''My Song Goes Forth'' (also known as ''Africa Sings, Africa Looks Up'', U.K., 1937), is the first documentary about South Africa as

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 ...

was being imposed. The film features singer, actor and

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

activist

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his p ...

singing the title song and adding a prologue that asks the viewers to interpret the remainder of the film against the producer's intentions. Alternately entitled "Africa Sings", the initial purpose of the film was as a pro-

white supremacy White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White su ...

short-subject documentary which serves as an advertisement for the birth of apartheid in South Africa but with a conflicting message in the

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-Diegetic#Film sound and music, diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, th ...

. Primarily the documentary has been associated with Robeson and early Anti-Apartheid activism due to his re-editing and rewriting of the films' narration.

Synopsis

The advance publicity booklet on the film when it was entitled "Africa Sings", touted it as showing "what the white man achieved for himself" and "what he has done for he natives." "Africa Sings" was one of the first documentary films from South Africa to take a look at the lives of South Africans of all races. There are images of location life, schools and colleges, and a cross-section of occupations, from mine-workers to road-gangs, school-teachers to house- servants, waiters to cane-cutters. Mainstream reviewers gave the documentary a tepid response; the London Daily Worker thought it was too bland to serve a staunch liberationist purpose.Duberman, Martin. ''Paul Robeson'', 1989,Berlin, Moscow, Films pg 203.

Paul Robeson's rewritten narration and singing

Hired by the director Joseph Best, Robeson worked carefully to revise the film's prologue and in the final version says, "Every foot of Africa is now parceled out among the white races. Why has this happened? What has prompted them go there? If you listen to men like

Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

they will tell you it is to 'civilize' — a divine task, entrusted to the enlightened peoples to carry the torch of light and learning, and to benefit the African people... Africa was opened up by the white man for the benefit of himself — to obtain the wealth it contained." "Despite the then radical narration, Best was unable to find an audience for the film, so he reedited the content, carefully not showing poor whites along some of the more prosperous black townships that had been featured in the first cut. He did keep Robeson's narration but removed parts of it to seem less controversial and more mainstream." Robeson also sings a pro-African liberation song, "From African jungle,

kraal Kraal (also spelled ''craal'' or ''kraul'') is an Afrikaans and Dutch word, also used in South African English, for an enclosure for cattle or other livestock, located within a Southern African settlement or village surrounded by a fence of th ...

and hut
Where shadows fall on torrid light
My song goes forth and supplicates
In quest of love and right
I seek that star which far or near
Shows all mankind a pathway clear
To do unto his brother
And banish hate and fear"(My Song Goes Forth,publicity sheet,Ambassador Films n.d.:2;quoted by Schlooser,ibid.:255).

Cast

- Narration

Synopsis

Paul Robeson's rewritten narration and singing

Cast

References

Further reading