Sarafina!
(1992)

She was their teacher. They were her hope.

Released: 1992-09-18

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The plot centers on students involved in the Soweto Riots, in opposition to the implementation of Afrikaans as the language of instruction in schools. The stage version presents a school uprising similar to the Soweto uprising on June 16, 1976. A narrator introduces several characters among them the school girl activist Sarafina. Things get out of control when a policeman shoots several pupils in a classroom. Nevertheless, the musical ends with a cheerful farewell show of pupils leaving school, which takes most of act two. In the movie version Sarafina feels shame at her mother's (played by Miriam Makeba in the film) acceptance of her role as domestic servant in a white household in apartheid South Africa, and inspires her peers to rise up in protest, especially after her inspirational teacher, Mary Masombuka (played by Whoopi Goldberg in the film version) is imprisoned.

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Whoopi Goldberg

as Mary Masembuko

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John Kani

as School Principal

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Mary Twala

as Sarafina's Grandmother

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Tertius Meintjes

as Lieutenant Bloem

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Robert Whitehead

as Interrogator

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Greg Latter

as Policeman

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Michelle Bestbier

as Mrs. Hendricks

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Patrick Ndlovu

as Victor Gumede

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Helena Spring

Executive Producer

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David Barkham

Production Design

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Megan Gill

First Assistant Editor

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Sudhir Pragjee

Executive Producer

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Mark Vicente

Cinematography

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Rick Cresswell

Special Effects Coordinator

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Nicky De Beer

Supervising Sound Editor

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