''Surfing Soweto '' is a 2010 documentary film directed by
Dimi Raphoto and Sara Blecher.
Synopsis
''Surfing Soweto'' is the story of a forgotten generation: Bitch Nigga, Lefa and Mzembe are three of the most notorious
train surfers in
Soweto
Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...
. They represent a generation of alienated youth, born during the glowing promise after the demise of
apartheid
Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
and yet without the skills or wherewithal to reap the benefits of their newly won freedoms. ''Surfing Soweto'' shows them riding on the top of trains (
train surfing
Train surfing (also known as train hopping, train hitching, or subway surfing) is the act of riding on the outside of a moving train, tram, or other form of rail transport vehicle. In a number of countries, the term 'train hopping' is used synon ...
) which in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
is known as "ukudlala istaff",
ducking as they hurtle past lethal electrical cables, and also in the intimacy of their homes and families.
Awards
* Tri-Continental 2010
References
;Notes
;Sources
External links
*
''Surfing Soweto'' National Film & Video Foundation webpage
2010 films
South African documentary films
2010 documentary films
Documentary films about rail transport
2010s South African films
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