Films at the Schomburg: The Liberation Series (Miners Shot Down)

Join us for a screening of Rehad Desai's Miners Shot Down in the second installment of The Liberation Series. The film focuses on the events of August 2012, when the Marikana mine in South Africa experienced the worst episode of bloodshed since the end of apartheid. For seven days, thousands of miners protested for a living wage. The non-violent demonstration was brought down through an intervention by state police forces, in which more than 30 miners were shot dead and many others injured. In this political thriller, the director reconstructs the sequence of events through testimonies and footage of the massacre, drawing a disturbing picture of the mechanism of power in South Africa, where corporations make profits by exploiting the poorest.

Rehad Desai is a renowned director and former political exile form South African, who returned to his home country in 1990. He runs his own film and television company, Uhuru Productions, which produces documentary and dramatic works. He is also the director of the Tri-Continental Film Festival, and is active in the self-organization of filmmakers.

The Liberation Series is a double feature of two recent South African films: Felix,the story of a teenage aspiring jazz muscian, and Miners Shot Down, a documentary about a 2012 platinum mine strike that ended in violence.

FIRST COME, FIRST SEATED
For all free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. All registered seats are released 15 to 30 minutes before start time, so we recommend that you arrive early.