''Marigolds in August'' is a 1980 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 ...

directed by

Ross Devenish Ross Devenish (born 15 November 1939) is a South African film director. His 1980 film '' Marigolds in August'' was entered into the 30th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Berlin Bear Anniversary Prize. His 1977 feature film ...

, based on the play of the same name by Athol Fugard. It was entered into the

30th Berlin International Film Festival The 30th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 18–29 February 1980. The Golden Bear was awarded to the American film ''Heartland'' directed by Richard Pearce and West German film '' Palermo oder Wolfsburg'' directed by Werne ...

, where it won the Berlin Bear Anniversary Prize.

Plot

An examination of the 'invisibility' of blacks in South Africa caused by conditioned white indifference during

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 ...

. The film is set in and around Schoenmakerskop, an opulent whites-only seaside hamlet just outside Port Elizabeth, scriptwriter Athol Fugard's home town. It is an area of high Black unemployment, with as many as one in five workers jobless. As a result, malnutrition and infant mortality are rampant. Daan, a poor but employed black man, is on his way to work one morning when he sees Melton, a jobless black man. Melton and his wife have just buried one of their children. Suspicions and mistrust between the two men crop up because Daan's papers are not in order and he fears that Melton might exploit that to take his job. A third man, Paulus, appears and becomes an unwilling mediator between Daan and Melton. The moral dilemma the film presents is acted out with tremendous power and a mixture of anguish and occasional humour.

Cast

* Athol Fugard as Paulus Olifant *

Winston Ntshona Winston Ntshona (6 October 1941 – 2 August 2018) was a South African playwright and actor. He won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1975. Biography Born in Port Elizabeth, Zola Winston Ntshona worked alongside fellow South African At ...

as Daan *

John Kani Bonisile John Kani (born 30 August 1943) is a South African actor, author, director and playwright. He is known for portraying T'Chaka in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films '' Captain America: Civil War'' (2016) and ''Black Panther'' (2018), ...

as Melton * Joyce Hesha as Melton's Wife * Nomonde Mhlobiso as Alice * Mabel Ntshinga as Emily

References

External links

* 1980 films 1980 drama films English-language South African films Apartheid films Films directed by Ross Devenish South African drama films 1980s English-language films {{SouthAfrica-film-stub