The Bang Bang Club Review

1. In general, what did you like and dislike about the film?

I liked this movie beacuse it was both entertaining and powerful, even though it had a few light hearted or funny scenes, the main focus was always the apartheid and the strong violence present in the black communities; both from the government and between the different tribes themselves. Even though in Cry Freedom we got to see history through a white journalist's eyes, I think that the fact that The Bang Bang Club's main characters are younger and photographers gives us a new persepective of the conflict. Also, all of the main characters were pretty imperfect and made mistakes, which brought them closer to the viewer and made the movie more realistic.

The one thing I didn't like was that the main characters sometimes could be really naive or reckless, but that's not an actual flaw from the movie since it's based on real people and their experiences.

2. How does the film make you think about your future role as journalists and film makers/producers/creator/directors?

All throughout the three years I've been studying journalism, the question about what can or can't be considered ethical has always been a very complex issue because information can sometimes be too difficult to obtain through the usual methods. To me, a journalist always has to put their sources and who they're trying to help or visualize though a story they're telling first. For example, if someone's safety is being threatened because of what one wrote then it can't be published, no matter the hard work or interest that the project meant to the journalist.

Photography is very useful in situations where words aren't enough to portray a reality, but it's also one of the most questioned form of journalism from an ethical persepective, because photographers aren't supposed to affect the situation they're snapping a shot of, making them seem uninterested or selfish. In my opinion, that's an unfair statement because the journalists are putting themselves in danger in order to get a picture that will portay a situation strongly enough to shock the people who see it, hopefully to make them take action. Although I'm not interested in photojournalism at all, this movie made me think a lot about the perspective I'll have in the future when I portray other people's realities, hopefully always with ethic as the most important value.

3. In this film, and various of the other films,we have seen how black South Africans went to vote massively in April 1994 to seal the downfall of the apartheid system with the electoral triumoh of Nelson Mandela and the ANC, now more than 20 years later, we see many of the problems originated during the apartheid are still present such as land inequality, class inequality, unemployement, etc.

How have the dreams from the anti-apartheid struggle played out since the ANC has been in power? (Remember to use the article)

I think it's logical that the south african people had high expectations of the ANC's government once the apartheid was over, since they fought for their social, political and economic freedom for so long. While it's obvious that deep changes can't be made quickly, I think the situation in South Africa was very similar to what happened here in Chile, where the neoliberal system was seen like the best option in order to regain stability while changing into a new government, but then they never let go of it and just accepted it as their official economic system. Since the ANC received help from socialist and communist parties in order to arrive to the presidency, it's obvious that they wouldn't be happy with the ANC's economic choice. Sadly, this is an issue that still to this day separates the people of South Africa, and I hope that the government can finally implement deep reforms that come closer to the promises made by Nelson Mandela's party before the end of the apartheid.