Miners Shot Down Takes Home Emmy
Rehad Desai's Miners Shot Down, the quintessential documentary film that sheds a light on the Marikana massacre, took home the Emmy last night.
South African film Miners Shot Down, which spotlights the Marikana Massacre, took home Best Documentary at The Emmy Awards in New York City last night.
The documentary, directed by Rehad Desai, follows the detrimental events that led to the 2012 Marikana massacre, which saw police open fire on striking miners and workers at Lonmin Mine. The tragedy saw 34 miners dying at the hands of police. Many of the workers had been shot in the back.
Desai said “This was very hard to make,” at the ceremony on 23 November.
“It took me three or four months just to recover from dealing with the footage from the massacre. I was born and raised in exile and it was all very close to me.“
To date, the film has been screened at over 76 festivals across 37 countries. It has provided a powerful lens for which to view the political fails of the South African government and has gone to win 20 awards.
Desai said in a previous statement: “We are continuously humbled by the way the film is being appreciated by audiences all over the world. It shows how deeply disturbed people are about what happened at Marikana on 16 August 2012. It is now three years on and the commission of inquiry came to close a year ago. We await a fair and just outcome for the victims.”
Many South African audiences have still not seen the film because TV channels SABC and eTV refused to broadcast it.
Twitter was ablaze with reactions.
#MinersShotDown Best Documentary Winner at the #iEmmy Awards. @LalaTuku @FilmFound pic.twitter.com/x8T7X9PfUA
— Terry Pheto (@TerryPheto) November 24, 2015
#MinersShotDown puts SABC, ETV and DSTV to shame. So much for "local is lekker" and all that bullshit they're feeding us.
— Public Protester (@Pasco_e) November 24, 2015
Watch the trailer for the film below:
