{"id":93019,"date":"2025-09-07T04:37:02","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T04:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=93019"},"modified":"2025-09-07T04:37:02","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T04:37:02","slug":"collin-charles-discusses-crafting-anti-apartheid-documentary-at-unimac-ift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=93019","title":{"rendered":"Collin Charles discusses crafting anti-apartheid documentary at UniMAC-IFT"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Film enthusiasts, students and faculty at the University of Media, Arts and Communication \u2013 Institute of Film and Television (UniMAC-IFT) were treated to an exclusive screening of\u00a0Comrade Tambo\u2019s London Recruits<\/em>\u00a0on 1 September 2025, followed by a Q&A session with its producer, Collin Charles.<\/p>\n

The gripping documentary explores Ghana\u2019s role in supporting South Africa\u2019s liberation struggle and the wider anti-apartheid movement. The post-screening discussion delved into the historical significance of the story and the filmmaking techniques that brought it to life.<\/p>\n

Charles reminded the audience of Ghana\u2019s pivotal support during apartheid, which included financial, diplomatic and logistical assistance to freedom fighters. He stressed the importance of recognising African leaders like Oliver Tambo, who coordinated the global anti-apartheid movement while Nelson Mandela was imprisoned.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe evil system of apartheid in the southern African country\u2026 made the people who lived there into second-class citizens with no vote and no rights to property,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Audience members and faculty shared their impressions. Mr George Bosompim praised the film\u2019s sound design, saying: \u201cThe soundtrack throughout it\u2026 is so solid that it just carries you along. It felt as if it was a short film but it\u2019s over an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniel Adjocatcher commended the blend of dramatisation and archival footage but suggested that later sequences could have been stronger. Another student, Makida, noted how explosions, ambient sound and set design gave the film realism and immediacy.<\/p>\n

Charles explained that pre-production lasted six weeks, covering set design, costumes and props. Though dramatisations were filmed in the UK and South Africa, the sets were carefully built to resemble authentic South African locations. Archival footage was sourced through crowdsourcing. \u201cWe put adverts on Facebook\u2026 and they sent them to us,\u201d he revealed.<\/p>\n

One of the techniques employed was \u201cfinding the action\u201d cinematography, using handheld, sometimes unstable camera movements to capture the urgency of real documentary footage. \u201cThat instability that you feel adds to the danger\u2026 it looks like it was shot by somebody making a documentary of a live thing that\u2019s going on,\u201d Charles explained.<\/p>\n

Sound, which he described as \u201c60% of the storytelling,\u201d was layered with effects, ambient noises and carefully composed music to heighten tension and reflect cultural history. \u201cThe person who composed the music worked on frequencies that increased tension,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Production design extended to hospital and prison sets, as well as vintage props like radios and telephones. Casting prioritised actors who could embody historical figures convincingly, even lip-syncing archival interviews. \u201cThe guy who did Chris Hani\u2026 was uncanny. He really understood that person\u2019s history and their opinions,\u201d Charles recalled.<\/p>\n

Editing proved one of the toughest stages. The initial cut ran over two and a half hours, forcing Charles and his team to make painful reductions. \u201cEach time we cut out a character, then we had to cut out his story\u2026 it was like killing your children,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n

The Q&A concluded with reflections on production design, cinematography and historical accuracy. One student summed up the experience: \u201cI will recommend this film to anybody\u2026 it takes your time and you get to know the real history behind some of these things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Comrade Tambo\u2019s London Recruits<\/em>\u00a0will be screened to the general public on Sunday, 7 September, at Silverbird Accra.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"CollinFilm enthusiasts, students and faculty at the University of Media, Arts and Communication \u2013 Institute of Film and Television (UniMAC-IFT) were treated to an exclusive screening of\u00a0Comrade Tambo\u2019s London Recruits\u00a0on 1 September 2025, followed by a Q&A session with its producer, Collin Charles.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8080,213,10,9,4018],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-collins-charles","category-movies","category-politics","category-popular","category-unimac"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=93019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93019\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=93019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=93019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=93019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}