Assegai To Javelin
primary_youtube_id: 2N5EibHMDnQ
1950s
0:11:42
South Africa
Propaganda film with a narrative that suggests how the Bantu people of South Africa took part in a variety of sports in order to maintain the physical fitness which was so important to them as “warrior nations”. Essentially, the process of “taming of warlike tribes through benevolent white rule”. Made in the 50s at Killarney Film Studios and dir. by Italo Bernicchi.
Physical formats available:
VHS,
Mini DV
Digital formats available:
Quicktime (Pro Res)
Audio & visual:
Sound,
Black & White
Collection
South African Propaganda
(36)
During the apartheid era, the South African Information Service launched a campaign of propaganda and disinformation aimed at the Western powers, which it considered its natural allies against what it called the “Communist onslaught” to take over South Africa.
This campaign was both covert and overt, and ranged from what appeared to be straightforward tourist films to savage attacks on the ANC through a source apparently connected to the South African Information Service. The South African government spent millions of dollars to win support, with most of this effort being directed at the USA, where it had many influential sympathisers of the apartheid regime.
These VHS tapes represent an extremely rare collection of propaganda materials produced by the Information Service.
