Photo by Imraan Christian. South Africa's #NationalShutDown on Wednesday, October 21, 2015, in Cape Town (Courtesy of the photographer)
“Is South Africa's rainbow nation a myth? What is race in 2016?”
These are the questions explored in a powerful new documentary film from South Africa. The People versus the Rainbow Nation investigates what drove the country’s students towards mass action in 2015, between the successful #RhodesMustFall campaign to the nationwide #FeesMustFall protests. Filmmaker Lebogang Rasethaba (Future Sound of Mzansi) and former Okayafrica team member and producer Allison Swank follow the lives of students across four South African universities as they explore the notion that more than two decades since South Africa’s first democratic elections, the struggle is far from over.
The first trailer for the film arrived this week.
“I think it’s about to get really intense in South Africa,” says one student. “I don’t believe in the Rainbow Nation. The Rainbow Nation is a fallacy,” says another.
As tensions continue to rise at South Africa’s universities, the timing couldn’t be more crucial for a documentary that captures the heart of the post-Apartheid student generation.
The People versus the Rainbow Nation airs April 21 on MTV ZA.