(2:30... fast forward until 3:50-5:40) (6:14-6:37)
The Youth Struggle in South Africa is identified as the challenging of the apartheid regime by the countries youth in the late 1970's. There were several events that ultimately changed the way South Africans viewed the apartheid in their country. The main event was named the "Soweto Disturbances" which occurred June 16th of 1976 There are a various reasons behind the 1976 student uprisings. "They can certainly be traced back to the Bantu Education Act introduced by the Apartheid government in 1953. The Act introduced a new Black Education Department which was integrated into the Department of Native Affairs under Dr Hendrik F. Verwoerd. The provisions of the Bantu Education Act and some policy statements made by the Black Education Department were directly responsible for the uprisings. Dr Verwoerd, who engineered the Bantu Education Act announced that "Natives (blacks) must be taught from an early age that equality with Europeans (whites) is not for them." Another main reason for the protest which was lead by the students was the forceful introduction of Afrikaans as the main language used in Black schools. At the time libertarian movements were banned all together throughout the country.
"The protest began peacefully until police began firing shots into the unarmed youth. Chaos broke out and according to According to the government-appointed Cillie Commission of Enquiry 575 people died. Police action resulted in 451 deaths, 3,907 people were injured. The police were responsible for 2,389 of the injuries. However, both the death and inquiry figures were disputed by various sources as being too low."
"By the third day the unrest had gained momentum and spread to the townships around Soweto and other parts of the country. Although, it took the parents and the workers in and around Soweto sometime to buy into the idea of the demonstrations by students, they finally did and gave them their utmost support in ensuring that the uprising's goals were achieved." (http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/governence-projects/june16/index.htm)
From the sources that we were able to find, I believe that the movie was a very accurate portrayal of the Soweto Uprising. My most influential source was photographer Samuel Nzima. Sam was on site when the uprising turned to chaos and was able to photograph the faces of the youth as well as the policemen, including his most famous picture (above) of Hector Pieterson dying in the arms of another boy after being shot. There is even a specific shot created by the director, during the uprising scene that even recreates the photo of Hector.
(A video interview with the photographer Samuel Nzima)
A recent article published about the photographer who took the photos of the Soweto Uprising and how he opened the world's eyes with his pictures.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110427/ap_on_en_ot/af_south_africa_uprising_photo_2
