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A Mere Grain of Nothing My Death: A Life in Poetry - Ingrid Jonker

Korreltjie niks is my dood2001

Overview

On 19 July 1965, the South-African poet Ingrid Jonker walked into the sea near Drieankerbaai in Cape Town at the age of 31. She left behind a little daughter and an oeuvre of three laurelled collections of poems. Jonker's work fell into oblivion, until on 25 May 1994 president Nelson Mandela opened the very first session of the first democratically elected parliament of South Africa with Jonker's poem Die kind wat dood geskiet is deur soldate by Nyanga, a poem from 1960 that refers to the demonstrations near Sharpeville. Mandela chose the poem for good reason; he called Jonker 'both an African and an Afrikaner'. A white person in South Africa cannot get a bigger compliment. In the documentary Korreltjie niks is my dood, director Saskia van Schaik reconstructs the poet's eventful life, making her powerful poetry with its South-African rhythm tell part of the story. (filmcommission.nl)

Details

Status
Released
Release date
January 1, 2001
Original language
English
Spoken languages
Afrikaans, Dutch
Countries
Netherlands
Production
VPRO
Budget
Not recorded
Revenue
Not recorded
A Mere Grain of Nothing My Death: A Life in Poetry - Ingrid Jonker (2001) | Kinocult