The film Sarafina! will be shown for free in cinemas and on e.tv on Youth Day on Thursday - but not on the SABC.
For the 40th anniversary of the "Soweto Uprising" on 16 June 1976, e.tv will broadcast Sarafina! on Thursday at 20:30 and repeated on Friday morning at 00:15, with another showing on the eMovies+ channel on OpenView HD chanel 107 on Saturday 18 June at 18:00.
"Sarafina! is a movie that best portrays the significant history and role of the youth of 1976. Our viewers should expect to be empowered and educated," says Marlon Davids, the acting managing director of e.tv's channels division.
The film, set in Soweto, will also be shown for free at cinemas on Thursday across South Africa at 12:00.
e.tv, VideoVision Entertainment, United International Pictures, Ster-Kinekor, Nu Metro and Times Media are working together to screen Sarafina! with Leleti Khumalo, John Kani and Whoopi Goldberg, and directed by Darrell Roodt.
Sarafina!, made in 1992, follows the story of a group of students who publicly protest against police presence in their schools during South Africa's Apartheid. The film contains scenes of violence, public protests and damage of property during protests.
The SABC's chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng controversially announced at the end of May that the SABC will censor with immediate effect all visuals on SABC TV News of public protest as it pertains to the destruction of property.
"Sarafina! has been an inspiration to me, firstly in getting the film made, and then being inspired by how it was embraced by the people of South Africa and the rest of the world," says producer Anant Singh in a statement.
Cinemas that will show Sarafina! on 16 June include: Baywest, Bedford Centre, Blue Route, Bridge, Brooklyn, Canal Walk, Carlton Centre, Clearwater, East Rand Mall, Eastgate, Eikestad, Galleria, Gateway, The Glen, Key West, Kolonnade, Loch Logan Development, Maponya Mall, Menlyn Park, Mimosa, Mooi River, Newtown Junction, Northcape (Kimberley), Parow, The Pavilion, Sandton, Southgate, Sterland Centre, TygerValley, Vaal Mall, Nu Metro V&A and Walmer Park.
In Kwa-Zulu Natal, Videovision Entertainment has teamed up with the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission for community screenings from 20 to 26 June in Umlazi, Clermont, Chesterville, KwaMashu and The Bat Centre.
In Johannesburg the The Soweto Theatre will show Sarafina! until 19 June and at the Jo’burg Theatre between 20 and 25 June. In Cape Town the film will be screened for school children from the Athlone and Mitchells Plain areas on 22 June.
