Friday 21 February 2014

An Evening With Film Maker Estele Bravo

MANDELA AND FIDEL / SOUTH AFRICA AND CUBA: AN EVENING WITH FILM MAKER ESTELA BRAVO (Wed, 26 February, 6.30pm - Barratt One)

The Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER), School of Journalism and Media Studies, and the International Office cordially invite you to a screening of two documentaries by acclaimed American documentary film-maker Estela Bravo.  We are privileged to have Estela Bravo introduce and discuss the documentaries with us at the screening.

"MANDELA AND FIDEL" (2013, 30 min) recounts the friendship of ex-president Nelson Mandela with Fidel Castro of Cuba. Based on the unique access Estela Bravo gained to both men, she explores the source of their friendship in the context of the struggle to end apartheid in South Africa.

"AFTER THE BATTLE" (1991, 58 min) movingly recounts the stories of Cuban, South African, and Angolan soldiers who participated in the epic battle of Cuito Cuanavale in Angola in 1987. What was the motivation, and what was the outcome, for the ones who took part in the conflict, and for their families? Those who fought answer these questions. Filmed on location in South Africa, Angola, Namibia and Cuba, Bravo's documentary examines the politics and human consequences of the war from all sides. It features remarkable footage, archival material, and interviews with Cuban and South African soldiers, as well as the grieving families of those who were killed in the war.


DATE:   Wednesday 26 February 2014

VENUE: Barratt Lecture Theatre 1

TIME:    6.30pm

ESTELA BRAVO: "One of the world's foremost documentary filmmakers." National Film Theatre (London).

The ISER, School of Journalism and International Office are privileged to host Estela Bravo at Rhodes University on the 26th February. Ms Bravo is currently in South Africa for the premier screening of her documentary "Mandela and Fidel".

Estela Bravo is an American documentary filmmaker who for the past fifty years has divided her time between Latin America and the United States.
Bravo's life-long objective is preserving collective memory through film while pursuing a more humane future. Her 30 award-winning documentary films have focused on the human effects of conflicts aimed at achieving social justice throughout Latin America, Africa, the Caribbean and the U.S. Bravo has developed a unique reputation for representing through film the voice of ordinary people with great dignity and eloquence.

The work of Bravo has been aired on PBS (US), CBC (Canada), Channel 4 (UK), RAI (Italy), Canal Plus (France), ABC (Australia), as well as in Latin America. Her films have been reviewed in The New York Times, The Miami Herald, The Guardian, The Economist, Le Monde Diplomatique, and Spain's El Pais among others. Retrospectives of her films have been mounted in Madrid, London, New York and Istanbul. Her body of work is considered in the book Estela Bravo: Witness of her Times (Istanbul, 2003).

Miami-Havana (1992), a moving exploration of divided Cuban families, appeared as part of the Point of View series on PBS, USA. The Cuban Excludables made with the Canadian Broadcasting Company, received the 1997 One World Award from the European Community and BBC as the best overseas production on British Television. Her 2001 film, Fidel, was selected for the Toronto Film Festival and received an award in New York's Urbanworld Film Festival for "Distinguished Achievement for Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking." 

Who Am I ?, Bravo's latest film, received the Caracol Award for best documentary at the Latin American film festival as well as the Telesur Award.

Inquiries:

Professor Lynette Steenveld, School of Journalism and Media Studies - 046
603 7142

e-mail: l.steenveld@ru.ac.za

Prof Robert Van Niekerk, Institute of Social and Economic Research - 046
6038903


e-mail: r.vanniekerk@ru.ac.za