Last week, in English class, we watched a film called Cry Freedom. It’s an English film by Richard
Attenborough set in Kenya and England. It is about the journalist Donald Woods’
investigation into Steve Biko’s murder.
Our teacher chose this film because of the death of Mandela (on the 5th
of December 2013). Steve Biko, like Mandela, fought against apartheid.
Biko was a Black South African and a leading figure of the anti-apartheid
struggle. The story takes place in South Africa just before the Soweto massacre
which was a youth protest against the teaching in the Afrikaans language.
The police killed many young people and extracts of a documentary of the
massacre can be seen at the end of the film. Donald Woods is a white journalist
who met Steve Biko. This meeting opened his eyes to the real situation of the Blacks
living in violence, poverty and segregation. After the murder of Biko, Woods
tried to publish the real causes of the murder but he was censored. He and his
family had to leave the country to ensure their safety and to be able to publish
his book.
We loved this film because it’s very realistic and pays tribute to the
people who fought apartheid.
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