South Africa / France / 1994 / 95mins / Documentary / Afrikaans and English

In 1991, Nelson Mandela was liberated, apartheid was abolished, and South Africa entered into a brand new phase of its history. After a period of euphoria, different tensions arose, and it was in this climate that people prepared themselves to participate in the landmark elections in which all citizens of South Africa would vote for the first time. Three filmmakers from the Direct Cinema Workshop documented how it was politically and emotionally on that historic day in five very different locations, with a colorful “cast” of unique folk: Julie Henderson, Thulani Mokoena, and Donne Rundle.

Julie Henderson

Julie Henderson is a South African director and is a member of the Direct Cinema Workshop, a group trained by the French association Varan. She is co-directer of My Vote is My Secret (1995). Learn More

Thulani Mokoena

Thulani Mokoena received training in various disciplines of program-making such as production, directing, research, script-writing, editing, sound, lighting design and editing both in South Africa and abroad over the years. He also worked on feature films, produced documentaries, shot inserts for television features and news and has been independently involved in the industry for over 20 years. In 1995, Thulani Mokena, together with two fellow South African film-makers Julie Henderson and Donne Rundle, directed a feature length documentary entitled My Vote Is My Secret for Arte, a French-German television station. In 1997, Mokoena directed one of the South Africa: New Visionsdocumentary series episodes entitled, Taxi Wars for Discovery Channel Europe and Discovery USA. Thulani Mokoena, in collaboration with the French Institute together with Dr. Antoine Bouillon a French Sociologist and Former Anti-Apartheid Movement President in France, produced a feature documentary entitled Aliens or Broers?, a program on French- speaking African immigrants in Johannesburg. This program was screened on SABC 2 and also at the following film festivals: Image d’ Ailleurs Film Festival in Paris, The European Documentary Network in Denmark, Encounters Film Festival in Cape Town, Soweto Film Festival, the Zanzibar International Film Festival and the Zimbabwe International Film Festival. He has been running Sethu Film and Television in South Africa for 19 years. Learn More

Donne Rundle

Donne Rundle studied Fine Arts for two years, from 1980 - 1982, at the Technological Institute of Witwatersrand, then, in 1982, she set up an art workshop with Dumasani Mabaso in Johannesburg. In 1985, she participated in the Varan Workshops in South Africa and Paris, and took part in the foundation of the Direct Cinema Workshop. From then, she worked on many films in South Africa and abroad until 2011, including documentaries by Emanuelle Bidou, Ramadan Suleman and André Van In. Today, Donne is an artist represented by the Art Eye Gallery in Johannesburg and teaches art to children. Learn More