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I'm
Not Black, I'm Coloured
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Identity Crisis at the Cape of Good Hope |
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In the wake of one of the greatest failed social experiments in the history of mankind, 'I'm not Black, I'm Coloured' is one of the first documentary films to look at the legacy of Apartheid from the viewpoint of the Cape Coloured. A people who in 1994, embraced the concept of Desmond Tutu's all encompassing 'rainbow nation', but soon thereafter realized that freedom, privilege, economic growth and equal representation would not include them. A people who for more than 350 years has been disregarded, ignored, belittled, and stripped of anything they can call their own enduring a complex psychological oppression and identity crisis unparalleled in South African history. |
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'I'm Not Black, I'm Coloured' explores the rich history of the majority population of Cape Town, the Cape Coloured, and their complex existence in a country still struggling with racial identity. Local elders, community leaders, members of Parliament, pastors, educators, and college students give first hand accounts of their past experiences under Apartheid and discuss their concerns for the future as tensions continue to build. Witness the discovery of their ancestral roots through a ground breaking genetic DNA project in South Africa. |
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| Film is 79 minutes. All South African cast and crew. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Producer/Director: Kiersten Chace Director of Photography: William Diedericks Original Film Score: Todd Kmieciak - Lost Rain Productions Original Songs performed by: Wilmot Fredericks |
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BERMUDA SUN NEWSPAPER An Emotive Look at Racism against Coloured in Africa (Leanne McGrath) ... an engaging, informative and emotional examination of the legacy of Apartheid in the South Africa from the viewpoint of the Cape Coloured, the majority population, in Cape Town. LYNDALL JOHNSON - FOUNDER ASLAN INSTITUTE ...the movie is brilliant. As a South African I was deeply touched at the accurate and very moving way in which you presented the intergenerational suffering and identity crisis of The Cape Coloureds. The historical background was concise and accurate and so well done and provided such a good context for the present suffering. My daughter and I both wept at the end - those scenes of people finding their genetic roots was beautiful - what a wonderful gift. And it was fun to meet Dr. Michael Adams and speak Afrikaans and feel my bond to him as a SOUTH AFRICAN. We all long for the day when we can all call ourselves South Africans, like Americans call themselves Americans instead of feeling in our psyches the difference more than the common unity of our humanity. Blessings on you Kiersten for this wonderful consciousness raising gift to the world. PROFESSOR MARTIN KLAMMER - LUTHER COLLEGE - Africana Studies "This film (I'm Not Black, I'm Coloured: Identity Crisis at the Cape of Good Hope) fills a critical gap in our understanding of people known as Cape Coloureds -- both their history and their present reality as they struggle to define their social identity and place in the new South Africa. As someone who teaches South African history and culture and frequently takes students to South Africa, I especially appreciate filmmaker Kiersten Chace's focus on letting people tell their stories in their own voices. The film has become an invaluable teaching tool for me and I highly recommend it to teachers and others who want to understand this important but often overlooked group of people in and around Cape Town." TOMMY WOON - MACALESTER COLLEGE - DEAN OF MULTI CULTURAL LIFE "I'm not Black, I'm Coloured" reveals the complicated ways people of mixed heritage in South Africa were used, are marginalized, and can be trapped in an endless cycle of invisibility and exclusion through internal ambiguity about identity and external indifference about their welfare. This film also shows the importance of learning one's DNA and how it can free individuals from the psychological and multi-generational shackles that miscegenation through colonization produced in those who are not valued by Black or White South Africa. This film reminds us that no one is free until everyone is free when those who were dominant and subordinate free themselves from apartheid without recognizing the rights of people who sprang from common ancestors. CHARLES ASH - PUBLISHER / FOUNDER - BRUIN-OU.COM I'd like to extend a sincere thanks from myself as founder of Bruin-ou.com, for the amazing initiative and commitment you've shown to the Coloured community of South Africa by investing time, effort, energy and resources into your documentary. Your compassion for the community is commendable and deeply appreciated. REHANA ROZANNA DESAI ROACH - CAPE TOWN SOUTH AFRICA Having lived in exile for many years I was