BIKO’S CHILDREN - A VUYISA YOKO FILM

By Sivu Nobongoza

He introduces himself as Breeze. You get the feeling that you are going to be blown away thus you’re not caught off guard when the feeling of his words beating beneath your wings elevates you to a sublime place. Vuyo Yoko, a young filmmaker and social activist is the creator of the ascension called BIKO’S CHILDREN. The short film documentary which premiered at the V & A Waterfront this past Sunday is Breeze’s way of celebrating and urging young South Africans to remember the great man and visionary utatu ‘Bantu Steve Biko and the revelations he died trying to keep alive for us his children. The doccie deals with the commonly misunderstood movement and teachings of Steve Biko, about his views and ideas on ‘Black Consciousness’ Although it starts and ends in 14 minutes the film depicts just enough to raise questions of why, who and where we are as a youth and as a people.

As Breeze so adequately puts it, his doccie is way for people to start looking inside themselves and asking the necessary questions that will liberate and rid them from the mental slavery that is still a very large part of our lives today. Unlike many Biko films, this flick exposes a couple of young people who are at the forefront of the Biko iconology and what they do to keep the icon, father and his legacy alive. It was interesting to hear some of the questions that burnt the lips of viewers who watched the premiere.

One young person even went as far is to question whether our current democratic government would ever consider making the 12th September, the day Steve Biko died, a public holiday (a valid question given the sacrifice that was made.) What was also very interesting was, and this I suppose is one of the reasons why this doccie was made, is to how misinterpreted the term ‘Black Consciousness’ is. There was a feeling that people who see the prefix ‘black’ generally feel excluded from these teaching, and thus view Mr. Biko’s works as racially biased.

As one woman at the premier gracefully put it; in the 60’s and 70’s ‘Black’ was the term used to describe all people of colour and everything that fell under black as the ethnic identity that hinges on our roots.

Without getting into the films political merits, it is my belief that before we find this fearless plateau of thought we need to ask the questions and search for the answers that will set us FREE in the true sense of the word and watch Vuyo Yoko’s film Biko’s Children which will screen one final screening at the V & A Waterfront’s Cinema Nouveau in Cape Town this Sunday the 03rd October at 18h00.

“I believe you have an appointment with Mr. Biko legacy this Sunday”

A still frame from the doccie, Biko's Children