Rehad Desai
Rehad Desai is a former political exile from South Africa, who returned to his home country in 1990. He runs his own film and television company, Uhuru Productions, which produces documentary and dramatic works.
Desai is known for his uncompromising approach both to TV and cinema, and is one of South Africa’s most awarded filmmakers. Awards include an International Emmy and two wins for the best documentary at One World, Prague. His 2014 documentary, Miners Shot Down, about mineworkers in one of South Africa's biggest platinum mines striking for better wages, won awards at several festivals including an International Emmy Award for Best Documentary and a Golden Horn Award for Best Documentary Feature.
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Miners Shot Down
Directed by Rehad Desai • Documentary • 2014 • 86 minutes
In August 2012, mine workers in one of South Africa's biggest platinum mines began a wildcat strike for better wages. Six days into the strike, the police used live ammunition to brutally suppress it, killing 34 and injuring many more. Th...
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The Giant Is Falling
Directed by Rehad Desai and Jabulani Mzozo • Documentary • 2016 • 77 minutes
The loyalty people have for the party of liberation operates at a deep psychological level. But in recent years, the ANC's popularity is at an all time low, not least amongst people who were once its most loyal supporte...
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Everything Must Fall
Directed by Rehad Desai • Documentary • 2018 • 85 minutes
Can a diverse group of college kids find common ground with their school’s faculty and janitorial staff to bring the school administration to its knees? Can they banish a nation’s crippling student debt, guarantee workers benefits and liv...
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How to Steal a Country
Directed by Rehad Desai, co-directed by Mark Kaplan • Documentary • 2020 • 87 minutes
HOW TO STEAL A COUNTRY opens like a classic thriller, with investigative journalists meeting anonymous whistleblowers in a parking garage. There, they receive a hard drive filled with hundreds of thousands of e...