surprised when many coloured I met were unaware of their heritage. I have also been made aware by "black Africans" that I am not black enough! fortunately my father kept us well informed of our heritage. I know that my mother's side is African Dutch and Polish. and on my father's side African Dutch and Asian. So because I have an Asian surname I am not African. But I really am my ancestral mother was L1 the oldest Africans in the Western Cape 150.000 years and I am sure many cape coloured will be the same. And Now that i live in Cape Town again I am aware of how marginalised they feel. Unfortunately this happens in lots of countries where Black and white have mixed. I know blacks were marginalised during apartheid but so were coloured people. And it was blacks coloured and whites who fought for the end to Apartheid. Yes coloured people need to be represented more in the media both TV and radio. If we hadn't had apartheid think how many more South Africans would be coloured! no more them and us. DANIEL PIERCE BERGIN - TPT/PBS MINNESOTA - SENIOR PRODUCER Central to cinema is giving voice to the voiceless. Your film does that to such a degree that you can see the pleasure, pain, and visceral need to ‘tell’ on the faces of your characters. The telling was that important to them. And the safe space and healthy process you offered seemed greatly appreciated by this community. As you originally conceived, the story offers a never before seen account of the Coloured peoples of Southern Africa. But it also holds up a fascinating mirror for the rest of the world – including biracial African Americans like myself. Your voice (literally and figuratively) is also key in this telling. Smart and sensitive, your storytelling structure and style makes the piece work on several levels. JULIE CRUZ - MULTICULTURAL SERVICES - ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY Because of our close relationship with Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in South Africa, St. Cloud State University’s Multicultural Student Services office was very happy to sponsor a screening of I’m Not Black, I’m Coloured: Identity Crisis at the Cape of Good Hope for the university and community in February 2009. The film was well done covering both historical and contemporary issues facing the Coloured people of South Africa, in particular, those from Cape Town. We were extremely fortunate in that filmmaker Kiersten Chace as well as the subject of the film, Dr. Adams, were both able to attend and facilitate a spirited discussion following the film. Both Ms. Chace and Dr. Adams (from Cape Town South Africa) fielded questions following the film from both faculty and students and covered many areas. As facilitators of the discussion, they handled even the most sensitive questions with professionalism and open-mindedness. Working with Ms. Chace to schedule and bring the film to SCSU was a very easy process. She worked with us to find a date and time that met our needs. We received from her publicity information which allowed us to promote the event to the campus audience. The entire process of arranging, promoting and hosting the event was simple, due to the professionalism of Ms. Chace. We were able to provide a space for Ms. Chace to promote the book upon which the film was based, adding to the context of the film for the audience. By including a historical component the film informs the audience of the bearing of the past upon the present, helping to explain the present-day challenges faced by this particular group of South Africans. We highly recommend this film for college audiences interested in a global understanding of other parts of the world. EDDIE JACOBS - CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA Eddie Jacobs - Cape Town, South Africa.... The racial make up in South Africa is so complex and for many years, not talked about issues. It never used to bother me but on my first travel to the US people asked me whether I am Zulu or Xhosa and we had to respond we are black South Africans. Nothing wrong with that in itself, but if one looks a little closer you will find that black in south Africa is what the government of the day determines as "black". Some of us that grew up in the black consciousness movement learned and were made to believe that black is beautiful and everyone not white is black. Not so.... the blackness a South African has nothing to do with pigmentation or language. It has to do with who has the power in government. Even in the first elections when all of us cried and we became one and we sang bind us together Lord.... our first black president uttered those terms we have learned to hate... To all South African, blacks, whites and Indians...etc. The struggle for the liberation of coloured people in SA is far from over. We first have to free ourselves from the thought that we are always in the middle and to let others decide on our behalf. We have numerous visits of USA tourist and as soon as they land on the motherland they insist to see the "real African' We have decided to stand up for our people and for our course........ Its cool to be coloured and anyone that did not grow up in Cape Town will not understand the reality of being a coloured and not black. Thank you Kiersten for your contribution. HILTON A - CAPE TOWN / KANSAS I have watched the Film 5 times and have enjoyed it every time I watched. ps.. Good job. MOHANNAD GHAWANMEH - DUNWOODY INSTITUTE Art & Sciences Department I'm not Black, I'm Coloured, a stirring and thought provoking film by Kiersten Chace, examines the historical and present day experience of South Africa's Cape Coloured. The documentary film succeeds in engendering in its audience an ambivalence about the socioeconomic and civic standing of the Coloureds of Cape Town not dissimilar to that at times conveyed by interviewed members of the very marginalized population. However such ambivalence settles, the film's American audiences will never think of the term coloured in quite the same way. LAURA S - MINNEAPOLIS ...it really went above and beyond my expectations. I loved it and it even brought some tears to my eyes at the end. I had no idea about the Coloured people in S. Africa....thank you for teaching me!!! ROBYN ALEXANDER - CAPE TOWN / WASHINGTON DC I just watched the film (for a second time)... first time, I watched it alone, and then again this morning with my boyfriend (who is Black American). I already knew quite a bit about our community through conversations with my folks in Australia, but your film put many things in context. The historical overview was very interesting - I learned more here than I ever did attending primary school in SA... as you might know, our history lesson comprised of Jan Van Riebeck, Vasco da Gama and the Bushmen (it was funny, I caught myself reciting the arrival dates of the first fleets before you mentioned it in the film). My Dad's mom grew up in District Six and was relocated to Bonteheuwel (which we also laughingly call 'Beverly Hills'). She died last year, and along with her, any chance of finding out anything about her parents - she refused to talk about it. My mom's mom passed in 1988, she too would not tell us anything about our ancestors, other than, they were British (sound familiar)! I remember seeing a picture of my mum with an elderly black lady when I was just a child... I was to find out years later, that this was my great-grandmother. My grandma had me believe she was the maid... We think this great-grandmother was from Mozambique... but we have not been able to substantiate it. For years since leaving South Africa, I have always searched for my identity - and this was probably my most compelling reason to move to the US (from Australia) - to be apart of a culture and feel as though I belong to something. Your film really helped me understand that I actually AM apart of something, not just some mixture of black and white. I too have noticed that the Cape Flats has not changed much at all since the end of apartheid. What is most frustrating is that I do want to help, but really don't know how to? Anyway, THANK YOU for doing this - it was a wonderful documentary and you certainly have started to show the world our wonderful culture and our struggle for our identity and place in South Africa. MAREN MCMARTIN - MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY I will say that I was aware of the Coloured issues in South Africa on a minimal scale. I felt like your film did a lot to expose how much is going on in the Coloured community, which seems to have been misunderstood quite a bit in South Africa and ignored everywhere else. I want to say, that like many in the crowd, I was amazed with what you put together. I walked away knowing so much more and thinking about and looking to uncover the stories of people with similar issues to the Coloured people of South Africa. AMAZING JOB! On a personal note, I found it incredibly inspiring that you were able to complete this, let alone while maintaining a job. You are an inspiration. I work with an organization called History Day, which is quite a bit like a science fair, but for history. Grades 6-12. I know of many students that are working on projects about Nelson Mandela and now I have a whole new dimension to discuss with them. So, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I was so inspired. I wish you all the best and thank you and everyone you have worked with to accomplish this. Please let your subjects know that I am appreciative of their openness too! Way to go! QUINTON - CAPE TOWN / MINNEAPOLIS Being a Coloured man from Cape Town South Africa, I am deeply moved by your accurate and true documentary. I was very frustrated when a group of Americans came to South Africa a few years ago and walked through the coloured neighborhoods and said: "This isn't Africa!" I could not believe my ears when I heard this. And YOU, Kiersten, have made this (film) possible. Of course the people involved too. NORA M - LONDON, ENGLAND I enjoyed the film so much, I can't begin to tell you. I have been to South Africa a couple of times, and whilst there became very aware of the Black/White issues and learned an awful lot - but your film opened my eyes to a whole new area. DONNA JOHNSON - VIDEO PRODUCER - MINNEAPOLIS ...following the premiere, the resounding, standing ovation and sharing of stories was testament that this documentary not only stirred the soul, but suddenly became a voice of awareness for a people who have not been heard until now. The first question was from a lady who introduced herself as a "Coloured from South Africa." She was astounded that her history was so accurately depicted by a woman in Minnesota. Thank you Kiersten Chace for making this Documentary. |
