REPLY: Film for teaching African history

Mel Page (PAGEM@ETSUARTS.EAST-TENN-ST.EDU)
Sun, 21 May 1995 22:16:49 GMT-5

Date sent: Wed, 17 May 1995
From: David Ericson, Virginia Tech
<ericson@vt.edu>

Bob LaRue asks about "The Gods Must Be Crazy". This film will teach
nothing accurately about the history of the people or the region
involved. Especially for a course that uses film about South Africa,
I'd recommend as a required film Peter Davis' 2-hour documentary, "In
Darkest Hollywood: Cinema and Apartheid". Among other virtues, the
film deals specifically with Jamie Uys's "The Gods Must Be Crazy" by
juxtaposing clips from two interviews: one with Uys and one with
another filmmaker/sociologist who documents all of Uys's
distortions.

That is just a small part of the overall documentary, which traces
the relationship of hollywood and South African film industries with
the apartheid state. I don't have the reference info for the film at
my side, but can get it if anyone is interested.