Excretapolitics

An Orange Waiting to Be Eaten

January 2023 •French

Ernest Cole: Lost and Found

November 2024 •French

More than 60,000 of Ernest Cole’s 35mm film negatives were inexplicably discovered in a bank vault in Stockholm, Sweden. Most considered these forever lost, especially the thousands of pictures he shot in the U.S. Told through Cole’s own writings, the stories of those closest to him, and the lens of his uncompromising work, the film is a reintroduction of a pivotal Black artist to a new generation and will unravel the mystery of his missing negatives.

Soraida, a Woman of Palestine

July 2004 •Arabic

Soraïda is a Palestinian woman living in Ramallah, in the occupied territories. In this city under siege and a strict curfew, she fights her own battle: despite the military occupation, violence and oppression, she is determined not to lose her humanity.

The State Against Mandela and the Others

October 2018 •French

South Africa, July 11th, 1963. Several members of the African National Congress, an organization declared illegal, are arrested in Rivonia, a country house near Johannesburg. The detainees, along with Nelson Mandela, imprisoned since 1962, are charged with serious crimes for their radical activism against the apartheid regime.

Growing Girls

November 1949 •English

After several farmyard analogies featuring chicks and calves, the well-spoken narrator and director of the film, Winifred Holmes, considers the subject of girls and how they reach adulthood and readiness for the 'important job of motherhood.

Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony

September 2002 •English

The struggle to eradicate apartheid in South Africa has been chronicled over time, but no one has addressed the vital role music plays in this challenge. This documentary by Lee Hirsch recounts a fascinating and little-known part of South Africa's political history through archival footage, interviews and, of course, several mesmerizing musical performances.

Mandela

October 1996 •English

A documentary that chronicles the life of South African leader Nelson Mandela. Mandela is probably best known for his 27 years of imprisonment, and for bringing an end to apartheid. But this film also sheds light on the little-known early period of Mandela's life.

Concerning Violence

January 2014 •Swedish

Concerning Violence is based on newly discovered, powerful archival material documenting the most daring moments in the struggle for liberation in the Third World, accompanied by classic text from The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon.

The Fall

July 2016 •English

The Fall tells the remarkable story of a South African barefoot runner, an American track-and-field prodigy, and the events behind one of the most memorable moments in sporting history – the 1984 LA Olympics. The film charts two journeys, from rural South Africa under apartheid and the rolling hills of Southern California, to the starting line of the women’s 3,000 metres. It uncovers a tale of betrayal and exploitation, of the blurred lines between politics, media and sport, and of the dedication and sacrifice required to compete at the highest level. It’s a story that split governments and divided nations, but at its heart is a tale of two young women who, despite the turmoil in their lives, just wanted to run.

The Shadow of the West

January 1983 •English

Edward Said, Professor of English & Comparative Literature at Columbia University, was one of the most prominent literary critics of the late 20th century and a leading spokesperson for the Palestinian cause in the US. In this episode, Said examines Western attitudes to the Arabs and finds their origins in the Crusades, Hollywood and European empire building. He sees the Palestinian fate as the result of years of Western interference. One of the ten episodes of The Arabs: A Living History.

Health for the Americas: Cleanliness Brings Health

June 1945 •English

The comparison of two rural families to demonstrate the need for proper hygiene and the consequences of its neglect.

Glasgow, Love and Apartheid

October 2018 •English

In the year of Nelson Mandela’s centenary, Glasgow, Love and Apartheid is the story of one family’s fight against apartheid from Scotland and South Africa. Director, Dhivya Kate Chetty, follows her parents – a mixed, and once ‘illegal’, couple – on a trip back to South Africa where the family stories begin to unfold – protests, an uncle in jail, an ANC arms cache, a doctor on the run and a surprise connection with Mandela in hiding.

Cold Case Hammarskjöld

February 2019 •English

Ndola, Northern Rhodesia (currently Zambia), September 18, 1961. Swedish economist and diplomat Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary General of the UN, dies mysteriously in a plane crash. Decades later, Danish journalist and filmmaker Mads Brügger and Swedish researcher Göran Björkdahl investigate the case in search of definitive closure.

White Man Walking

May 2025 •English

In July 2020, Rob Bliss, a young, white filmmaker, posted a video of what happened when he held up a ‘Black Lives Matter’ sign in Harrison, Arkansas, 'the most racist town in America'. It went viral, attracting 12 million views. What Bliss did next was remarkable. Over 1500 miles, two months and 25 miles a day, he set out to walk through the American South, wearing a Black Lives Matter t-shirt, and a sign that invited people to ‘come walk with me’. His goal was simple: to take the conversation Floyd’s murder had sparked about racism in American society into the places where it was most needed, yet most silent.

The 16th Man

May 2010 •English

Rugby Union has long been viewed in South Africa as a game for the white population, and the country’s success in the sport has been a true source of Afrikaner pride. When the 50-year-old policies and entrenched injustices of apartheid were finally overthrown in 1994, Nelson Mandela’s new government began rebuilding a nation badly in need of racial unity. So the world was watching when South Africa played host to the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Though they had only one non-white player, the South African Springboks gained supporters of all colors as they made an improbable run into the final match where they beat the heavily favored New Zealand team. When Mandela himself marched to the center of the pitch cloaked in a Springbok jersey and shook hands with the captain of the South African team, two nations became one. Oscar winner Morgan Freeman and director Cliff Bestall will tell the emotional story of that cornerstone moment and what it meant to South Africa’s healing process.

A town without flies

June 1950 •Japanese

A teaching film for social studies, which was developed as a new educational subject in 1947. At an elementary school in Hokkaido, children have started a fly extermination campaign to improve school hygiene. In order to eliminate the causes of flies, the entire town is working to improve the sanitary environment. The short was filmed with the cooperation of Mizukaido Elementary School in Joso City and is the first film in the "Social Studies Teaching Film System" by Iwanami Film Productions.

La commission de la vérité

January 1999 •French

The challenge of the "Truth and Reconciliation Commission" set up by Nelson Mandela in South Africa is to achieve a truly democratic society. Composed of 17 members and Desmond Tutu, this Commission will be relayed throughout the country by groups called "Khulumani" (literally: "Free the Word"). For a little over a year, it will invite victims, perpetrators and witnesses of apartheid to tell the truth about the past. The filmmakers have been authorized to follow this incredible process, which should lead to the re-founding of the nation, for its entire duration. The film focuses on the collective character of the Commission, crossed by ethical, political and philosophical questions, as well as on a few characters, victims and executioners, linked by a common history. They are filmed in their interrogations and their steps to re-establish a link between a past and a possible future.

The Great Wall

March 2015 •German

‘The Great Wall has been completed at its most southerly point.’ So begins Kafka’s short story ‘At the Building of the Great Wall of China’, and so, at Europe’s heavily militarised south-eastern frontier, begins this film. In the shadow of its own narratives of freedom, Europe has been quietly building its own great wall. Like its famous Chinese precursor, this wall has been piecemeal in construction, diverse in form and dubious in utility. Gradually cohering across the continent, this system of enclosure and exclusion is urged upon a populace seemingly willing to accept its necessity and to contribute to its building.

No Māori Allowed

October 2022 •English

When an academic unearths a forgotten history, residents of the small township of Pukekohe, including kaumātua who have never told their personal stories before, confront its deep and dark racist past.

Namibia: The Story of a German Colony

April 2019 •German

Germans colonized the land of Namibia, in southern Africa, during a brief period of time, from 1840 to the end of the World War I. The story of the so-called German South West Africa (1884-1915) is hideous; a hidden and silenced account of looting and genocide.