Blindspot films

25/02/2022

Exhibition: Charting the Uncharted | Gallery University Stellenbosch (GUS) | 11 February – 27 March 2022
Curator: Clara Babette Van Tiddens | Principle investigator: Johan Fourie

07/10/2021

In 2020, South African scientists witnessed a 40% reduction in TB cases. This decline directly correlates with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. In a country where two thirds of the population is infected with the pathogen that causes TB, this is worrying. So why did the Covid-19 pandemic cause this apparent decline in TB cases? And what will the effect of Covid-19 be in eradicating the TB pandemic? The SU Immunology Research Group sheds some light on the matter.

06/11/2020

The use of artificial lights at night is increasing across Africa. While this increases comfort it may pose a threat to human life. Artificial light can attract insects into homes that carry some of the world's worst vector borne diseases.

To investigate this issue, Dr Bernard W.T. Coetzee from the University of the Witwatersrand's Global Change Institute was awarded the winner of the prestigious Jennifer Ward Oppenheimer Research Grant (ORC) worth R2.5 million. In this video Bernard sheds proverbial light on the research his team will be doing within the next few years.

Thanks to Helanya Fourie and Hanrie Coetzee for co-producing!

The use of artificial lights at night is increasing across Africa, especially so in rural areas. While this increases comfort, work and leisure hours, it may pose…

01/05/2020

One third of the global population is currently under some form of lockdown. South Africa, no exception. For the last 5 weeks the country has been gripped in a strict stay-at-home order. Revitalising for some, unsettling for most.

This video reflects on the paradoxical experience 35 days in isolation may evoke, and calls upon a sense of hope within these turbulent times.

This is When the Dawn Breaks After Day 35.

19/03/2020

Keep contact through video. The COVID19 outbreak is hampering vital interpersonal contact. Whether it’s lectures, school classes, organisational meetings or academic conferences. Where possible, Blindspot films will gladly assist your organisation with free video advice. Perhaps you have questions like, “how do I keep contact with stakeholders through the video equipment I already have?” or “how can I easily produce a high quality video for my target audience?” We’d be thrilled to give advice, and offer production services at a discounted rate. Happy to help! (DM or see contact deets in 'about page').

12/02/2019

This is Blessing Malema reenacting the death of Matlhomola Moshoeu (16) for the documentary A Chronicle in Coligny. Matlholomola—who was lovingly known as Faki by family and friends—was caught stealing sunflower seeds on a commercial farm in Coligny, something the black community often did because of the dire socio-economic circumstances they find themselves in. Matlhomola died in the presence of the white men who patrolled the fields he was trespassing on, sparking racial outrage in the town. Right now, South African courts are determining whether Malthomola's death was an accident or done with homicidal attempt.
| The reconciliation series

01/02/2019

Diana Swart from Coligny, South Africa stands in front of the rubble that used to be her house. “I lost everything I owned — even my beloved dogs. And I have nothing left to remind me of my late father.” In April 2017, a massive group of protesters caused large-scale destruction in Coligny after a young black boy died in what seemed to be a racially motivated incident. In a town where the legacy of Apartheid is still grim, Diana use to manage the multi-racial under-21 rugby team while making prom dresses for underprivileged girls. 200 people carrying machete’s surrounded Diana and torched her house. “I still believe in the goodness of our community, white, black and Indian. God is truly good.”
| The reconciliation series

01/02/2019

On 20 April 2017, 16 year old Matlhomola Moshoeu was caught stealing sunflower seeds on a farm in Coligny, South Africa. Minutes after he was caught, Matlhomola died of severe neck injuries in the presence of the two white men who caught him. The incident sparked anarchy in a town already divided along racial lines. Coligny has an unemployment rate of 80%. It’s small community of white farmers live in fear of being murdered. And black children are stealing sunflower seeds (from these farms) to stay alive. In the midst of this, there seems to hope. This is story of a town desperately tying to reconcile within a new South Africa.
| The reconciliation series