Testing Hope:

Grade 12 in the new South Africa

A film by Molly Blank

In the impoverished black townships outside Cape Town, South Africa, everyone knows that the only way to improve one's life is to go to university and get a good job. And the only way to do that is to pass the challenging series of examinations known as Matric. Students prepare all year; their hopes and dreams as well as those of their families all depend on passing.

This engaging film follows four students in Nyanga township in their last year of high school. Theirs is the first graduating class who entered school in 1994, the year apartheid ended. While this is the new South Africa, many vestiges of apartheid persist. Many families live in shacks, several homes lack running water and electricity, and the average household income is $3,000 per year. Babalwa, who wants to become a doctor, says she is "used to" not having breakfast and does not know if her family will be eating dinner that night. Some of her classmates are responsible for taking care of younger siblings as many parents are absent. Gang violence is rife.

The film explores what lies ahead for students who pass Matric and what awaits those who do not. How will Nyanga's children achieve their dreams in a country where so many obstacles remain?

40 min. Video or DVD. Sale $295. Video rental $85.