Great first week in SA getting ready to shoot again with Albie Sachs and for the first time with Max du Preez. Samora and I did some very interesting reccies (location scouting trips for those who don’t speak South African English) this week.
We went to the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria which is devoted to the “pioneering history” of the Afrikaner people. As a descendant of Paul Kruger, the famous and powerful 19th century president of South Africa, Max du Preez is uniquely positioned to help viewers of Breaking the Rules understand not only the history but hopefully the psychology of his people. How did a fundamentally decent, hardworking “God-fearing” people end up inventing, presiding over and defending for decades one of the most unjust, illogical and cruel systems of government ever created?
We got a short glimpse of Vlakplaas, the infamous farm where the apartheid government ran a top secret (and illegal) “death squad” that resorted to detaining, torturing and assassinating numerous enemies of the regime (aka ANC freedom fighters). In a place like that, I certainly understood the meaning of the phrase “the banality of evil.” The farm is now home to a very ordinary and peaceful South African family. There were dogs lolling in the sunshine, beautiful pet parrots chattering in their cages, and ducks and geese meandering about. Enough said for now.
Visiting Soweto was quite an experience! Checking out the various locations where the events of June 16, 1976 took place — where students mounted what is now famously known as the “Soweto Uprising” — went according to plan. We’ll be shooting outside the Protea Glen police station where Max and the other white reporters were sent to get the official story after the riots broke out. We’ll also shoot at Orlando West High School, one of the most significant sites of confrontation between the police and students on that fateful day. We want Max to narrate what he saw, heard and felt about it. These descriptions and our visuals shot on location will be intercut with archival footage as well as, hopefully, commentary by one of the former students.
I have enjoyed my last several visits to Soweto, feeling more comfortable there the more I go. There’s so much development going on – it’s wonderful to see. And we stumbled upon a really nice “cultural village” where we might take the crew for lunch the day we shoot. But what was most remarkable about the afternoon was what happened when we were leaving – we got hit with one of Joburg’s famous loud and powerful thunderstorms! It was a “doozy” including a massive downpouring of rain and hail that left the surrounding hillsides white! I’ve never seen Johannesburg in a snowstorm before and certainly wouldn’t have expected that on what had been a balmy spring day!!
Now I am back to my computer screen toiling to prepare for the interviews.
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