Free screening of District Six film
A DOCUMENTARY titled District Six: Rising from the Dust will tell the stories of families forcefully removed under the Group Areas Act.
District Six is remembered as a cosmopolitan neighbourhood, a hub of art, music and culture.
It is right next to Cape Town’s CBD, and was declared a whitesonly area in 1960.
This declaration was formalised with the Group Areas Act of 1966 and saw about 60000 to 80 000 people forcibly removed.
District Six: Rising from the Dust unpacks the art, history and social landscape of the area.
It takes a personal look at dispossession and restitution, and the legacy of intergenerational loss within the context of the current restitution process.
The film was screened to soldout cinemas at the Cape Town International Film Market and Festival in October last year.
The final cut was completed in March this year.
Film director Weaam Williams said District Six was a part of his collective memory of Cape Town.
“Young and old have heard tales of District Six. I grew up listening to stories of the iconic place and its vibrancy.
“My grandparents and mother always spoke fondly of District Six, however they very rarely spoke of the forced removals.
“Aside from the oral traditions, my understanding of District Six was informed by plays such as District Six The Musical and Kat and the Kings,” Williams said. Cinematographer Nafia Kocks has been a director of photography for 12 years. His work includes documentaries, music videos, cooking shows and reality TV. His style is “cutting-edge and street with a love for hip hop and nature”.
He is an avid nature photographer and also husband to Weaam Williams.
Playwright David Kramer said Williams tells “a very personal story of his family”.
A public screening of the documentary will be held on Saturday at the Garden Court Hotel in Walmer Estate at 10am. Entry is free. To book e-mail tobaniz@cput.ac.za. – Staff Writer
AFTER sold-out screening of our work in progress at Cape Town International Film Market and Festival 2017, we are hosting the first public screening of our film on April 21 at 10.30am at Garden Court Hotel, Nelson Mandela Boulevard, Walmer Estate.
Writer/director Weaam Williams and cinematographer Nafia Kocks have spent the past five years working on a documentary about District Six titled District Six Rising from the Dust, after moving into a house restituted to Williams’s family in 2013.
The film looks at the gross human rights violations of forced removals, which took place under the apartheid Group Areas Act and examines the restitution process.
District Six for many decades remained an open sore next to the CBD, with the Cape Peninsula University of Technology as the dominant institution in the neighbourhood.
The film takes on a personal narrative as a microcosm within a macrocosm and lays out the various role-players in this highly contested space.
With upmarket housing developments infringing on the neighbourhood, the chances of feasible restitution look bleak.
CPUT owns about two-thirds of the land in District Six and is the majority title deed holder.
Further plans for the neighbourhood cannot take place without a conversation with the District Six community and CPUT in the spirit of acknowledging that management is not necessarily connected to the previous apartheid regime.
Having recently renamed the Cape Town campus District Six campus, it is imperative that the name change becomes symbolic of a mutual understanding and respect for what is required to build a liveable neighbourhood and a commitment to restitution.
Please join us for a public screening and open dialogue with the film’s director, Williams, and representation from CPUT.
Entrance is free, however seating is limited. Please RSVP with tobaniz@ cput.ac.za.10am: arrival and registration. 11am: movie followed by panel discussion (question and answer). 1pm: lunch. 2.30pm: networking and reflection (writing comments). The Tribal Alchemy Team