Forgotten Freedom Fighters

Project Type
  • Documentary
  • Film
Running Time 45 minutes
Release Date 2009
Produced by:

Produced by Fort Greene Filmworks &
Left Hand Films
 for Al Jazeera English

Distributed by:

Al Jazeera English

Production Team:

Directors, Writers, Producers: Shareen Anderson and Lisa Henry
Cinematographers: Ian Miller and Shareen Anderson
Sound Recordists: Zeblon Ngobese and Sam Masemene
Offline Editor: Taku Kaskela
Assistant Editor: Matthew Vince
Post Production Assistants: Ivy Sithole, Mishumo Mathivha, and Essi Aittamaa
Music Supervisor: Taku Kaskela
Online Editor: Warwick Allan, Mushroom Media
Final Audio Mix: Tim Pringle, On Key Sound Studios
Music: Music Box and Mama Dance!
Executive Producer for Al Jazeera English: Mike Dillon

In 1991, the ANC suspended their armed struggle against the South African government. In 2009, the majority of former combatants are unemployed and still waiting for compensation promised to them.

Forgotten Freedom Fighters looks into the lives of a group of former combatants living in the Johannesburg township of Alexandra who have given up waiting and have decided to do something for themselves. It also documents the unconventional use of “ecotherapy” to help former combatants deal with past trauma and move forward with their lives.

As South Africa gears up for general elections on 22 April 2009, Forgotten Freedom Fighters asks whether Jacob Zuma, a former freedom fighter himself, and widely believed to be the country’s next president, will address the issue of the forgotten men and women who helped bring democracy to the country.

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