The plot centers on students involved in the Soweto Riots, in opposition to the implementation of Afrikaans as the language of instruction in schools. The stage version presents a school uprising similar to the Soweto uprising on June 16, 1976. A narrator introduces several characters among them the school girl activist Sarafina. Things get out of control when a policeman shoots several pupils in a classroom. Nevertheless, the musical ends with a cheerful farewell show of pupils leaving school, which takes most of act two. In the movie version Sarafina feels shame at her mother's (played by Miriam Makeba in the film) acceptance of her role as domestic servant in a white household in apartheid South Africa, and inspires her peers to rise up in protest, especially after her inspirational teacher, Mary Masombuka (played by Whoopi Goldberg in the film version) is imprisoned.
Related Movies
Catch a Fire (2006)
The true story of anti-apartheid activists in South Africa, and particularly the life of Patrick Chamusso, a timid foreman at Secunda CTL, the largest synthetic fuel plant in the world. Patrick is wrongly accused, imprisoned and tortured for an attempt to bomb the plant, with the injustice transforming the apolitical worker into a radicalised insurgent, who then carries out his own successful sabotage mission.
Dreamgirls (2006)
A trio of female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way.
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
When eccentric candy man Willy Wonka promises a lifetime supply of sweets and a tour of his chocolate factory to five lucky kids, penniless Charlie Bucket seeks the golden ticket that will make him a winner.
Blame (2018)
A drama teacher's taboo relationship with an unstable student strikes a nerve in her jealous classmate, sparking a vengeful chain of events within their suburban high school that draws parallels to "The Crucible".
A Hard Day's Night (1964)
Capturing John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in their electrifying element, 'A Hard Day's Night' is a wildly irreverent journey through this pastiche of a day in the life of The Beatles during 1964. The band have to use all their guile and wit to avoid the pursuing fans and press to reach their scheduled television performance, in spite of Paul's troublemaking grandfather and Ringo's arrest.
Fantasia (1940)
Walt Disney's timeless masterpiece is an extravaganza of sight and sound! See the music come to life, hear the pictures burst into song and experience the excitement that is Fantasia over and over again.
Honey (1930)
A once-wealthy sister and brother rent out their Southern mansion and stay on as cook and butler.
As Jy Sing (2013)
Mr. Conradie is a conventional music teacher who lives for his singing group, Die Bekfluitjies. Die Bekfluitjies represent the outcasts of their sports-crazy school. Circumstances force them to fight for what they believe in - their music - because when they sing, life just makes more sense!
Liberty's Secret (2016)
The daughter of a preacher becomes the centerpiece for a conservative political campaign but finds herself falling in love with a woman.
Evita (1996)
The hit musical based on the life of Evita Duarte, a B-movie Argentinian actress who eventually became the wife of Argentinian president and dictator Juan Perón, and the most beloved and hated woman in Argentina.
Om Shanti Om (2007)
Reincarnated 30 years after being killed in a suspicious on-set fire, a small-time actor is determined to punish the person who ignited the blaze.
Meet the Feebles (1989)
Heidi, the star of the "Meet The Feebles Variety Hour" discovers her lover Bletch, The Walrus, is cheating on her. And with all the world waiting for the show, the assorted co-stars must contend with drug addiction, extortion, robbery, disease, drug dealing, and murder.
The Stone Host (1971)
TV adaptation of Lesya Ukrainka's drama, which interprets the plot of Don Juan from a feminist point of view.
Macbeth (1987)
A Finnish film version of Macbeth. Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.
Northern Lights (1998)
A stranger's call informs Roberta that her estranged brother Frank has died in a small town under bizarre circumstances. Ben, his best friend from college, also gets the call. Arriving just in time for his funeral, it becomes quickly obvious to them that the little slice of small-town America in which they find themselves is like an episode of The Twilight Zone featuring Frank's eccentric friends, his amazing secrets and his stunning final request. Both Ben and Roberta are shocked to discover that Frank not only had a child, but that he has left them responsible for his son's care.
Igelak (Frogs) (2016)
Pello, a bank branch manager, is arrested on charges of embezzlement. Abandoned by his superior (who got him involved in the heist), Pello escapes from the court room and goes on the run. With no papers, no money and no family or friends he can trust, he changes identity so that he can stay undercover for a time. By chance he ends up hiding in a building that has been occupied by a group of people evicted from their homes who are fighting his bank. Pello gains their trust, all the time planning to steal money from them to pay for false documentation so that he can escape abroad and start a new life.
Bugsy Malone (1976)
New York, 1929, a war rages between two rival gangsters, Fat Sam and Dandy Dan. Dan is in possession of a new and deadly weapon, the dreaded "splurge gun". As the custard pies fly, Bugsy Malone, an all-round nice guy, falls for Blousey Brown, a singer at Fat Sam's speakeasy. His designs on her are disrupted by the seductive songstress Tallulah who wants Bugsy for herself.
Torch Song Trilogy (1988)
Arnold is a gay man working as a drag queen in 1971 NYC. He meets a handsome bisexual man.
The Lion King (1994)
Young lion prince Simba, eager to one day become king of the Pride Lands, grows up under the watchful eye of his father Mufasa; all the while his villainous uncle Scar conspires to take the throne for himself. Amid betrayal and tragedy, Simba must confront his past and find his rightful place in the Circle of Life.
The History Boys (2006)
The story of an unruly class of bright, funny history students at a Yorkshire grammar school in pursuit of an undergraduate place at Oxford or Cambridge. Bounced between their maverick English master, a young and shrewd teacher hired to up their test scores, a grossly out-numbered history teacher, and a headmaster obsessed with results, the boys attempt to pass.