South Africa / 2014 / 86mins / Documentary / English

In August 2012, mineworkers in one of South Africa’s biggest platinum mines began a wildcat strike for better wages. Six days later, the police used live ammunition to brutally suppress the strike, killing 34 and injuring many more. Miners Shot Down follows the strike from day one, showing the courageous but isolated fight waged by a group of low paid workers against the combined forces of the mining company, Lonmin, the ANC government and their allies in the National Union of Mineworkers.

Rehad Desai

Rehad Desai is a former political exile from South Africa, who returned to his home country in 1990. Desai entered the television and film industry as a producer and director in 1996. In 1997, he completed his master’s degree in social history at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa; he then completed a postgraduate degree in television and film production through AVEA in 2000. He runs his own film and television company, Uhuru Productions, which produces documentary and dramatic works. He is also the director of the Tri-Continental Film Festival, and is active in the self-organization of filmmakers. His 2014 documentary, Miners Shot Down, about mineworkers in one of South Africa's biggest platinum mines striking for better wages, won awards at several festivals including an International Emmy Award for Best Documentary and a Golden Horn Award for Best Documentary Feature.
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