Zenzile Miriam Makeba, nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including Afropop, jazz, and world music, she was an advocate against apartheid and white-minority government in South Africa.
Mark Mathabane is a South African author, lecturer, and a former collegiate tennis player and college professor.
Steve Hofmeyr is a South African singer, songwriter, writer, actor and former TV presenter.
Lisa Rani Ray is a Canadian actress. She began her modelling career in India in the early 1990s, appearing for leading Indian brands like Bombay Dyeing and Lakmé. She made her acting debut in 1996 in the Tamil film Nethaji. Her first Bollywood appearance was in 2001, in the offbeat romantic thriller Kasoor. Through her acting career, Ray has demonstrated a penchant for issue-oriented portrayals, most notably in the 2005 Oscar nominated Canadian film Water and the award-winning South African feature The World Unseen, described by a reviewer as "one of the best-conceived queer films of the past year."
Sheetal Sheth is an American actress, author, producer, and activist.
Catch a Fire is a 2006 biographical thriller film about activists against apartheid in South Africa. The film was directed by Phillip Noyce, from a screenplay written by Shawn Slovo. Slovo's father, Joe Slovo, and mother Ruth First, leaders of the South African Communist Party and activists in the Anti-Apartheid Movement, appear as characters in the film, while her sister, Robyn Slovo, is one of the film's producers and also plays their mother Ruth First. Catch a Fire was filmed on location in South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique.
Shamim Sarif is a British novelist, screenwriter, and film director of South Asian and South African heritage. Sarif is best known for her work in writing and directing films with themes that often explore issues of identity and cultural diversity.
I Can't Think Straight is a 2008 British romantic drama film directed by Shamim Sarif. Based on Sarif's 2008 novel of the same name, the film tells the story of a London-based Jordanian of Palestinian descent, Tala, who is preparing for an elaborate wedding when a turn of events causes her to have an affair, and subsequently fall in love, with another woman, Leyla, a British Indian. The film stars Lisa Ray and Sheetal Sheth.
David Dennis is a South African actor. He is best known for his role as Sol in the SABC 1 TV series Soul City. Dennis also played a significant role in the TV series Charlie Jade, as police detective Sew Sew Tukarrs. Dennis also played a terrorist Abasi Sawalha in Strike Back: Project Dawn - Season 2. In total, Dennis has had roles in thirteen different television series.
Sarafina! is a 1992 musical drama film based on Mbongeni Ngema's 1987 musical of the same name. The film was directed by Darrell Roodt and written by Ngema and William Nicholson, and stars Leleti Khumalo, Miriam Makeba, John Kani, Ngema, and Whoopi Goldberg; Khumalo reprises her role from the stage performance.
Hanan Kattan is a Jordanian-born, British-based film producer of Palestinian origin. She is also co-owner of multi-media entertainment company Enlightenment Productions.
Amina Cachalia, OLB was a South African anti-Apartheid activist, women's rights activist, and politician. She was a longtime friend and ally of former President Nelson Mandela. Her late husband was political activist Yusuf Cachalia.
Despite the Falling Snow is a 2004 book by Shamim Sarif. It was first published on May 4, 2004 through Headline Book Publishing and is set during two different time periods. One part of the story is set in 1950s Moscow, Russia during the Cold War years, while the other follows the story of 1992 Moscow and London in the period after the collapse of USSR.
Enlightenment Productions is multi-media entertainment company based in London and founded in partnership between producer Hanan Kattan and writer and director Shamim Sarif in 2001.
Despite the Falling Snow is a 2016 British Cold War espionage film directed by Shamim Sarif, adapted from her novel of the same name. Starring Rebecca Ferguson, Sam Reid, Charles Dance, Antje Traue, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Thure Lindhardt and Anthony Head, the film was released in the United Kingdom on 15 April 2016.
Vinette Ebrahim is a South African actress and playwright known for her role as Charmaine Meintjies in the SABC 2 soap opera 7de Laan. She is the sister of actor Vincent Ebrahim.
"Soweto Blues" is a protest song written by Hugh Masekela and performed by Miriam Makeba. The song is about the Soweto uprising that occurred in 1976, following the decision by the apartheid government of South Africa to make Afrikaans a medium of instruction at school. The uprising was forcefully put down by the police, leading to the death of between 176 and 700 people. The song was released in 1977 as part of Masekela's album You Told Your Mama Not to Worry. The song became a staple at Makeba's live concerts, and is considered a notable example of music in the movement against apartheid.
I Can't Think Straight is a 2008 novel by Shamim Sarif.
The World Unseen is a 2008 novel written by Shamim Sarif.
"Meadowlands" is an anti-apartheid song composed in 1956 by Strike Vilakazi. It was written in reaction to the forced relocation of black South Africans from Sophiatown, to the new township of Meadowlands. The song was popularised by a number of musicians, including Dorothy Masuka and Miriam Makeba, and became an anthem of the movement against apartheid.
