''Katrina'' is a 1969 South African

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by Jans Rautenbach and starring

Katinka Heyns Katinka Heyns (born September 20, 1947) is a South African actress, director and filmmaker in the South African film industry. She is known for including feminist perspectives in her films, as well as commenting on South African politics and cult ...

, Jill Kirkland and Don Leonard.Katrina (1969)

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

Based on a play called ''Try for White'' by D Warner, the film depicts the lives of a family of a

Coloured Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...

South Africans, who in the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

system are considered neither white nor black, in which Katrina, the daughter, attempts to appear white, before her secret is exposed. The screenplay was written by

Emil Nofal Emil Nofal (1926 – 18 July 1986) was a South African film director, producer and screenwriter. Selected filmography Director * '' Song of Africa'' (1951) * '' Kimberley Jim'' (1965) * '' Wild Season'' (1967) * ''My Way'' (1973) * '' The S ...

Plot

Katrina September, a

coloured Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...

woman, in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

decides to leave her family, taking her son Paul away with her, to live as white-passing in order to live a better life during

. Katrina goes by the name Catherine Winters in her secret life. However, their lives get messy when both herself and Paul meet their love interests. Paul does not know he is coloured which causes problems when he starts dating Alida Brink, a white girl. Alex Trewellyn, a white

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

priest, starts to fall in love with Katrina and her secrets start to unravel. When Katrina's mother dies, she is forced to return home to her family, where her brother, Adam September, is upset with Katrina. Adam wishes for Paul, who has just returned from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

with a

medical Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

degree, to work in their village.

Cast

as Alida Brink * Jill Kirkland as Catherine Winters / Katrina September * Don Leonard as Kimberley Jacobs * Cobus Rossouw as Adam September *

Joe Stewardson Joe Stewardson was a South African film actor.Database (undated)"Stewardson, Joe" ''The British Film Institute Film and Television Database''. Accessed 12 August 2010. Career Partial filmography * ''All the Way to Paris'' (1965) * ''Wild ...

as Father Alex Trewellyn *

Carel Trichardt Carel Trichardt (born 4 March 1939), is a South African actor. He is the previous head of the drama department at the University of Pretoria. He gained fame as the voice behind the children's character, Knersis. He also appeared in several films, ...

as Mr. Brink * Reghardt van den Bergh as Alida's brother * Ian Strauss as nknown nameref name=":0"> * Simon Sabela as nknown nameref name=":0" /> * Anthony Handley as nknown nameref name=":0" />

Production

Katrina was written and produced by

, directed by Jans Rautenbach. The crew consisted of Peter Henkel as editor, Vincent Cox as cinematography and composition by Roy Martin.

Release

The film was released in 1969 and grossed at approximately R900 000 at the

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicke ...

Reception

Katrina has been viewed by approximately 400 000 white and coloured viewers. The film was originally released in English and Afrikaans, but has since been dubbed into eleven other languages. Katrina also entered the 1970

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. Katrina was controversially received by its Afrikaans audience. Rautenbach supposedly received death threats from right wing Afrikaans citizens.

Newspaper reviews

Katrina was reviewed by Ned Munger on the 1st of December 1969 in the

Africa Report Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, and the article was titled "An Outstanding South African Film About Race Relations Provokes Mixed Reactions and Reflections" in Issue 8 of Volume 14.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* 1969 films 1969 drama films Afrikaans-language films Apartheid films Films about racism Films about race and ethnicity Films shot in South Africa Films directed by Jans Rautenbach South African drama films {{1960s-drama-film-stub