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Maids and Madams
| Length: | 52 min |
| Released: | 1986 |
| Ages: |
College Adult |
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Mira Hamermesh's powerful film, shot in South Africa, eloquently examines the tragedy of Apartheid through the complex relationship between black household worker and white employer. This domestic situation is a microcosm of the racial issues dividing the country. Over a million black women live in a state of domestic bondage, underpaid, working long hours and at the mercy of draconian laws which separate them from their own families.
As psychologist Ethel Wallt says at the end of the film: "The white people in this country are imprisoned by their own fear."
As psychologist Ethel Wallt says at the end of the film: "The white people in this country are imprisoned by their own fear."
"... this riveting documentary provides an eye-opening account of the situation facing black South African domestics living in a white-dominated society ... the production is spellbinding." - Booklist, Editor's Choice
National Educational Film Festival, First Place, 1986
San Francisco Festival, Black Cinema Series, 1986
San Francisco Festival, Black Cinema Series, 1986
