by Fanyana Hlabangane
Great cinema is what happens while you’re busy waiting… for permission.
I Want To See For Myself examines the often forgotten legacy of African American tennis legend Arthur Ashe in Soweto, Johannesburg. Also regarded as a human rights activist, in 1977 he donated funds to build and develop the Arthur Ashe Tennis Centre in Soweto after visiting a segregated South Africa for a tennis tournament.
Today the Centre is a hive buzzing with emerging black talent. One such protégé is Amukelani Mokone, a young girl whose gifts have earned her a scholarship to a prestigious school, however that has come the pressures of acclimatizing to life with the children of the elite. Her coach, Oupa Nthuping is a person who carries Ashe’s spirit with him, having nurtured talent at the centre throughout the years, but whose contribution runs the risk of going largely unnoticed
A story about struggling to break social and personal barriers; it’s also a testament to the resilience of the human spirit
Music composition and sound design by João Orecchia.
- flat pink roses
- dinokana – venice biennale
- i seek you in my dreams
- where the wind calls my name
- under the hanging tree
- mafolofolo – documenta 15
- one take grace
- film festival film
- i want to see for myself
- stillborn
- desert
- the man jesus
- imbizo ka mafavuke
- inxeba (the wound)
- urban mermaid
- black president
- the silent form
- creation – moyo – iyeza
- uncles & angels
- security
- television
