For Immediate Release
May 17th, 2023
Contact: Elizabeth Robey
Southern African Films and Documentaries launches on Africa Commons
Coherent Digital today announced the launch of Southern African Films and Documentaries, with more than 100 films dating from the 1900s to the early 2000s. The collection will grow to over 200 films by the end of 2023, bringing streaming access to more than a century of African history, politics, and culture.
Elizabeth Robey, the project’s publisher, explained, “This is the only streaming source for propaganda films from South Africa’s Information Service and newsreels from African Mirror, showing life under apartheid and major historical events as they unfolded. Scholars and students will gain new understandings of the Rand rebellion, Africa during WWII, mining industry efforts, the Soweto uprising, the Rhodesian Bush War, and other topics.”
Stephen Rhind-Tutt, Coherent’s president, pointed to the importance of the documentaries and interviews. “In the effort to bring diverse voices into scholarship, the unedited interviews of Winnie Mandela and Oliver Tambo, along with sociopolitical documentary films such as Sharpeville Massacre; Side by Side: Women Against Aids in Zimbabwe; We are Marching to Pretoria, Voices of Robben Island, and Black Beulahs, will bring Black African points of view and new ideas into our understanding of African history.”
Feature films add to the value of the collection as preserving the historic record. African Jim from 1949, South Africa’s first feature film, captures a picture of a vibrant township culture that would soon be destroyed by apartheid. Other films portray Black African entertainers, such as Zonk! from 1950, which examines Broadway’s influence at that time.
Southern African Films and Documentaries is delivered on the Africa Commons platform, with the films transcribed and keyword searchable for the first time. Introductory essays provide context.
Southern African Films and Documentaries is available now for trials. It’s offered either by annual subscription or as a purchase of perpetual rights. A subscription package of all Africa Commons modules—Southern African Films and Documentaries, History and Culture, and Black South African Magazines—represents the best value.
About Coherent Digital
Coherent Digital was founded in 2019 by industry veterans Stephen Rhind-Tutt, Toby Green, Eileen Lawrence, Pete Ciuffetti, and others. We find important content and make it useful. Through Coherent, information is saved, uniquely tagged, stabilized, and made discoverable. Coherent Digital publishes collections on its Commons platforms: Policy Commons, Africa Commons, History Commons, South Asia Commons, Mindscape Commons, and Canada Commons.