My South African Home Movie

In 1966 German Jens Meurer moved to Johannesburg, South Africa, with his parents, where his father started a career. The family lived in wealth, which entailed black servants. To avoid military service Jens returned to Germany in the early seventies. More than twenty years and the abolishment of apartheid later he visits South Africa again. He is particularly curious to see what happened to his former classmates and his former black governess and house servant Christina. MY SOUTH AFRICAN HOME MOVIE is an account of his journey. The film is punctuated with fragments from home movies of his family, which cause him to reflect on his young years in South Africa ("It was paradise, but only for whites"). The encounter with his former acquaintances demonstrates that, like before to apartheid, they are adapting to the new situation with great ease ("We're still apathetic"). Life hardly seems to have changed, and yet there is a world of difference. A successful black middle class has evolved, so Jens's father is no longer sitting around the table only with white business men, but with whites and blacks. The thread of the movie is the search for Christina, who is eventually found. Contrary to his expectations the filmmaker does not find a worn-out woman, but a self-confident business woman with her own house. Christina is optimistic about the future, and hopes to live and see the day when her grandchild marries a white boy. The film ends on a happy note: "South Africa can be a paradise."