The collection spans from 1916's De Voortrekkers: Winning A Continent to the 2011 documentary Thato.
Newsreels show events as they unfolded—the Rand Rebellion, the Soweto Uprising, and others documented in real time.
Major figures—Winnie Mandela, Oliver Tambo—discuss personal censorship under apartheid.
Feature films present images of Black performers and record a township culture that would be destroyed by apartheid.
At a glance
205
films to support research and teaching across the humanities and social sciences.
138
films exclusive to this collection.
Trailer
Film types
Propaganda films and newsreels
The collection is the only streaming source for African Mirror and South Africa’s Information Service.
Exclusive interviews and documentaries
Writers, journalists, and activists share firsthand accounts of life under apartheid and the issues of their time.
Feature films
Feature films include the historically-important "African Jim" (1949), South Africa’s first feature film for a Black audience and "Zonk!" (1950), performed by an all-Black cast.
Synchronized, searchable transcripts.
Searchable, synchronized transcripts
The films are delivered on the Africa Commons platform, transcribed and keyword searchable for the first time. Search for words or a phrase, and the transcript jumps to the matching text. Click into the transcript, and the film moves to that location.
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