eNCA unpacks apartheid propaganda movies

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TVSA Team
21 Sep 2015 13:25 Posted in General TV

This week eNCA's going to be airing a documentary about a little known phenomenon in South Africa's film history.

It's called The B Scheme and it's about the apartheid film subsidy system which was very similar to the American Blaxploitation films that were being made at the same time.

Here's the official description followed by the times it's going to air:

Press Release

In the 1970’s and 80’s South Africa, The National Party created a subsidy for whites to make films for black audiences. The subsidy created a booming film industry, modeled on the American Blaxploitation films of the time.

The National Party sponsored movies such as Buddy-cop films, ‘Ethnic’ James Bonds and Zulu Cowboys. These were, according to critics, a cynical way of moralising the leisure time of black South Africans and a propaganda exercise to encourage Black South Africans to stay in the Homelands.

Thousands of these films were made, most of them were later lost and never seen again. By the early 1990’s, movie makers and apartheid administrators were accused of swindling the subsidy system.

As a result, most of the films, along with their makers, disappeared. The films have now been restored and re-distributed globally.

eNCA Senior Reporter Annika Larsen speaks to the so-called father of the B Scheme industry, Tonie van der Merwe. She tracks down some of the stars and directors of the B Scheme films.

The key question she asks them is...Are they relics of a bizarre past or part of our cinematic heritage?

The B Scheme, a documentary produced by Annika Larsen will air on eNCA (Channel 403) at the following times:

Premieres on: