Have You Heard From Johannesburg?

Have You Heard From Johannesburg?
Directed by	Connie Field
Produced by	Connie Field
Written by	Connie Field, Gregory Scharpen, Jon Else
Starring	BEVAN, SIR TIMOTHY (England) Chairman, Barclays Bank BLOOM, TONY (South Africa) Premier Group CEO, Board of Barclays Bank South Africa BOESAK, REVEREND ALLAN (South Africa) Alliance of Black Reformed Christians, World Alliance of Reformed Churches, South African Council of Churches, United Democratic Front (UDF) BRUTUS, DENNIS (SA Exile, UK & USA) South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee (SANROC) CACHALIA, AMINA (South Africa) Indian Youth Congress, South African Indian Congress, Federation of South African Women CAROLUS, CHERYL (South Africa) South African Students’ Organization, UDF, Federation of South African Women, Mass Democratic Movement (MDM), African National Congress (ANC) CASTLE, Baroness BARBARA (England) British Anti-Apartheid Movement COLLINS, DIANA (England) International Defense and Aid DELLUMS, RON (USA) U. S. Congress (D-CA), Congressional Black Caucus DE VILLIERS, LES (South Africa) South African Department of Information DU PLESSIS, BAREND (South Africa) Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Information, Minister of Education and Training, Minister of Finance, National Party HUGHES, LORD ROBERT (England) British Anti-Apartheid Movement, Member of UK Parliament KATZIN, DONNA (USA) Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility KAUNDA, KENNETH (Zambia) President of Zambia KUMALO, DUMISANI (SA Exile) American Committee On Africa, ANC LUGAR, RICHARD (USA) U. S. Senator (R - Indiana), Senate Foreign Relations Committee MAHARAJ, MAC (South Africa) South African Communist Party (SACP), Umkhonto We Sizwe (or “Spear of the Nation, abbreviated “MK,” ANC MASEKELA, BARBARA (SA Exile) ANC MBEKI, GOVAN (South Africa) ANC, SACP, MK MCCUNE, WILLIAM (USA) Polaroid Vice President MCDOUGALL, GAY (USA) Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law MINTY, ABDUL (SA Exile, England) British Anti-Apartheid Movement, World Campaign against Military and Nuclear Collaboration with South Africa MOLOTSI, PETER (SA Exile, USA) Pan Africanist Congress NOMIS, SYD (South Africa) South African rugby player (Springboks) RAMPHAL, SHRIDATH “SONNY” (Guyana) Secretary-General of the Commonwealth RAMSAMY, SAM (South Africa) South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee (SANROC) REDDY, E.S. (USA) United Nations Special Committee on Apartheid RICHARDS, TREVOR (New Zealand) Halt All Racist Tours SALIM SALIM, Organization of African Unity SHEMYATENKOV, VLADIMIR (Russia) Soviet Communist Party International Department SISULU, WALTER (South Africa) ANC SOVERN, MICHAEL (USA) Columbia University President SULLIVAN, REVEREND LEON (USA) General Motors Board Member TERREBLANCHE, SAMPIE (South Africa) Broderbond, National Party, Theron Commission, South African Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Board TERRY, MIKE (England), British Anti-Apartheid Movement TUTU, ARCHBISHOP DESMOND (South Africa) South African Council of Churches, 1984 Nobel Peace Prize Winner VAN DER HEVVEL, ALBERT (Netherlands) Dutch Reform Church, World Council of Churches WAGNER, GER (Netherlands) CEO, Royal Dutch Shell Group WÄSTBERG, PER (Sweden) Fund for Victims of Racial Oppression, International Defense and Aid Fund
Music by	Todd Boekheild, Marco D'Ambrosio
Cinematography	Tom Hurwitz David Forbes("principal cinematography")
Editing by	Gregory Scharpen ("series editor")
Studio	Clarity Films
Distributed by	Steps International, Clarity Films
Release date(s)	2010
Running time	8 hours and 30 minutes, in 7 films
Country	United States
Language	English

