She was their teacher. They were her hope.
The plot centers on students involved in the Soweto Riots, in opposition to the implementation of Afrikaans as the language of instruction in schools. The stage version presents a school uprising similar to the Soweto uprising on June 16, 1976. A narrator introduces several characters among them the school girl activist Sarafina. Things get out of control when a policeman shoots several pupils in a classroom. Nevertheless, the musical ends with a cheerful farewell show of pupils leaving school, which takes most of act two. In the movie version Sarafina feels shame at her mother's (played by Miriam Makeba in the film) acceptance of her role as domestic servant in a white household in apartheid South Africa, and inspires her peers to rise up in protest, especially after her inspirational teacher, Mary Masombuka (played by Whoopi Goldberg in the film version) is imprisoned.
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Type
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Release DateSep 18, 1992
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Cast
- Leleti Khumalo as Sarafina
- Whoopi Goldberg as Mary Masembuko
- John Kani as School Principal
- Miriam Makeba as Angelina
- Mary Twala as Sarafina's Grandmother
- Dumisani Dlamini as Crocodile
- Mbongeni Ngema as Sabela
- Tertius Meintjes as Lieutenant Bloem
- Robert Whitehead as Interrogator
- Greg Latter as Policeman
- Nicky Rebelo as Soldier
- James Whyle as Soldier
- Michelle Bestbier as Mrs. Hendricks
- Patrick Ndlovu as Victor Gumede
- Somizi Mhlongo as Fire
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References