Shades of belonging in Vryheid

WHO am I, and what makes me an African?

This was the topic of a series of short films screened at Ekuthuleni Wedding and Conference Venue on Thursday evening, October 23, when the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation launched the fourth season of African Identities: Shades of Belonging.

The series was filmed in Vryheid and tackles the issues facing individuals from different racial and generational backgrounds, 20 years into democracy.

Twelve participants were selected from Vryheid, and encouraged to share their personal experiences in a post-apartheid South Africa. While each film is thought-provoking in its own right, when woven together, the series depicts the nuances and intricacies, similarities and differences of lived experiences in a small town in democratic South Africa.

Nosindiso Mtimkulu, the Senior Project Leader and executive producer, who was also responsible for the popular African Instrument Workshops earlier in the year, strives to promote reconciliation through music and art.

The Institute for Justice and Reconciliation’s Memory, Arts and Culture Project has been working in Vryheid for more than two years, and will continue initiatives in this region until a five year term is completed.

Nosindiso says, “Getting different racial groups to share their stories and experiences on film was a unique challenge all on its own. After months of fruitless searching for willing participants, I was thrilled to eventually be introduced, through key members of the Vryheid community, to people who were not only willing, but truly believed in the potential that the project held to help deepen a national understanding of life in small, yet divided communities such as Vryheid.”

A few familiar Vryheid personalities took part, namely Joanne Appenah; Caerie Lea Broughton; Francois Grewar; Charles Hughes; Thulasizwe Masondo; Catherine Moodley; Tracey-Anne Moolman; John Pillay; Zamahlubi Radebe; Kurt Robson (Kurtisdeep); Brother Clement Sithole and Brigitte Thompson.

The season four DVD set of African Identities: Shades of Belonging will be distributed to libraries and community organisations across South Africa, in the hope that the films will stimulate national conversations about identity and belonging that honours the past, celebrates our diversity and explores what is needed to build inclusive societies.