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M o n d é Wo r l d F i l m s
Relevant ● Globa l ● Knowledge FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Email: info@mondeworldfilms.com LOCAL FILMMAKER UNCOVERS ONGOING STRUGGLE FOR RACIAL IDENTITY WITHIN SOUTH AFRICAN COLOURED COMMUNITY Twin Cities Film Premiere – I'm Not Black, I'm Coloured – February 5 – Riverview Theater Minneapolis January 16, 2009 - Local filmmaker Kiersten Chace of Mondé World Films makes her directorial debut with the historical documentary film I'm Not Black, I'm Coloured – Identity Crisis at the Cape of Good Hope. Shot on location in Cape Town, South Africa, this is one of the first documentary films to look at the legacy of Apartheid from the viewpoint of the Cape Coloured, the majority population in the Western Cape Province who fall under neither white nor black racial categories. A people who in 1994 embraced the concept of Desmond Tutu's all encompassing 'rainbow nation', but soon thereafter realized that freedom, privilege, economic growth and equal representation would not include them. A people who question whether apartheid was an evil that kept them separated from the whites or a blessing that kept them separated from the blacks. In focusing her lens on the Cape Coloured's plight, Chace informs us of a vibrant, yet struggling, people adrift without a cohesive, collective voice, "Since 1995, I have been involved in various community projects in Coloured townships throughout South Africa. In 2005 while taking a small focus group to Cape Town I witnessed first hand how life under the African National Congress was getting worse for the Coloured people, not better." Chace delves into the history of the Cape Coloured, South Africa's Apartheid history, and the African National Congress (ANC) - the new government that was supposed to solve it all, "The ANC made a lot of promises to the Coloured people back in 1994 that were never kept. Millions of people have been overlooked and their communities are deteriorating quickly, morally and structurally. This is when I realized that someone needed to step up to the plate, educate, and not be afraid to uncover what is really going on in South Africa, thus the creation of this film." Witness firsthand accounts of life under Apartheid and present day struggles from local elders, community leaders, members of Parliament, pastors, educators, and college students. Also witness the surprising discovery of their ancestral roots through a ground breaking genetic DNA project in South Africa sponsored by Family Tree DNA. Film is 78 minutes. All South African cast and crew. Director Kiersten Chace will be present and available for dialog following the film. # # # If you'd like more information on this topic, or to schedule an interview, please call 952.426.5006 or email mondeworldfilms@gmail.com. |
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| DIRECTOR'S BIO | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Kiersten Dunbar
Chace CEO Founder Mondé World Films Cut to the Chace Studios Producer / Director / Author / Artist |
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To read more about Kiersten Chace
visit www.cuttothechace.com |
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| EDUCATORS | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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DEPARTMENTS THAT
MAY BENEFIT FROM THIS FILM African and African American Studies Anthropology English Ethnic Studies History International Studies Journalism Psychology Religion Sociology TOPICS OF INTEREST FOR THE CLASSROOM Affirmative Action / Equal Rights Cross Cultural / Racial Identity and Self Esteem Bi-racial / Interracial studies Tribal vs Non-Tribal Identity How Ethnic Identity is Constructed and Reconstructed Ethnic Relations and Comparisons Western Misconceptions of Africa / South Africa Slavery - History of Slavery in South Africa - Cape Town Slavery - Comparative Studies between African American and South Africa Slave History Genocide and the KhoiSan People The Role African Americans have played in the History of the Coloured People Socio-genetic Marginalization / Genetic DNA Testing / Ethics / Blood Politics Apartheid Studies Importance of Heritage, Traditions and Culture Human Rights The Effects of Psychological Oppression The Effects of Forced Removals Intergenerational Suffering Social Structure White Dominance / Colonialism Politics in the Western Cape Province Afrikaans Language and the Coloured People |
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