MAYBUYE iAFRICA

It is funny how the traits of the apartheid era have been filtered through with music and the rhythms of ethnic tribalism to all be under one, Amandla'' the phrase of the conscious movements of tortured dignity , a starved freedom promised by a dream, that only awoke in melody of freedom . Fear simply had no place where hope touched hearts and lifted the souls in lyric.

Ingoma,the music was the only thing that left the designated people of South Africa with hope.Music was a vital part of the struggle against apartheid, for most it was the only tool in which they could express their pain,the more they sang the better they felt.Life and death was no longer a question that was running through the mind of the individual but the thought of freedom rattled their minds.

Malibuye,Malibuye are the words that bought hope to the black civilians of South Africa.A man wakes up with the hope of being accepted by the other man,peace was the only thing that people wanted.A mother tired of being asked one of the same questions each and everyday,mama why is it we never have enough to eat,mama why are my brothers and sisters killed like dog everyday,mama when is my father coming home and the mother being left speechless not knowing what to say.

Music became powerful after the Soweto uprising which happened in 1976 when the youth of Soweto came out in their thousands to fight against being taught in afrikaans as a medium of instruction.People were chasing freedom leaving their families behind and going to other neighboring countries in exile.During the 1980 sundays were set aside for burials for the youth it became a war so people would put out their weapons which were the Toyi Toyi and song during the time and would flee into the streets rejoicing because they did not want to get demotivated.Music became a huge part of the peoples lives even when the people were sent to be hang they would burst out in song to keep the hope alive.

The hope of a nation was dependent on one man,one voice, the 11 of February 1990 was life changing for everyone across the globe, when Nelson Mandela was released from prison hope was restored.

1994 bought tears to my fellow South African as they came out in their millions going to the polls to vote for the first time in South African history.When they voted on that day they were not casting votes on their behalf but for their fellow brother and sisters who fraught for freedom but did not have the opportunity to witness it.

BRIGHT LIGHT

If I had the chance to do anything differently with our documentaries would be to eliminate all the technical problems we experienced and we would have appreciated if the film makers were able to speak to us before hand to enlighten us on the steps needed to compile a documentary and give us a sense of direction.

As a group we had a lot of expectation with our documentaries which we were not able to fulfill due to the fact that we did not use a mature approach with making our documentary, If we had put aside our personal differences and make sure that we worked together we would of met the deadline.The one thing I noticed with most of the groups we all had high expectations on producing a documentary that would blow everyone's mind away but failed to visualize excellence in the same way.

The reason we could not get the best out of our documentary is the fact that my group members had different goals and ideas on how to execute the documentary and we all wanted to shine not to realize that we were out shining each other instead of working together.This experience has taught me how to tolerate and be patient with people.

There were a lot of gaps within our documentary which we could not fix due to fact that the footage we complied at the UGU Jazz Festival(Portshepston)did not want to upload onto the computers and the software we used for editing,which was a vital part of our documentary.

We were able to get a one on one interview with Sazi Dlamini which didn't go pretty well on our behalf,we didn't come prepared which was visible during our interview the questions we asked were not in-depth,but the answers we received were the total opposite which made it difficult when it came to our editing.

The fact that we were able to show our documentary to professional film makers was a total bonus,we were able to get feedback which resembled the true reflection of our work,which was an enriching experience because we were able to see how the film industry operates.I was surprised to actually find out that Nollywood is becoming huge around the globe and is a major money making market which is expanding on a regular basis due to the fact that they distribute their film on the streets that's were I would like to see our documentary being sold.

I think I speak on behave of everyone in my group,when I say we really grew from this experience and its something in which we all benefited from.Most of us were able to identify our weakness,strengths, opportunities and was a eye opener for all,being a director wouldn't be such a bad choice after all.