Duiwelsdorp (2015): a Sangoma's story of South Africa

Abstract

"I live my life with stories that came before me. I tell stories because of stories that were told before. I wrote a story, a screenplay, called Duiwelsdorp 'Devil Town' because of stories that were told before me, to me and now a story lives within me. I am a storyteller because I am a woman, born from woman, alive through story. I am a woman because I give birth - to story, who actually first gave birth to me…It is in this sense that I then take up my place next to this "new generation of post-apartheid South African filmmakers" (storytellers/historians) and assume the duty of reminding my society "of its near and distant origins, of the experiences that shaped it, of its cultural wellsprings" (Confino, 1997: 1187). I took it upon myself to tell another real story of South Africa, the story of Johannesburg, the story of Duiwelsdorp (2015)… By choosing to tell the story of Jack McKeone and other white outlaw heroes, Duiwelsdorp (2015) challenges the popular notion of criminality and delinquency in South Africa. " - Carla Espost in Duiwelsdorp (2015): A Sangoma's Story of South Africa