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Arts/Review

_ Film homag

A WORLD APART. With Barbara Her- Shey, Jodhi May. Screenplay by Shawn

Slovo. Directed by Chris Menges. At local theatres.

_ When anti-apartheid fighter Ruth First died in a blast from a letter bomb in f Ozambique six years ago, South Africa’s ascist terrorists managed to do physically What they could not do spiritually to a cour- ae Communist more than two decades

Few of us have lost parents in such a ae and outrageous manner, and even

ewer would have the skill and dedication to Pay them tribute with such a lasting Memento as has Shawn Slovo in her film A World Apart.

The daughter of First and Joe Slovo — NOW general secretary of the South African

mMmunist Party — Shawn Slovo changes lamily names, but probably not much else, in this compelling and moving story of a ne aed of white progressives persecuted by

€ apartheid regime in 1963.

In A World Apart, Molly Roth (Jodhi

ay) is on the threshold of her teenage years in 1963 South Africa. It is three years after the infamous Sharpville Massacre that

tought the racist-ruled nation to interna- tional attention and outrage. In the after- math of the state-sanctioned murder, the itican National Congress is the leading

Orce behind a series of groundswell anti- apartheid eruptions that disturb the placid Scenes of trimmed lawns and tree lined Streets in whites-only suburbia.

Molly wants things most kids her age Want. She indulges a youthful passion for Spanish dancing with her best friend, and both girls gleefully dance the twist to the Song of the same name (by Afro-American entertainer Chubby Checker, whose record- €d voice rings out over the unconcerned Neighbourhood in what must be conscious itony on the part of the film makers).

But life for Molly is also markedly differ- ent from that of her friends. In the opening Scene her father Gus (Jeroen Krabb) bids the family farewell in the middle of the night to embark on a journey of unmentioned destination and longevity. We never see him again.

_ That leaves the burden of raising the fam- ily to Molly’s mother Diana (Barbara Her- shey), aided by her own mother. But Diana, Whose main job is working at an apparently

clandestine newspaper, seldom has much time for the children — even when Molly shows signs of awareness of the injustices of apartheid and interest in her parents’ politi- cal activities. Her questions are met with terse, uninformative answers from a woman who appears the embodiment of cold detachment.

But there are reasons for Diana’s distan-

ces, which are shown in several tension- ~

filled scenes and which come crashing home when the police force their way into the family house and drag her off to prison under a newly proclaimed 90-day detention- without-charges act.

After this, the film follows two parallel stories: that of Diana, whose iron will helps her resist the psychological (and occasion- ally physical) torments of her captors who are trying to uncover names of Communists and ANC activists; and the story of Molly, who struggles to cope with suddenly van- ished friendships and other injustices in a world that has changed without telling her why.

But to some extent life’s vicissitudes are compensated for through Molly’s growing friendship with the Roths’ black domestic workerand her family — most notably her brother Solomon (Albee Lesotho), an ANC activist who gives Molly a ribbon bearing the organization’s green, black and gold colours.

Comparisons with Cry Freedom, Richard Attenborough’s remarkable tribute to mar- tyred Black Consciousness leader Steven Biko and exiled white journalist Donald Woods, are bound to be made. Both con- tain funeral scenes at which stirring libera- tion anthems are sung by people of both races. Both deal with the horrors of apar- theid as seen primarily through the eyes of white people.

But lacking the grandeur of Attenbo- rough’s film, A World Apart will likely con- tinue to play to small audiences. Yet it is an equally valid film, and perhaps better with its realistic depiction of the state forces per- secuting both white and black South Afri- can liberationists, its frank sympathies for the ANC’s Communist Party supporters, and its revelation (for many) that opposi- tion to state racism runs deep in South Afri- ca’s white society.

The title of this film, which is frequently emotional but never falsely so in showing the cruel but necessary deprivations suf-

fered by those who risk ostracism and death to make a better world, has many meanings. Two of those “worlds apart” are at least partly reconciled following a confrontation between Molly and her mother. A World Apart leaves us with the feeling that despite

e to fighters of apartheid

adversity and setbacks, those other separate worlds — between whites and non-whites, and between a country isolated because of its racial policies and the broader world — will also be reconciled. :

— Dan Keeton

Classified Advertising

COMING EVENTS

SEPT. 9 —Centre for Socialist Education lounge open 8 p.m. til midnight (every Friday). Darts, music and conversation. 1726 E. Hast- ings. Bar proceeds to CSE.