'''Have You Heard From Johannesburg?''''' is a series of seven films, with a total runtime of 8.5 hours, covering the 45-year struggle against South Africa's apartheid system. ROAD TO RESISTANCE 65 minute As the U.N. adopts the Declaration of Human Rights, South Africa heads in the opposite direction and implements apartheid. A mass movement is born, then crushed, and Nelson Mandela is jailed for life. HELL OF A JOB 58 minutes The future of the movement is on the shoulders of Oliver Tambo, who escapes into exile and begins a 30-year journey to engage the world in the struggle to bring democracy to South Africa. THE NEW GENERATION 58 minutes Youth in South Africa and around the world are next to join the growing movement against apartheid, and the brutal suppression of a youth uprising in Soweto galvanizes public support for sanctions against South Africa. FAIR PLAY 96 minutes Athletes and activists around the world hit white South Africa where it hurts: on the playing field. The sports boycott pushes apartheid South Africa out of international sporting competitions, isolating it in an area of passionate importance. FROM SELMA TO SOWETO 89 minutes African Americans alter U.S. foreign policy for the first time in history, successfully pressuring the U.S. to impose sanctions and politically isolate Pretoria. THE BOTTOM LINE 86 minutes International grassroots campaigns against Polaroid, Shell, Barclay’s, General Motors and others doing business in South Africa economically isolate the apartheid regime and become the first successful effort to use economic pressure to help bring down a government. FREE AT LAST 78 minutes An uprising in South Africa becomes the final blow in the cumulative world effort to topple apartheid. Nelson Mandela becomes a household name as the campaign to free him ignites a worldwide crusade.

Produced and directed by Connie Field, it includes events such as the Sharpeville massacre, the Soweto uprising, the murder of Steve Biko, and covers the role of some people less well-known outside South Africa than Nelson Mandela, such as African National Congress leader Oliver Tambo. The title comes from the lyrics of the Gil Scott-Heron song “Johannesburg”.

It has earned many awards including: Best Documentary Series, The international Documentary Association: Best Documentary, Vancouver International Film Festival: Best Documentary, Pan African Film Festival; Best Documentary Nomination, London International Film Festival; Best Documentary of 2010, village voice & Time Out New York; One of the 10 Best Films of 2010, Slant Magazine. REVIEWS Have You Heard From Johannesburg

“Best Documentary of 2010 EXEMPLARY… A TRIUMPH of maximalist filmmaking. And you won’t look at your watch once. Field’s nonfiction epic is a monumental chronicle not just of one nation and its hideous regime, but of the second half of the 20th century. Field’s scores of interviewees – black, white, fiery, subdued, colonized, colonizing – powerfully complement the abundance of archival footage, and vice versa... deftly toggles between the macro and the micro.”-- Melissa Anderson, The Village Voice

“Best Documentary of 2010 WELL WORTH THE COMMITMENT. This is a clear-eyed, fast-moving portrait… Every part could stand on its own, Yet the doc’s real impact is cumulative.”--Keith Uhlich, Time Out New York

“CRITICS’ PICK! One of the most notable achievements (and there are many) of this massive, ENGROSSING, AND SURPRISINGLY EXCITING work about South African apartheid is that it reminds us how recently this violent, immoral, criminal regime was in power— and of how so many world governments turned a blind eye to its brutalities.” – Bilge Ebiri, New York magazine

“Like THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS, the 1966 film about the violent struggle against French colonial rule in Algeria, HAVE YOU HEARD FROM JOHANNESBURG functions almost as a manual on how to topple an unjust regime.” – Larry Rohter, The New York Times

“Mandatory viewing! Epic! Exhilarating! More compelling and instructive than any fictionalized movies on the subject. Charged by the impassioned, clear-eyed approach of its producer/director Connie Field and energized by a cast of characters… The figure who stands out as the blood, guts, and mind of the movement… is Oliver Tambo. Shown in rare interview footage, he emerges as a dynamic leader of impressive intellect and courage. (The film) demonstrates Field’s talent for weaving an extraordinarily complex tapestry of historical events and international personages into a dramatic structure, complete with climax and catharsis. The number of impressive individuals that Field has assembled to flesh out this story is astounding. There is not a dull or inarticulate figure among these talking heads.” – Tony Pipolo, Artforum

“Connie Field has produced a STAGGERING, PANORAMIC FILM-HISTORY of the forces that ultimately toppled the apartheid regime in South Africa.” – Anderson Tepper, Vanity Fair

“This brilliant series, on the most important international social justice movement of the 20th century, is a landmark work of global significance.”-- Clayborne Carson, Stanford University

External links

• Have You Heard From Johannesburg? site for Independent Lens on PBS