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A lively and frank new documentary on #FeesMustFall, race relations in South Africa and the state of the nation according to young, mostly middle class, youths and commentators is set to start screening on youth channels MTV and MTV Base this week.
The People versus the Rainbow Nation was directed by acclaimed young film maker Lebogang Rasethaba.
MTV will be the first broadcaster to screen a full documentary since the student protests spread across the country last year.
City Press watched a nearly completed version of the film at MTV’s Johannesburg offices this week. Drenched in hip-hop and electronic music, Rasethaba’s film picks up protest action on campuses, and interviews dozens of music and media stars and young activists. It focuses mainly, however, on the lives of five students – a black soccer star at Tuks, a commuting Wits student from Soweto, a coloured spoken-word artist studying at Stellenbosch, a wealthy Indian student who becomes a protest organiser at Wits and a white ally student in the #RhodesMustFall movement at the University of Cape Town.
It is a collection of pressing conversations about issues that have framed the movement – decolonisation, white privilege, patriarchy, coloured and transgender voices. The documentary allows Fallists to say their say, interrogating how they perceive whiteness and why they believe the rainbow nation is an ineffective construct that has caused more damage than good for their generation.
Rasethaba is known for his music and pop-culture videos, and his feature documentaries on the history of South African electronic music, Future Sound of Msanzi, and a struggle memory piece, Prisoner 46764: The Untold Legacy of Andrew Mlangeni.
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The People versus The Rainbow Nation is on MTV (DStv channel 130) on Thursday at 9.15pm and on MTV Base (DStv channel 322) on Wednesday at noon
