What does friendship have to do with racial difference, settler colonialism and post-apartheid South Africa? While histories of apartheid and colonialism in South Africa have often focused on the ideologies of segregation and white supremacy, Ties that Bind explores how the intimacies of friendship create vital spaces for practices of power and resistance. Combining interviews, history, poetry, visual arts, memoir and academic essay, the collection keeps alive the promise of friendship and its possibilities while investigating how affective relations are essential to the social reproduction of power. From the intimacy of personal relationships to the organising ideology of liberal colonial governance, the contributors explore the intersection of race and friendship from a kaleidoscope of viewpoints and scales. Insisting on a timeline that originates in settler colonialism, Ties that Bind uncovers the implication of anti-Blackness within nonracialism, and powerfully challenges a simple reading of the Mandela moment and the rainbow nation. In the wake of countrywide student protests calling for decolonization of the university, and reignited debates around racial inequality, this timely volume insists that the history of South African politics has always already been about friendship. Written in an accessible and engaging style, Ties that Bind will interest a wide audience of scholars, students, and activists, as well as general readers curious about contemporary South African debates around race and intimacy.

This book is an introduction to the art and craft of documentary film making with a focus on ethics and impact from development through distribution. Author Shannon Walsh explores point-of-view storytelling, writing for non-fiction, and the art of social change documentary. Offering an overview of the documentary filmmaking process - from idea to pitch to a final film and impact campaign - this book provides non-fiction filmmakers with the methods required to find a voice, style, and cinematic approach to documentary filmmaking. Key areas covered include: definition of styles and genres of documentary film; project development and proposal writing; basic elements of documentary storytelling such as interview techniques, verité filming, use of archives, stills, and point of view; the process of preparing and delivering a project pitch; pre-production; and finding the necessary elements to tell a story cinematically. With a specific focus on ethics and character driven storytelling, Walsh shares her own personal insights on talking to strangers, the importance of empathetic listening skills and intuition, and provides useful worksheets that filmmakers can use for their own projects. This book is ideal for both students of documentary filmmaking and aspiring documentary filmmakers who are interested in creating ethical and impactful films.

This book is an introduction to the art and craft of documentary film making with a focus on ethics and impact from development through distribution. Author Shannon Walsh explores point-of-view storytelling, writing for non-fiction, and the art of social change documentary. Offering an overview of the documentary filmmaking process - from idea to pitch to a final film and impact campaign - this book provides non-fiction filmmakers with the methods required to find a voice, style, and cinematic approach to documentary filmmaking. Key areas covered include: definition of styles and genres of documentary film; project development and proposal writing; basic elements of documentary storytelling such as interview techniques, verité filming, use of archives, stills, and point of view; the process of preparing and delivering a project pitch; pre-production; and finding the necessary elements to tell a story cinematically. With a specific focus on ethics and character driven storytelling, Walsh shares her own personal insights on talking to strangers, the importance of empathetic listening skills and intuition, and provides useful worksheets that filmmakers can use for their own projects. This book is ideal for both students of documentary filmmaking and aspiring documentary filmmakers who are interested in creating ethical and impactful films.

The early 2000s were still a time of optimism and exuberance in newly democratic South Africa. Transformations were afoot, and there was a courageous desire for change, even with the stark realities of HIV and AIDS-related illnesses looming. At the 13th International AIDS Conference in Durban in 2000, Nkosi Johnson, aged 11, took the stage to give an impassioned speech emphasizing the importance of young people in responding to the AIDS pandemic. His call heralded an explosion of youth-focused initiatives, including the project that started this book. In My life follows the paths of a group of racially diverse young AIDS activists from Khayelitsha and Atlantis, first brought together as part of an educational HIV-prevention programme in Cape Town in 2002.

Over the next twenty years, we follow their inspiring and harrowing journeys, as they move from hopeful and passionate teen activists, through the tragedies and triumphs of transitioning to adulthood. With candour, they tell stories of hardships and loss, mental health issues, grief and violence, but also of personal transformations, love, friendship, artistic achievements, community connection and thrilling social justice wins. Connected to each other, and to their communities, their stories provide a glimpse into the long tale of activism and of educational work, forever asking the question: what difference does it make.

As the early post-apartheid enthusiasm and activism transformed and changed, stories have been a place where one could find solace and refuge, or find ways to be connected again. The stories in In My Life reflect the shifting times and context in South Africa, the transformation of the country and the complicated life stories of everyday life in the cracks of those who are artists, writers, creators, activists, researchers, teachers and many other things in between and beyond.