THE ROLE OF AFRAVISION
Interview of Brian Tilley, 2016
In 1985, along with Brian Tilley, Mokonenyana Molete and Lawrence Dworkin co-founded two groundbreaking video initiatives - Video News Service (VNS) in South Africa and the Afravision Video Collective in London. These collectives were established to document and share the intense social and political struggles occurring in South Africa during the 1980s.
VNS operated on the ground in South Africa, capturing footage of police violence, mass funerals, strikes, and community meetings. Edited clips were then sent to London (IDAF), where Afravision served as a distribution hub. From there, the material was shared with international broadcasters, including South Africa Now in the United States, and circulated through the ANC’s global networks.
Afravision, in particular, played a crucial role in documenting the resistance movement. Working closely with underground political organizations, the collective gained unprecedented access to events that were largely unseen by mainstream media. Their footage was distributed locally through activist youth groups, trade unions, and community organizations. Today, Afravision’s archive stands as one of the most comprehensive visual records of South Africa’s liberation struggle.
AFRAVISION AND THE ARCHIVES
The Afravison archive is one of the most comprehensive records on the South African liberation struggle. It consists largely of stock material covering the period of the 1980s. In the year 2000 the collection was moved to the Mayibuye Centre, the location of the IDAF archives.
The videos below gives us a rare view of the struggle for liberation and Afravison’s contribution in capturing South African history through a lens that covered wide ranging subjects including labour, culture, education, religion and women’s issues.
AFRAVISION DOCUMENTARY FILMS
Mzwakhe Mbuli is known throughout South Africa as the 'people's poet.' This reputation rests on his lyric poems, performed at rallies and meetings across the country. In 1987 Mbuli released an album of his poems with musical backing. The album was banned in South Africa. In 1989, shortly before he was due to tour Europe, Mbuli was detained and held in solitary confinement for 6 months. This is the first major film to be made about Mbuli. It includes live and studio performances. The poet speaks about his work, his politics, and the role of art in the struggle to free South Africa.
In this documentary, foreign cameramen, journalists in the commercial press, and activists involved in community media, describe the difficulties facing them and the effects of media restrictions.
This documentary illustrates black schooling, interviews student leaders, and covers the national effort by democratic organisations to resolve the school crisis through the National Education Crisis Committee.
Women actively resist their triple burden of oppression in South Africa, an oppression affecting them as women, as blacks and as workers. This film contains both vivid images of this resistance, as well as the story of one woman worker and interviews with women trade unionists.
The whole spectrum of churches are portrayed in this documentary, with particular attention to the challenges facing those with an anti-apartheid approach. Leading church figures talk about black and liberation theology in this context.
This documentary features detailed coverage of the Cosatu launch in Nov/Dec 1985, including debates at the occasion and interviews with union and business leaders.