SEPT. 9,10,11 — ! Wasn’t Born Here. Stories of Latin American Immigrant Women. A collec- tive creation directed by Lina de Guevara. 8 p.m. Kitsilano Neighbourhood House, 2325 W. 7th. Also Sept. 10 at James Cowan Theatre, 6450 Gilpin St. Burnaby. 8 p.m. and Sept. 11 at Vancouvr East Cultural Centre, 1895 Venables. 7 p.m. For more info. 525-0089/432-7157 or 430-0329. Organized by The Chilean Com- munity Assoc. of B.C.

KAMLOOPS SEPT. 14 — Marxist-Leninist discussion group, open to all on 2nd Wed. of each month. 7:30 p.m. at North Kamloops Library. For info 376-7110.

1 -5 p.m. Mon. to Fri. For information on political issues or assistance in political activity.

HALLS FOR RENT

RUSSIAN PEOPLE’S HOME — Available for rentals. For reservations phone 254-3430.

UKRAINIAN CANADIAN CULTURAL CENTRE — 805 East Pender St. Vancouver. Available for banquets, weddings, meetings. Phone 254-3436.

- Classified advertising rates $1.25 per line per

week. Deadline for insertions: Wednesday of week prior to pubication.

TRIB LENDING LIBRARY — 242 Larch Ave.

Lots of labour and progressive literature for —

your reading enjoyment at no cost. For info 376-7110. Kamloops.

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ee

The experiences of immigrant Latin Americans come to the stage in the Lower Mainland in September with the presenta- tion of the play, I Wasn’t Born Here.

Presented by The Chilean Community Association of B.C., the play features six Latin American women including the author, Chilean immigrant and actress Lina de Guevara.

Originally presented at the Belfry Thea- tre in Victoria, I Wasn’t Born Here plays Sept. 9 at Kitsilano Neighbourhood House, 8 p.m., on Sept. 10 at the James Cowan

- Theatre in Burnaby, 8 p.m., and at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre on Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. The suggested admission isa $5 donation.

The play won supportive reviews in the Victoria press for its impassioned telling, through the mainly amateur actors, of what it is like to be an stranger ina foreign country, Guevara, who arrived in Canada in 1976, declares herself “a firm believer in the power of the theatre to bring about social change and transform people’s lives,”

The company, called Puente (bridge), is

funded in part by Canada Employment and Immigration. The play in Vancouver is sponsored by the Congress of Canadian Women, Langara Women’s Steering Com- mittee, and Canadians for Democracy in Chile.

Fee Fert

Headlines Theatre, which brought B.C. audiences plays such as Under the Gun and NO XYA (Our Footprints), also pres- ents the immigrant and refugee story in Power Play, which runs as part of the Fringe Festival ‘88 Sept. 14-15 and 16-18 at 7 p.m.

Power Play involves a unique theatrical experiment where members of the aud- ience, having first viewed the play in its entirety, are treated to a reprise in which members can stop the action and help solve the problems it raises by participat- ing on stage. The production will also fea- ture a phone-in live telecast on Cable 4 on Sept. 24 at 8 p.m.

hse

The Association of United Ukrainian

Play tells story of immigrant women

Canadians’ cultural groups will perform along with guest artists from the Ukraine at the Ukrainian Cultural Centre, 805 E. Pender St. in Vancouver on Sept. 17 at a 6:30 p.m. banquet.

The event follows the official opening of Lesya Ukrainka Manor for senior citizens, next door to the centre at 875 E. Pender St. at 1 p.m. the same day. For tickets phone 253-8642.

x oe o *

Several Soviet artists and performers will be part of a concert and reception co-sponsored by the Federation of Russian Canadians and the Canada-USSR Friend- ship Society on Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. in the Russian People’s Home, 600 Camp- bell Ave., Vancouver.

The artists and performers are members of prominent groups from several repub- lics of the Soviet Union. Tickets are $10 per individual and can be obtained by phoning 253-8180, 526-5160, 255-4160, 731-3048 or 253-3032.

“Group parties of 15-25 welcome”!

New Titles DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN HISTORY (1867-PRESENT): 1600 entries on polit- ics, labour, sports, etc.

$24.95 (hardcover)

FISHING WITH JOHN: Story of John Daly, member of the fisher- men’s union.

By Edith Iglauer

$24.95 (hardcover)

Some autographed copies available.

Mail orders please include O¢ per book.

1391 COMMERCIAL DRIVE VANCOUVER, B.C. V5L_3X5 TELEPHONE 253-6442

Pacific Tribune, September 7, 1988 « 7

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