On the soundtrack are the lamenting voices of Ladysmith Black Mambazo (the South African a cappella group had come to international recognition after performing with Paul Simon on his album Graceland a few years earlier). “A Dry White Season’s portrayal of its protagonist and his growing realization of the extent of his own ignorance is an unusually nuanced exploration of the way in which institutionalized racism functions.”. The choice of South Africa’s neighbor Zimbabwe for the location shooting enabled the crew to authentically recreate the landscape and cultural milieu of the film’s setting. In the final sequence of the film, Suzette can justify her betrayal of her father because she understands it as being done in the service of the law, which protects her and the few like her whose interests are represented by the state. Other terms, like nonwhite and non-European, were also used to mark racial segregation. “This year’s program captures characters you’ll never forget: lovers, fighters, dancers, athletes, despots, rebels, hustlers, and heroes,” said TIFF Docs programmer Thom Powers in an official statement. The contrasts between the deprivation and danger of black life in the townships and the advantages and safety of white suburban life are made further palpable in the figures of the two sons: Johan (Rowen Elmes), Ben’s son, and Jonathan. Johan plays rugby at school over the weekend, while Jonathan plays soccer in township streets where police arrest young boys on suspicion that they are politically conspiring against the state. When turning her attention to South Africa with A Dry White Season—the first picture directed by a black woman to be released by a major Hollywood studio—Palcy used a number of stark contrasts to highlight the injustices of another racist and oppressive society. Had Palcy tried to shoot the film in South Africa, the production might have been shut down, and the international film crew and cast arrested. The poignant opening sequence of the film shows Jonathan and Johan playing with a ball on the lush green lawns of the Du Toits’ suburban house—the place of Gordon’s employment. A Dry White Season is a 1989 American drama-historical film directed by Euzhan Palcy and starring Donald Sutherland, Jürgen Prochnow, Marlon Brando, Janet Suzman, Zakes Mokae and Susan Sarandon. 3. The Toronto International Film Festival runs September 5 – 15 in Toronto, Canada. H�dP�O� ��W��6�2�u�G6�Ŵ`�ی1��������t@gHx_xߏ��Z=2�0|!�HY���!/ After this point, apartheid became an internationally visible human-rights issue, and the subject of economic sanctions, cultural boycotts, and political lobbying throughout the turbulent eighties. She then assembled an international cast and shot the film on location in Zimbabwe and at England’s Pinewood Studios, enabling her to illuminate the plight of black people under apartheid at a time when producing such a frank depiction would not have been possible in South Africa itself. Old favorites will be out in force too, including Takashi Miike’s latest, and Richard Stanley’s decades-in-the-making return to the section, with his H.P. Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. His refrain “There is nothing to be done” is set up here to be sharply contradicted during the course of the narrative—he will soon be forced to reexamine this sentiment. “Gordon has been murdered,” he replies. a dry white season rewrite by euzhan palcy may 1987 revised first draft for educational purposes only "in the whole world there is not a single poor devil who is lynched, not one miserable man who is tortured in whom i too, i am not murdered and degraded." The courtroom thus becomes a space in which a mockery is made of the ideal of justice, with the law serving the interests of the state alone. Both slates will feature a number of highly anticipated premieres, with the lauded documentary section playing home to films like Feras Fayyad’s “The Cave” (which will open TIFF Docs), Mark Cousins’ 14-hour “Women Make Film,” Bryce Dallas Howard making her feature directorial debut with the documentary “Dads,” along with new films from Barbara Kopple, Alex Gibney, and Lauren Greenfield. But in the case of Gordon’s murder, Ben’s commitment to the belief that “no one can be free till all are free”—to quote his note to the police captain—ultimately brings about a triumph for justice. 1 0 obj << /Type /Page /Parent 523 0 R /Resources 2 0 R /Contents 3 0 R /MediaBox [ 0 0 612 792 ] /CropBox [ 0 0 612 792 ] /Rotate 0 >> endobj 2 0 obj << /ProcSet [ /PDF /Text ] /Font << /F1 549 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS1 551 0 R >> >> endobj 3 0 obj << /Length 251 /Filter /FlateDecode >> stream This year’s Midnight Madness slate includes debuts from Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, Rose Glass, Andrew Patterson, and Keith Thomas. A Dry White Season—with its commitment to exposing racial inequality and the inherent tension between the construct of the law and the principle of true justice—is as relevant at our current global political moment as it was on its release in 1989. “A Dry White Season,” directed by Euzhan Palcy (1989) “Pickpocket ,” directed by Robert Bresson (1959) “No,” directed by Pablo Larraín (2012) A season of drought. During a compelling courtroom sequence in which he calls to mind To Kill a Mockingbird’s Atticus Finch, McKenzie exposes how the law’s actual agenda is at odds with the service of justice. Committed to bringing international exposure to the atrocities of the apartheid state, she determined to make A Dry White Season elsewhere. Her religious community would have reinforced her position; the Dutch Reformed Church, the largest Afrikaner denomination, infantilized black people and accepted and helped facilitate the government’s policy of separate development, which aimed to enact racial separation along political, social, and economic lines, giving rise to the Group Areas Act of 1950 (assigning racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas) and the establishment of Bantu homelands to contain and separate the various black ethnic groups. It was during this time that children attending black schools challenged the South African state’s requirement that they be instructed in the Afrikaans language, along with the quality of the education (termed “Bantu education”) that they were receiving. The words ‘it is a dry white season’ are repeated in line1, 5 and 8 and this diction is used to emphasize the point that it is a difficult time for those that are not white, as it is a season for whites. Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project No. It provides a thorough exploration of the novel’s plot, characters and the historical context of the fight against apartheid in South Africa. It is an image that held a promise for the future, in 1989, a projection of a society that could be only imagined, wished for, and hoped for. A Dry White Season—with its commitment to exposing racial inequality and the inherent tension between the construct of the law and the principle of true justice—is as relevant at our current global political moment as it was on its release in 1989. It was written by Colin Welland and the filmmaker Euzhan Palcy, based upon André Brink's novel of … ��Hr)����+[����L,���8��#q�>��}�n{�?��f���3C2M�_�?Of�����q?�}������0*�z�ǧ�����E����j,W_.� z�z:�;�Ӌ��. In South Africa under apartheid, as we see in A Dry White Season, the law was upheld through the collusion of police with medical experts and by discrediting or coercing through torture the testimony of black witnesses. In an early scene set in Ben’s classroom, we see that the curriculum his white male students are being taught is a nationalist version of Afrikaner history, according to which the Europeans’ appropriation of land and oppression of black people in South Africa were justified as a matter of necessity if they were to overcome the English and survive. “What was the point of coming here?” she asks. He eventually comes to assist his father, first protecting the evidence Ben gathers in his search for the truth behind Gordon’s murder, and then getting that evidence to the right informant, who will expose the story to the press. Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! 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With his deeply political but unclassifiable debut feature, Med Hondo set out to establish a transformational presence for global African cinema and to accelerate the emergence of a new Africa. “We’ll be talking about these films for a long time to come.”. Summary – “Dry White Season” Adam Simon – CGW 4U1 Dry White Season was what I felt to be an exemplary interpretation of how native South Africans truly condemned the immoral Apartheid political system of the mid 1900’s. Two of the Toronto International Film Festival’s signature programs have today unveiled their full slates, including both the genre-bending Midnight Madness program and the wide-ranging TIFF Docs section. In a scene midway through the film in which Ben arrives at the family’s church to inform his wife that Gordon’s supposed suicide in prison was actually a murder at the hands of the police, Susan is clearly concerned only about maintaining appearances in front of their community. This is the central theme of both the film and the book on which it is based. One of the seasons we face as Christ-followers is a dry season. Don't believe me? endstream endobj 4 0 obj << /Type /Page /Parent 523 0 R /Resources 5 0 R /Contents 6 0 R /MediaBox [ 0 0 612 792 ] /CropBox [ 0 0 612 792 ] /Rotate 0 >> endobj 5 0 obj << /ProcSet [ /PDF /Text ] /Font << /F1 549 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS1 551 0 R >> >> endobj 6 0 obj << /Length 1180 /Filter /FlateDecode >> stream He is drawn into the life of his black gardener, Gordon Ngubene (Winston Ntshona), when Gordon’s son, Jonathan (Bekhithemba Mpofu), is beaten by the police after being arrested in one of the township raids that were routine in South Africa at the time. Jonathan’s life is granted no worth; he is killed and his body disposed of without a trace, his parents denied the opportunity to bury their son with dignity, let alone the right to be informed of his death by the authorities.

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