| The South African film industry is one of the oldest in the world,and the arrival of the first Kinetoscope in Johannesburg in 1895 marked the beginning of South African film history.However,during apartheid South Africa,South African cinema was an island of Afrikaner self-indulgence and was once isolated from African cinema.Although South African cinema has long been criticised for its embedded racist ideology,it has,on the whole,evolved from the shackles of racism into a culturally appropriate film aesthetic and a mature industry system.In the current complex and changing global environment,South African cinema has returned to African cinema as a national cinema,complementing the diversity of African cinema.South Africa has also joined other African countries in building Pan African Film,which has presented a new image of Africa to the world.This paper is divided into five sections,in addition to an introduction,to provide a historical overview of the origins and evolution of South African cinema,and to analyse the types and characteristics of South African cinema in each period and evaluate them.In the first part,“South African cinema as created by British and American filmmakers(1895-1914)”,the late nineteenth century,with its easy access and emerging technologies,brought South Africa into contact with films brought by the British and American countries.The second part,‘The localisation of South African cinema: the beginnings and development of Afrikaner nationalism(1914-1948)’,shows the rise of Afrikaner nationalism in South Africa after the Anglo-Boer War,and the popularity of local films portraying Afrikaner heroes.The popularity of local films portraying Afrikaner heroes was enormous.The third section,‘The maturation and fragmentation of South African cinema under apartheid(1948-1994)’,shows how the censorship and subsidies of South African cinema under apartheid were combined to produce a large number of escapist films,Plan B films,and other films that were produced by the South African authorities in conjunction with large corporations.Escapism,and B Scheme Films.At the same time,films reflecting apartheid were created that were on the edge of censorship.These filmmakers themselves were not bound by subsidies,and the development and spread of video technology made video films available to a wider range of South Africans at home.In the fourth section,’The New South African Cinema(1994-2021)’,after the dramatic changes in South Africa,the abolition of the film subsidy system led to the‘decline’ of the South African film industry and the emergence of new film industry The emergence of new film industry organisations has contributed to the re-emergence of South African cinema,with the new South African cinema responding to the trauma of the past with diverse themes and gradually integrating into the contemporary South African social environment.The fifth section,‘Conclusion’,summarises each stage of South African cinema,noting that the history of South African cinema is a microcosm of South African history,telling the story of the trauma of almost a century of ’white supremacy’ in South Africa,but also documenting the rebirth of the South African people in the new South Africa.The history of South Africa is a microcosm of its history. |
