African FILM FESTIVAL New Zealand

Synopsis

Best documentary, 7^th Rustenburg FF; Calgary Black FF; Halifax Black FF

In 1988, Dulcie September, a member of the ANC living in Paris, was assassinated as she entered an elevator at her apartment building. The murderer was never found and the crime never investigated properly. Now, in 2021 director Enver Samuel has made a powerful documentary which is currently being used as supporting evidence in the appeal to re-open her case and bring the culprit (s) to justice. Samuel’s narrative follows the journalist Evelyn Groenlink’s 30-year-long search to get to the truth of Dulcie’s murder, revealing layers of deceit, complicity, and hidden agenda, as well as links to the French arms industry. What is also revealed is a portrait of Dulcie herself, a “remarkable and formidable woman”, an unsung hero of the anti-apartheid movement. A ‘Justice for Dulcie’ campaign has been started to allow the case to be argued in court and justice done.

“Playing like a political crime thriller, this forensic documentary traces the motives for September’s assassination in Paris in 1988 and has more to do with the Apartheid regime’s close ties to the French weapons industry than with neutralising an ANC cadre” – Berthadochouse