ABSTRACT: This research report follows the journey of the South African film Hijack Stories (2000) in translation, looking at the various processes – state, institutional and individual - which led to the film’s existence. The context of the South African film industry (institution) during the country’s (state) apartheid past and democratic present have influenced those involved (the individuals) in the film-making process as well as their subjectivities. It is revealed that Hijack Stories (2000) is a film targeted at foreign audiences and that these audiences ascribe value to South African content. This value is acquired on the basis of the historical and social circumstances of South Africa, which has long sustained the interest of the outside world. Hijack Stories (2000) emerges as a cultural commodity, packaged and marketed according to the imaginings that the world has of South Africa. Translation then takes place at the junction of these processes and their related social, financial, political and historical factors, thereby facilitating the international circulation of Hijack Stories (2000) within the greater context of globalisation.

It is against the social and cultural backdrop of South Africa that I investigate gender performativity in South African films with reference to Leon Schuster’s comedies; There’s a Zulu on my Stoep (1993), Mr Bones (2001); Mama Jack (2005) and Mad Buddies (2012). Leon Schuster is responsible for the most commercially successfully films produced in Africa. The significance of this research lends itself to the notion that the trends and tendencies of contemporary culture are defined by what is represented and learnt through constructed representations in mainstream media such as film. For the purpose of this study, gender representation and comedy within the framework of South African film are the main foci. There appears to be very little written on comedy and gender, specifically in a South African context. Judith Butler’s performativity theory forms the methodological foundation of analysis of the representation of gender in Schuster’s films. In addition, visual textual and constant comparison analysis are used as part of the methodological framework of this study. Due to the lack of literature on South African film comedy, the general understanding of comedy refers to the film genre as being a catalyst for transformation. It is also suggested that social control is reinforced and therefore, upholds societal and cultural ideologies in comedy. Satire is also found to postulate a preferred comedic mechanism to criticise ideologies in countries with repressive regimes. South African comedy is also understood to contribute towards tension relief in such countries through the means of facilitating laughter. In a general framework, as well as Schuster’s film comedies, gender representation and therefore that of gender performativity is found to conform to stereotypical conventions of males and females which ultimately maintains the ideals of the creators and the contextual ideologies they stand to represent and serve. By making representations of gender and that of gender performativity laughable, Schuster’s comedies can be said to raise awareness of the gender differences and inequalities in representations. The stereotypes which ultimately highlight gender inequality in the films, follows that of cultural, social and traditional norms. Keywords; gender; performativity; South African film; Leon Schuster; comedy. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Afrikaans / Unrestricted

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This thesis examines the industry of non-profit educational filmmaking in Sub-Saharan Africa, from the 1930's to the present, with particular attention on the contemporary period of video production from the late 1980's to approximately 2010. This thesis, first, identifies that there is a consistent industrial infrastructure around non-profit educational filmmaking in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has not previously been articulated. Second, it describes the industry's historical origins and contemporary manifestation, delineating the pathways for funding, systems for production, and avenues of distribution and exhibition, as well as the ideological underpinnings of each. Finally, this thesis proscribes alternative industrial practices for the imagination and execution of non-profit educational videos that alleviate some of the otherwise deeply engrained hierarchical features of the industry by drawing on several examples of recent innovations in the industry. This thesis claims that the standard procedures by which non-profit educational films and videos in Sub-Saharan Africa come to be are problematic in the way that they maintain colonial hierarchies between Western philanthropic funders, cosmopolitan humanitarian professionals acting as producers, African casts and crews, and audiences that are necessarily objectified in order to be studied quantitatively. This structure has profound effects on content, most recently evident in neoliberal ideas that valorize the privatization of solutions to public health problems and quaint stories designed to encourage audiences to emulate ideal behavior based on Western gender norms as a primary solution to complex social problems, such as HIV/AIDS. Drawing on examples from recent innovations in the industry, this thesis finally proposes that changes in the balance of decision-making power in the African educational film and video industry - changes such as sourcing audiences for stories addressing HIV/AIDS, integrating with existing media markets, or more loosely providing international support to existing local initiatives that pinpoint local concerns - are necessary in order to better realize the potential of cinema to effectively address the myriad of social, environmental, political, economic, and medical challenges faced by real and distinct Sub-Saharan audiences.

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