Have You Heard from Johannesburg: The Complete Series

Broadcast on PBS, Connie Field's seven-part documentary is an extremely ambitious depiction of the rise and fall of South Africa's apartheid policy, drawing on news footage and other archival material to celebrate both local activists who helped bring down the system of racial oppression, and supporters abroad who kept the pressure on the reigning white regime. The initial episode, “Road to Resistance,” recounts the establishment of apartheid following World War II, the creation of the African National Congress (ANC) in order to mount nonviolent resistance, and the government's forceful response. The following five segments focus on particular aspects of the anti-apartheid campaign, including the efforts of exiled ANC leader Oliver Tambo to secure Western support; the impact of international sports boycotts, economic sanctions, and corporate divestitures; the growth of grassroots efforts in other countries to urge their governments to action; and the rise of a movement devoted to violent resistance within the ANC itself. The series returns to a chronological approach in the final chapter, “Free at Last,” which covers the end of the apartheid regime (while also detailing how Nelson Mandela was transformed from a fairly obscure figure into the face of the movement). Interspersed throughout the narrative are recollections by some of those who helped to shape events. Presenting a comprehensive, passionate overview of a long struggle, Have You Heard From Johannesburg is a potent portrait of an important part of 20th-century history. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)