On the 10-minute drive from the border of downtown Johannesburg to The Bioscope (an independent cinema in one of the city's revived arts districts), my friend and I were stopped at a police checkpoint. I noticed the driver of the truck in front of us hand the officer a wad of bills. My reaction was a sigh, hoping that we wouldn't miss the film, knowing my friend wouldn't pay a bribe. Luckily, we made it to the screening of Behind The Rainbow with time to spare, although not before my friend made it clear how unhappy he was to park at night in downtown Johannesburg—a fact he made evident to the security guard watching the cars. It is now a well-known fact that South Africa has its problems; that the end of Apartheid did not mean the end of social inequalities; that the ANC although once leaders of a moral battle, may not in fact be so transparent anymore. In recent years, controversy has shadowed many aspects of South Africa’s dominant political power, from corruption charges to questionable foreign policy. For Jahin El-Tahri, the Egyptian director of Behind the Rainbow (South Africa being the "Rainbow Nation" since 1994), the irony in South Africa became an exploration. She began work on a documentary in 2004. For five years she was motivated by the question: How could such a promising liberation movement led by the ANC and figures like OR Tambo and Nelson Mandela lead to such a let-down? Post-Apartheid South Africa has seen rising unemployment, corruption, crime, xenophobic violence, and a lack of basic government services. Then, unexpectedly, when finishing the R5 million film in 2008, Thabo Mbeki stepped down from his position as President of the Republic of South Africa. With hours of interviews with Mbeki himself, Jacob Zuma, who would become President, and countless other ANC "comrades" involved from 1975 onward, El-Tahri has an amazing film. Behind the Rainbow provides an inside look at the workings and conflicts within South Africa's political stage. The documentary unintentionally captures the relationship between "Thabo" and "Jacob", from their initial bond formed in a Swaziland jail while in exile, through the moment Zuma defeated Mbeki as the President of the ANC. As El-Tahri explained, she is not South African, and she doesn't care who the president is. On camera, President Jacob Zuma appears candid and reasonable, even while explaining his favorite song, Umshini Wam, “Bring me my machine gun”, which he says is a “Nice song.” Jahin El-Tahri was present for two screenings of Behind the Rainbow at the Bioscope. Behind the Rainbow is not designed to be entertaining or frilly—it is a 138-minute documentary that provides an intimate primary source on South Africa's history. When the movie ended, my mate's car was untouched and no bribes had been paid.
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