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The stunning documentary
Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony tells the story of protest music in South Africa--but as it does so, it tells the story of the struggle against apartheid itself, for the music and the revolution are inseparable. Through archival footage and interviews with musicians, freedom fighters, and even members of the former government police,
Amandla! creates a vivid and powerful portrait of how music was crucial not only to communicating a political message beyond words, but also to the resistance itself--how songs bonded communities, buoyed resistance in the face of bullets and tear gas, and sowed fear in the ruling elite. Part history, part musical exploration, part sheer force of life,
Amandla! captures both the sorrow and the triumph of life in South Africa from the 1950s to 1990, when Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress came into power.
--Bret Fetzer
Video Description
AMANDLA! A REVOLUTION IN FOUR-PART HARMONY tells the story of black South African freedom music and the central role it played against apartheid. The first film to specifically consider the music that sustained and galvanized black South Africans for more than 40 years, Amandla!'s focus is on the struggle's spiritual dimension, as articulated and embodied in song. Named for the Xhosa word for "power," Amandla! lives up to its title, telling an uplifting story of human courage, resolve, and triumph.
