THE DEVIL YOU DANCE WITH: FILM CULTURE IN THE NEW SOUTH AFRICA

South African film culture, like so much of its public life, has undergone a tremendous transformation during its first decade of democracy. Filmmakers, once in exile, banned, or severely restricted, have returned home; subjects once outlawed by the apparatchiks of apartheid are now fair game; and a new crop of insurgent filmmakers are coming to the fore.

This extraordinary volume presents twenty-five in-depth interviews with established and emerging South African filmmakers, collected and edited by Audrey Thomas McCluskey. The interviews capture the filmmakers’ spirit, energy, and ambition as they attempt to give birth to a film culture that reflects the heart and aspirations of their diverse and emergent nation. The collection includes a biographical profile of each filmmaker, as well an introductory essay by McCluskey, pointing to the themes, as well as creative differences and similarities, among the filmmakers.

Audrey Thomas McCluskey is an associate professor of African American and African diaspora studies and served for seven years as the director of the Black Film Center/Archive at Indiana University. Her book publications include Imaging Blackness: Race And Racial Representation in Film Poster Art and Richard Pryor: The Life and Legend of a ‘Crazy’ Black Man.