Ian-Malcolm Rijsdijk

Between a croc and a herd place: Battle at Kruger and nature interpretation

Abstract The article examines the popular YouTube clip Battle at Kruger and its National Geographic spin-off Caught on safari: The battle at Kruger. In seeking to account for the clips popularity and National Geographics motivations for making the hour-long feature, the author draws on the burgeoning studies of wildlife film in an effort to contextualise this new ‘eye-witness’ approach within the traditions of documentary films focusing on nature – particularly animals. Furthermore, do the clip and its online popularity suggest a new direction for wildlife documentary in an age of increasingly advanced filming technologies and digital broadcast platforms?

Redemption to a kwaito beat: Gavin Hood's Tsotsi

The authors provide an analysis of the film Tsotsi, with a specific focus on the musical score comprising both pre-recorded popular music (mainly the kwaito of Zola) and more conventional orchestral and choral components. We argue that the film is less concerned with political issues—significant given that the film is adapted from Athol Fugards novel—and more about the protagonists individual path to redemption. This journey is powerfully underscored by Hoods deployment of contrasting musical genres in the film, signifying Tsotsis shift from sociopathic menace to an emotionally recuperated individual who takes responsibility for his actions. Zolas influence on the film narrative is also investigated, leading us to propose that the film can be seen as reinforcing negative stereotypes of black masculinity in South Africa.

The arts in contemporary South African higher education: Film and media studies

Twenty years after South Africa’s first democratic elections, what is the state of film and media studies education at the country’s higher education institutions? The article examines several key debates, from calls for the decolonisation of curricula to the tension between internationalisation and local research in local media industries. Is film and media studies reiterating ‘the logic of the present system’, or does it offer new avenues for scholars to pursue progressive and decolonising projects in the South African university?

“I never didn’t take a picture”: on photojournalism and conflict – an interview with Greg Marinovich

On March 22, 2012 the Institute for the Humanities in Africa at the University of Cape Town hosted filmmaker and Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Greg Marinovich. Author (with João Silva) of the book The Bang Bang Club (2000) – which tells the story of the so-called group of photographers comprising Marinovich, Silva, Kevin Carter and Ken Oosterbroek in the period before the 1994 elections – in this interview he discusses his life as a photographer and documentary filmmaker, his years in “The Bang Bang Club,” as much as he can say about the international film adaptation of those experiences (The Bang Bang Club 2010), the craft and craftlessness of contemporary photojournalism, and old white plastic chairs.

Reports on Colloquium Sessions

Reports on Colloquium Sessions Mohammed Adhikari , Howard Phillips , Liese van der Watt , Ian-Malcolm Rijsdijk , Lance van Sittert , Harriet Deacon , Natasha Erlank , Lindsay Clowes , Nigel Worden & Vivian Bickford-Smith To cite this article: Mohammed Adhikari , Howard Phillips , Liese van der Watt , Ian-Malcolm Rijsdijk , Lance van Sittert , Harriet Deacon , Natasha Erlank , Lindsay Clowes , Nigel Worden & Vivian Bickford-Smith (2004) Reports on Colloquium Sessions, South African Historical Journal, 50:1, 210-248, DOI: 10.1080/02582470409464803 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02582470409464803