Bellingcat key shifts citizen journalism

Michael Taylor reviews a memorable documentary that questions the truth of headline news challenged by internet investigators

Bellingcat: Truth in a Post Truth World offers a fascinating insight into the world of citizen journalism, telling the story of the individual’s working for the titular Bellingcat investigative news website. Over the course of its 89 minute, Bellingcat goes into detail about the innovative methods that citizens can use to fact check the information that we are presented with on a daily basis. This is all derived from social media, Google Earth and other open source internet data. (more…)

Love conquers all in Blend

Monique January reviews a powerful story of an interracial relationship

South Africa’s historical racial dynamics still loom in the present in interracial relationships like Monique and Leonard’s and remain constant reminders of the past despite the fight to move forward. (more…)

A miss of The Bisho Massacre

Temba Mkosi questions the film’s account of history

This short film directed by Petunia Mokoena is as gripping as most of the political documentaries made about the history of South Africa. The Bisho Massacre: Who Pulled the Trigger? explores the chilling accounts of the 1992 Bisho Massacre involving the African National Congress and the Ciskei Defence Force – a bloody chapter on the road to the first democratic elections of South Africa in 1994. The massacre is one of many events that remain swept under the carpet of South African history much like the 2012 Marikana Massacre involving the SAP. (more…)

What’s in a name – Re Bo Mang?

Leago Mamabolo reviews a student production about naming and destiny.

How do we contextualise where we are from? The film Re Bo Mang? (Who are we?) does this by begging the question of, “what’s in a name?”. Centred around the directors, Karabo Magofe Mahlaela and Dimpho Edwin Mabodimo’s Pedi community, the film reveals that there are contesting opinions and views on the issue of how much impact a name has on one’s life. There are two main characters, Thomonodah Mohlala and Odirile Makola, whose stories the film follows. The film is screened in the South African Student Film category at Encounters 2020. (more…)

Thoughts on Mrs F

Claire O’Reilly reviews the Nigeria of patriarchy and progress portrayed in Mrs F from her lockdown kitchen.