The Life and Times of Sara Baartman - The Hottentot Venus | Film

Details: 1998, Rest of the world, 53 mins

Direction: Zola Maseko

Genre: Documentary

Summary: Poignant documentary about a South African girl who was put on show in Victorian London.

The Life and Times is the poignant story of Sara Baartman, a young South African teenage girl of Khoi descent. In 1810 she was abducted by an Afrikaaner and was brought to London where she was put on display like a freak at pubs, fairs, museums and universities because of the 'unusual' appearance of her buttocks. She would spend many hours every day on display in London where she was perversely calledThe Hottentot Venus.

A debate ensued around her case between the abolitionists of slavery and those who wanted to study her from a scientific point of view. When she died at the age of 25 her brain was removed and put in a jar, along with her genitals. Her skeleton and a plastercast of her body remain on display at a Paris museum.

This powerful documentary is only the second film from this young South African filmmaker and heralds the emergence of an exceptionally talented filmmaker.
Keith Shiri

Screening with:
Souko

This charming and unpretentious little film follows a group of children in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso with a passion for horses and cinema who decide to organise a screening. They make cardboard cut-outs and are excited to see images of their drawings reflected on the sheeting.

During one of their projections a real white horse appears as if by magic. The children fascinated by the horse, follow it everywhere and the worried parents try in vain to capture it.
Keith Shiri

Dir, Scr Issiaka Konate / with Barou Traore, Seydou Mare / Burkina Faso 1998 / 30 mins