South Africa Uncensored (1951)

01/01/1951

Overview

In 1951, the Council on African Affairs produced a twenty-two minute agitprop documentary film about apartheid in South Africa, narrated by Paul Robeson and edited by Hortense Beveridge (also known as Tee Beveridge; her first complete film). South Africa Uncensored is a raw and gritty piece of black-and-white agitprop, full of firsthand testimonial footage of the appalling conditions endured by Black South Africans under apartheid. The film portrays the filth in Black shantytowns lacking proper sewage systems, the country's segregated public spaces, and the vile white leisure spectacle of enjoying forced fisticuffs between Black workers.