Shot Down (Movie)

Made in 1986 during a State of Emergency by the Johannesburg group Weekend Theatre, this cult anti-apartheid movie follows the moral and political confusion of one Paul Gilliat, hired by the State Bureau to investigate a subversive township performance group and track down its leader, enigmatic Black artist Rasechaba. He hitches up with a bunch of white bohemians who perform satirical cabaret, and sees for himself the systematic intimidation by security forces and assorted right wing bully-boys. Turning his back on his employers, he wanders off into the wilderness to find himself, and ends up battered and bewildered, despised by Rasechaba and his cabaret friends.

“Shot Down is extraordinary, full of self-mocking humour, and – in bursts – exhilarating”
. timeout.com/london/film/shot-down

“Fragmented, incidentally distorted and vital, Shot Down is not only a remarkable (as in “What the Fuck!”) cinematic achievement, it is also a searing insight into the mind of the artistic white liberal in the last high years of Apartheid.” Roger Young, Mahala
mahala.co.za/culture/shot-down/