Written by Renaé Mangena
A few weeks ago, I was having lunch with friends after a hike. As these conversations usually go, we moved from one topic to another, until someone at the table asked: What upsets you enough to make something about it? The question was framed around the idea of creating work that is fuelled by anger of injustice, in a world that feels like it’s literally burning. What then do we, as young people living through the flames, say about it?
I attended The Resonance Archive Festival which was a 4 day festival of archives, history and heritage, held at culture and art venues across Johannesburg. The festival focuses on works and stories that deal with memory, it asks questions about what shapes our histories and what moulds our humanity as South Africans. It celebrates our cultural history and heritage and uses history as a science to help us navigate present day demands.
One of the highlights for me was watching Lost and Found, a film about the life and times of Ernest Cole the South African photographer who first exposed the brutality of apartheid to a global audience. His landmark book, House of Bondage (1967), was published when he was just 27 years old and ultimately led to his exile in New York and Europe, where he spent the rest of his life, never fully finding his footing.What struck me most was how deeply Cole captured the injustice of apartheid, how his outrage fueled his work, and yet, even in exile, he found himself confronting the same injustices in New York. House of Bondage is now celebrated as a critical work, but there’s also a tragic note to it: his art carried the pain of being away from his people, weighed down by homesickness and displacement.
I may have gotten lost in my thoughts, but my point is this: through its activities, the Resonance Archive Festival reminded me that perhaps we are not as angry as we should be. As Thandiswa Mazwai told us, that “nizilibel’ uba nizalwa ngobani” we have forgotten who birthed us. This festival arrives at just the right time, reigniting memory and culture, reminding us of the power of story and its pulse when carried forward.
Through conversations, panel discussions, screenings, and engagement with work that forces us to reflect, the festival asks us to think deeply about those who came before us: what they created, the struggles they fought, and the revolutions they endured all while battling their own demons.
Another particularly important moment was the panel on Resistance Cinema, featuring Mmabatho Montsho, Karabo Lediga, Thabang Moleya, and Nomsa Mazwai, chaired by Dr. David N.C Ikpo. What stood out for me was Montsho’s provocation around how we frame “protest cinema.” Too often, she argued, we think of it only as documentaries or niche, artsy films. But she challenged us to consider how even mainstream, commercial narratives like Superman function politically by shaping America’s image of itself. Her point: protest cinema doesn’t need to live outside of what we consume, enjoy, or create. It can, and must, exist within the mainstream if we are intentional about our framing, our narratives, and our storytelling.
All of this brings me back to that breakfast conversation. I’m saying, perhaps even arguing, that we need to create from the things that upset us. Be angry enough that it pushes you to birth something into the world.
Okay, I am done ranting. If you weren’t able to attend, here’s an outline of the festival’s main features, along with links to the ones available online. Happy watching!
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (2024)
Dir: Johan Grimonprez
Runtime: 80 mins
Jazz and decolonization are entwined in this historical rollercoaster that rewrites the Cold War episode that led musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach to crash the UN Security Council in protest against the murder of Patrice Lumumba.
Sam Nzima: A Journey Through His Lens (2024)
Director: Nhlanhla Mthethwa
Runtime: 74 minutes
Going behind the lens, Sam Nzima’s life unfolds against one of history’s most recognised photographs, the haunting image of Hector Pieterson during the 1976 Soweto Uprising. Through the events surrounding June 16, 1976, the film chronicles Nzima’s life, from his early days in rural Transvaal to his rise as a key figure in South African journalism, at the frontlines of media that forever changed the political landscape of South Africa. Nzima’s historic photograph, which laid bare the brutal truths of apartheid and shattered the government’s carefully crafted propaganda, led to his forced exile. Despite this, Nzima did not retain copyright of his images until decades later, revealing a new wave of exploitation and control of the black narrative Through exclusive interviews, rare archival footage, and intimate personal stories, Sam Nzima: A Journey Through His Lens reveals the complex, unspoken power of one image, one man, and countless sacrifices made in the pursuit of freedom and justice for all.
Siliva the Zulu (1927)
Director: Attilio Gatti
In 1927, Lido Cipriani, an anthropologist from the University of Florence, and Captain Attilio Gatti, a specialist in wildlife filming, led an expedition to then Zululand in South Africa. There they made Siliva, a romantic look at Zulu life. The film is a mix of ritual and folklore. Although the dramatic silent feature is distorted and outdated, as it is as a presentation of Zulu life early in the twentieth century, it nevertheless contains authentic elements. It should be viewed both as an example of Western concepts of ‘the tribal’ and as one of the first serious attempts to record Zulu life and culture.
Dilemma (1962)
Director: Henning Carlsen
Starring: Zakes Mokae, Ivan Jackson, Gideon Nxumalo
Runtime: 89 mins
Toby, a young English businessman, arrives in South Africa to take charge of a publishing firm. He knows little about apartheid and so at first sees no contradiction in developing a relationship with an elite, upper-class white woman and with a woman dedicated to fighting apartheid. But as Toby makes friends with a black South African (Zakes Mokae), and as he registers both the subtle and more obvious, deep-seated racial prejudices of the minority white population, some of the truth of the oppression here begins to dawn. That is brought to a head when tragedy strikes.
Dilemma was shot clandestinely in Johannesburg. It is based on Nobel Prize Winner Nadine Gordimer’s novel, A World of Strangers which was banned by the apartheid government.
Charlie Steel (1980)
Director: Bevis Parsons
Starring: Sol Rachilo, Sonto Mazibuko, Lefty Maruping
Runtime: 80 mins
When Dlamini’s daughter, Dudu, is kidnapped for ransom, he calls on his old friend Charlie Steel, a renowned Private Investigator. Charlie attempts to infiltrate the gang responsible, but is soon exposed by one of his ex-army comrades, a vicious murderer by the name of Jimmy, working for the gangster known as Sonny. Charlie Steel’s daring escapades lead him to dangerous and triumphant outcomes.
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