There will be two exclusive screenings on 16 August at the Cinema Nouveau theatre in Rosebank, at 5pm and 8pm only.
In August 2012, mineworkers in Lonmin, one of South Africa’s biggest platinum mines, began a wildcat strike for better wages. Six days into the strike, the police used live ammunition and killed 34 miners, injuring many more.
The police insisted that they shot in self-defence, but Miners Shot Down, directed by Rehad Desai, tells a different story.
Using the point of view of the Marikana miners, the documentary follows the strike from day one, showing the courageous but isolated fight waged by a group of low-paid miners. What emerges is collusion at the top, spiralling violence, and the country’s first post-apartheid massacre.
The documentary has been a festival favourite, opening leading international documentary festivals such as One World and Sheffield, and winning Best Film at One World in Prague; Movies That Matter in The Hague; and The Human Rights Human Dignity International Film Festival in Myanmar.
In the country, it has won awards from the two leading festivals for documentaries, scooping the Special Choice Award at Encounters South African International Documentary Festival in June and both the Best South African Documentary and Amnesty International Human Rights Award at the recent Durban International Film Festival in July.
The ongoing Farlam Commission of Inquiry into the massacre began in October 2012 and recently had its deadline extended again to 30 September.
Details: www.cinemanouveau.co.za; 0861 668 437.
Watch the trailer below: