Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony (Lee Hirsch, 2002)

- February 16th, 2026

Sunday February 22, 2026, Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony * directed by Lee Hirsch * 2002 * 108 min * languages: English, Zulu * door opens at 20:00 * intro & first film starts at 20:30 * free entrance.

«Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony» shows the crucial role of music in the South African liberation struggle against apartheid. Detailed reports of the murderous conditions of settler colonialism, ironic derisions of the settler’s folly, strategic means of communication within and through prison walls, but mostly insurrectionary calls to armed resistance: protest songs were the fuel of the fight. When the first victims of apartheid brutality died protesting against the pass laws in the 1960s, they were singing. When students were fired on by police with live ammunition during their protest against the use of Afrikaans in black schools in 1976, they were singing, too. Amandla! is an impassioned chronicle of the role of music as a mean of protest and survival through more than 40 years of struggle against racial oppression. As the Imperial machine marches on, this incredible documentary rekindles the spark of riotous joy and sends a roaring warning. Trough the verses of Miriam Makeba – legendary South African singer interviewed in the film, “White man don’t sleep long and don’t sleep too deep / Or your life and your possessions, how long will you keep? / For I’ve heard a rumor that’s running around / That the black man’s demanding his own piece of ground…”

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Free entrance. You want to screen a movie, let us know: joe [at] lists [dot] squat [dot] net