South Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo / 2005 / 24mins / Documentary / English

A Shadow of Hope tells the stories of refugees living in South Africa where they face different challenges within the South African Black community. This film deals with how the locals receive the refugees into their communities and also explores the efforts of the South African government's Department of Home Affairs to minimize discrimination and xenophobia.

Makela L. Pululu

Born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Makela Pululu arrived in Cape Town, South Africa as a refugee in 1997. He started in the filmmaking industry as a freelance spark and lighting workshop supervisor at MCC (The Movie Camera Company). After this, he went to study filmmaking at different film schools in Cape Town. He put himself through courses on scriptwriting, producing, and directing. His enthusiasm and love for filmmaking led him to direct and produce his first project, a 10- minute documentary called Being African. This film was selected in various international film festivals. Since then, he has directed several television documentaries for South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). With increasing recognition in Cape Town's film industry, Boomtown Film Production offered their expertise and production facilities. Their support led to the production of A Shadow of Hope in which he homed in on the reality and challenges confronting refugees in South Africa. He hopes one day to open a film school back home in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where he can demonstrate the power of information sharing and debate through the medium of film just as A Shadow of Hope has done in South Africa. Learn More