Asked by Nelson Mandela to sing at his inauguration, Ladysmith Black Mambazo is the group which has most popularized South African "worker's songs" around the world. But there are other musical traditions from this most musical nation, including that of the "Freedom Songs," which accompanied and sustained the struggle against a brutal racist regime for forty years. This documentary combines a history of Apartheid and the resistance against it with the history of the music which brought together and moved so many. From old footage showing Hendrik Verwoerd, the "Father of Apartheid," describing Apartheid as "good neighborliness" the film cuts to those "neighbors" inspired by the Freedom Songs of Vuyisile Mini, especially "Watch Out Verwoerd," which became a hit on the streets of black communities. As many of these were razed and their populations forcibly removed to "townships," the songs evolved from mostly prayers to calls to battle, and many battle-scarred veterans of the movement recall, and sing, the old songs here. Among these, Sophie Mgcina's acapella rendition of "Madam, Please," a song of a domestic mournfully pleading to her overbearing white employer, is unforgettable. "The thing that saved us was music," says jazz pianist Abdullah Ibriham. "It was part of liberating ourselves." A powerful story made powerful by its beautiful music.

Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony is part of the Documentaries program at Flickerings at Cornerstone Festival, July 2-5, 2003.

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