Malian-born American filmmaker Chérif Keita announced in February 2010 during a visit to Durban that he is working on a sequel to his debut documentary, Oberlin-Inanda: The Life And Times Of John L Dube.
A trilogy in process, Keita takes us through a historical account of Dube, the founder of the Ohlange Institute near Verulam, the first editor of the Ilanga Lase Natal, the isiZulu newspaper, and the first president of the Native Congress, forerunner to the African National Congress.
Keita’s first documentary, Oberlin-Inanda: The life and Times of John L. Dube, details the the life of South Africa’s pioneer educator, entrepreneur, and politician John L. Dube.
His second documentary, Cemetery Stories: A Rebel Missionary in South Africa, links 19th-century American missionaries William and Ida Belle Wilcox to John Langalibalele Dube, and reveals how the missionaries’ friendship and mentorship of Dube helped the black teacher and clergyman on his path to success.
The final documentary will feature the support Dube received from the missionary couple, the Rev William Wilcox and his wife Ida Belle, and Mahatma Gandhi, who was his neighbour at the Phoenix Settlement in Inanda, outside Durban,
Keita states, “In my continuing journey into this fascinating story of humanity, I will be straddling three continents, Africa, America and India, to bring home the unpublished chapters of Dube’s relationship and friendship with the Wilcoxes and Gandhi during this defining period in his life.”
The third documentary will be produced by 2012.
For more information on Cherif Keita’s documentaries, click here.
Click here for information on the William and Ida Belle Wilcox
Click here for information on Keita’s second documentary of the trilogy
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