Tide Marks: Legacies of Apartheid

Sarah Abbott
Department of Media Production and Studies

21 October 2004

At this event, the first in the HRI’s 2004-05 Profiling Scholarship Series, we welcomed Sarah Abbott (Assistant Professor, Dept. of Media Production and Studies), who introduced, showed, and discussed her first feature-length documentary film Tide Marks: Legacies of Apartheid.

Sarah Abbott’s intimate engagement with four Cape Town residents reveals the irony that many people who dedicated themselves to the fight for human dignity still struggle for daily survival ten years after South Africa’s first all-race elections. Tide Marks: Legacies of Apartheid is an evocative collection of interviews, memories, observational footage, found photographs and South African music that re-visits apartheid history and looks at aspects of its present-day aftermath.

For more information about Tide Marks, go to http://www.tidemarks-stories.com/

Sarah Abbott received a BA (Hons.) in Film Studies and Drama from Queen’s University. On a three-year fellowship, she earned her MFA in Art Video from Syracuse University. Between degrees, Sarah taught English in Kyoto, Japan, tended sheep in southern France, was an artist-in-residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts, interned at The Human Rights Media Centre in Cape Town, South Africa, and freelanced in various capacities in Toronto’s film and video community. For over a decade, Sarah’s short films and videos have won awards, been selected at international festivals, and broadcast on television. She has received numerous grants to complete her work.

Audience Responses to Tide Marks

“The film was excellent and on a personal level very emotional…for some reason one of the most striking things about the movie, for me, was the audio… I don’t know why, but the sounds of whistling…the songs…the sound of the dancing…the street… were genuinely very South African and those really triggered a lot of memories. The film played on it very nicely. Well done and thanks for bringing us a piece of South Africa!”
―Fazail Lufti, Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Student, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Regina

“In her time in South Africa, Sarah Abbott developed a personal relationship with each of these four brave individuals, who allowed her to conduct, and subsequently film, a series of sensitive yet thorough interviews with them. Tide Marks reveals what life was like under apartheid, what happened to the freedom fighters before and after the fall of the oppressive regime, and what their life is like now. The film combines visual with narrative and text to bring to light the complexity of the post-apartheid world. Tide Marks makes a valuable contribution to the world of film and to the HRI’s Scholarship Series. Thank you, Sarah.”
―Jo-Ann Episkenew, Associate Professor of English, First Nations University of Canada

“Tide Marks: Legacies of Apartheid is a poignant depiction of the complex experiences of four South African activists who endured horrific cruelties during apartheid and who continue to suffer even though apartheid has “officially” ended. The memories, frustrations, and hopes of Maureen Mazibuko, Brian Mphahlele, Colin de Souza, and Shirley Gunn are presented with great care by the filmmaker, Sarah Abbott. Abbott’s representations of these legacies are further complicated by her own struggles of processing these realities and as a result she invites the audience to bear witness to her own reflections. The film’s intensity derives from the sincerity and thoughtfulness that the audience witnesses in the faces, voices, and bodies of those who have endured incredible circumstances and continue to resist (to fight).”
―Charity Marsh, Assistant Professor, Department of Music

“Tide Marks: Legacies of Apartheid, Sarah Abbott’s feature length documentary film, presents both an informative and intimate look at the people and culture of contemporary South Africa. Although many of us believe the political changes that took place there, roughly ten years ago, had produced a positive change, Sarah’s new film demonstrates that things are still slow to change for many people. In addition to providing important background information regarding the history of the country both before and after 1994, the core of the film revolves around three individuals living in Cape Town today. And this is where, I believe, the film transcends itself from a normal journalistic approach, into a very personal and moving document. Sarah’s ability to create an atmosphere of comfort and trust, allows all four individuals to ‘open up’ and tell us their tragic stories and experiences of poverty, discrimination and torture. As an audience, we can feel the bond building between filmmaker and subject, and consequently, by the end of the film, it feels that we have actually met these people ourselves. After the film was over, I believe Sarah was deeply moved, not only with the audience response, but also of realizing that her South African friends, their lives and their spirits, remain inside her to this day.”
―Gordon Pepper, Associate Professor, Dept. of Media Production & Studies

“Congratulations Sarah. It’s a very deep film, you know. For myself, Brian’s story―throughout the whole film, I just wanted to see his story.  His story was abundant. Not that I didn’t need the other stories because every person’s story is an education, but he was just so riveting, Sarah, and the way you let his story unfold was just very very powerful. He wanted to tell you his story and that comes across very strongly. It’s very brave, what you did. A very complex issue to tackle.”
―Lisa Vineberg, Artist

“I left feeling deeply moved, and I appreciated  both the film’s message  and its artistic  qualities. I hope I’ll have another chance to view your work in the near future, Sarah! Thanks for providing such a great forum for discussion.”
―Jennifer Arends, Faculty of Arts/Graduate Student, MA in English program

“As we work our way through our daily lives, we occasionally come across something truly extraordinary. The experience of watching Tide Marks: Legacies of Apartheid was one of those moments for me. The film is gripping and poignant. Sarah has done a masterful job of revealing the unfettered thoughts and emotions of these individuals in a sensitive and impassioned manner. The film also brought to light the full spectrum of the inherent, and conscious, human ability to be both cruel and caring. I was so moved by Tide Marks: Legacies of Apartheid that I felt compelled to help the individuals in the film. Throughout the film, I kept thinking that the money we might spend on a weekend ski trip would have a much greater and more meaningful impact on the lives of Maureen Mazibuko, Brian Mphahlele, Colin de Souza and others like them.  As a result, I am planning to make a donation to this cause from my own funds and through a fundraising initiative. If you would like to participate please contact myself or Sarah. Sarah, you and your work are a catalyst for positive change―thank you.”
―Doug Kermode, Process Control Technologist, Consumer’s Co-operative Refineries Ltd.