Mbongeni Ngema Movies
Whoopi Goldberg stars in this musical take on the South African struggles against Apartheid in the mid-1970s, during the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela. An adaptation of Mbongeni Ngema's popular musical, which ran on Broadway from 1988 to 1989, Sarafina! recounts the political coming of age of the title character, a high school girl involved in the Soweto student protests of 1976. At first just a petulant bundle of energy, more interested in boys than civil rights, Sarafina (Leleti Khumalo) learns of the Afrikaaner oppression through the underground lectures of her teacher, Mary Masembuko (Goldberg). Sarafina's mother, who works as a servant in a white household and never sees her children, urges Sarafina to toe the line. But she can no longer turn a blind eye when the government imprisons her teacher and slaughters her would-be boyfriend during an arson protest. Incited to rebellion, the students kill a crooked black constable, leaving Sarafina to wrestle with their decision to use violence against the government's strictures. Ever tightening its grip, the ruling regime would kill 575 blacks over eight months in an attempt to quell the civil unrest. The sober subject matter is leavened by Ngema's jubilant songs and Michael Peters' electric choreography. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi
- Starring:
- Leleti Khumalo, Whoopi Goldberg, (more)
- 1991
In 1985, a group of black workers instituted a railway strike in a township near Johannesburg, and the response of the apartheid regime was such that violence was elicited all around. Not long after that, Mbongeni Ngema directed a play called Township Fever, which explored the climate of fear which surrounded the strike and its bloody aftermath. The play was wildly controversial within South Africa, and this documentary explores both the play and its effects on the culture and community of the country, and the original strike itself. Key figures in both the play and the strike are interviewed, and important scenes from the play are shown. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- 1988
At the Lincoln Center, the South African cast members of the anti-Apartheid Broadway hit musical Sarafina perform and later give interviews about their politically and socially troubled country in this documentary. Writer-director Mbongeni Ngema cautions his cast that their opinions could bring trouble from the government once they return to South Africa. The cast later meets exiled singer Mariam Makeba, who in a moving, sentimental gesture expresses her gratitude for the company bringing the story to the rest of the world. The performance combines singing and dancing, combining ancient folk songs with modern music from Hugh Masakela and others from South Africa. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Miriam Makeba
