The Liberation Films of Southern Africa

Join Professor Shawn Sobers, Simon Bright (Zimbabwe) and fellow filmmaker Martin Mhando (Tanzania) to watch Corridors of Freedom (1987) and reflect on the vibrant collaboration and resistance of the Southern African Transnational Cinema movement that emerged in the 1980s and 90s to counter South Africa's apartheid propaganda and the media biases of former colonial powers. The liberation films of Southern Africa emerged as a counter to South African apartheid propaganda and the media biasses of former colonial powers. Professor Shawn Sobers and director Simon Bright (Zimbabwe) will present a special screening of Bright's Corridors of Freedom (1987). They'll be joined by Tanzanians, Professor Mhando (filmmaker, academic and curator) and Francis Karungu who works with Augmented Reality using liberation archive to engage a new generation with the history of Southern African decolonisation. Corridors of Freedom is a seminal co-production in the movement of cross border collaborative filmmaking that began in Mozambique and Angola, and eventually encompassed all liberated Southern African countries. Together with film production, the movement fostered film festivals which became creative cauldrons that stimulated the blending of skills and talent for production across cultures and borders. This panel will celebrate the Southern African Transnational Cinema movement as a means to decolonise and expand the current focus on African colonial archive and national cinemas.