A Dry White Season (1989) [Criterion Collection]

Director: Euzhan Palcy
Writers: André P. Brink (novel) (as André Brink), Colin Welland (screenplay)
Stars: Donald Sutherland, Janet Suzman, Zakes Mokae

With this bracing drama, made at the climax of the anti-apartheid movement, director Euzhan Palcy issued a devastating indict­ment of South Africa’s racist government—and made history in the process, becoming the first black woman to direct a Hollywood studio film. White schoolteacher Ben Du Toit (Donald Sutherland) lives in Johannesburg and remains blissfully incurious about the lives of his black countrymen until a wave of brutal treatment comes crashing down on his gardener (Winston Ntshona), bringing Du Toit face-to-face with harsh political realities. Based on a celebrated novel by André Brink and rooted in the first-hand research the Martinican Palcy did in South Africa into the way black people lived under apartheid, A Dry White Season is unflinching in its depiction of violence and its chronicling of injustice, making for a galvanizing tribute to those willing to sacrifice everything to fight oppression.





Extras:
- New interview with director Euzhan Palcy by film critic Scott Foundas
- Five Scenes, a new program featuring Palcy
- Interview from 1989 with actor Donald Sutherland
- Excerpt from a 1995 interview Palcy conducted with Nelson Mandela
- Footage of Palcy receiving the highest distinction for foreign dignitaries at the 2017 South African National Orders awards




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