1970s and 1980s Paul Boateng was a prominent figure in Britain’s tumultuous era of political and racial struggle. He was wiry and animated, the firm set of his mouth and chin a hallmark of his articulate, legally trained passion for social justice, especially in the black cause.
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/ 17 October 2003
Ingrid Gavshon and John Matshikiza, adjudicators of the second 3 Continents Film Festival, which ended recently in Johannesburg and Cape Town, jointly awarded the first prize to two remarkable films, <i>Ochre and Water</i> and <i>Chavez</i>. This what they had to say…
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/ 2 December 2002
Writer and educationalist Es’kia Mphahlele has applied his mind to the challenges facing our society, writes John Matshikiza.
A rather unkind commentator, in his ruthlessly camp way, once described Brett Bailey as "the Stromboli of community theatre" — comparing the enfant terrible of South African theatre with the old man who created Pinocchio in that old European fairy tale. It was a sourly humorous comment.
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/ 4 February 2000
Recently M-Net took 21 aspiring African film-makers to a workshop on Gorèe Island. John Matshikiza wonders whether stars are made or born.