To mark Human Rights Day 2009, the EU and the UN are delighted to introduce the first in a series of joint communication and information projects to mark certain International days
The Choir, by Michael Davie
Synopsis:
Shot over six years, The Choir is about the music that unites Jabulani Shabangu and a group of fellow inmates who are battling to survive in South Africa's biggest prison. Jabulani is rebellious and angry until he meets a wily bank robber named Coleman, who recruits him for the prison choir. He rises in the ranks and leads the choir to victory at the National Prison Choir Competition. But there is more going on here. The brotherhood of choristers, along with Coleman's fatherly wisdom transform Jabulani's life and give him the tools he needs to face his victims and to survive behind bars, as well as in the world outside when he is released. Jabulani's story is about the basic, powerful human desire to rise above our circumstances and change our lives for the better.
Director's Biography:
Zimbabwean-born documentary filmmaker Michael Davie started his
career as a television journalist in rural Australia. He got hooked to travel and adventure and in 1998 hitch-hiked from Cape Town to Cairo while he also filmed the African youth in the course of this eight-month journey. The outcome was a critically acclaimed TV series after which he worked with the National Geographic Television in Washington D.C producing several award winning documentaries. The Choir was shot over six years following the lives of inmates in the choir at the Johannesburg's Leeuwkop Prison.
