His Big White Self
Encyclopedia
His Big White Self is a 2006 documentary film
made by Nick Broomfield
. It is a follow up to his 1991 film The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife
. It was shown for the first time as part of More4
's Nick Broomfield week which started on February 27, 2006.
The documentary follows Broomfield as he returns to South Africa
12 years after the collapse of the apartheid regime. His previous film focused largely on JP Meyer, a driver for Eugene Terre'Blanche
(the leader of the far-right Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging
), and JP's wife, Anita.
His Big White Self sees Broomfield returning to Ventersdorp in the former Transvaal
(now North West Province), meeting JP and Anita to see how their lives have changed since the fall of apartheid in 1994. JP and Anita have since divorced and JP now finds work as an ambulance driver splitting his time between this and his new wife. Anita has since moved to the town of Ottosdal and devotes much of her time to her grandchildren teaching them Afrikaaner ways and traditions. JP largely displays feelings of betrayal as he believed that the AWB would instigate a 'Boer
revolution' in their quest for a white homeland after Mandela
and the ANC
came to power, something that the AWB
failed to deliver. JP also seems to suggest that there was a sound logic behind apartheid and its principles of separation by race were the best way for South Africa
to exist harmoniously. Anita on the other hand seems to have made a marked transition from a radical champion of white rule to a conclusion that a minority has no right to govern a majority. Broomfield also gains access to Eugene Terre'Blanche himself, meeting him in disguise to prevent the leader from recognising him. During Broomfield's previous meeting with Terre'Blanche, the leader considered himself to have been portrayed as foolish, leading to death threats being sent to Broomfield. The film also documents some particularly noteworthy events which all occurred in the run up to the ending of Apartheid and the South African general election, 1994
. This includes the events of August 9, 1991 when President F. W. de Klerk visited Ventersdorp (the leader's birthplace and a major power base for the AWB at the time) and the battle which subsequently ensued when the AWB allegedly cut the town's power supply and began firing on police. The Storming of the Kempton Park World Trade Centre is also shown. In June 1993, the AWB and other far right groups stormed the Kempton Park World Trade Centre near Johannesburg
. At the time the venue was being used for negotiations between the ANC and the National Party to end Apartheid. Again the AWB made national headlines when in March 1994 they invaded the tribal homeland of Bophuthatswana
uninvited seemingly acting as if on a hunting parade killing many civilians. The film captures the event when three AWB commandos were summarily executed by a Bophuthatswanan soldier as they were attempting to leave the tribal homeland. At the time Bophuthatswana was still a so-called independent homeland for blacks set up by the Apartheid regime and its leader, Lucas Mangope
was refusing to reintegrate the homeland with the new South Africa prompting a coup. The film's final scene shows Anita, still working as a nurse, treating a small black child who has sustained some minor leg wounds which seemingly alludes to the new South Africa where black and white are no longer separate, previously hospitals were segregated by race as were many other public amenities.
The film was released in the UK
as a DVD
boxset together with The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife
on April 3, 2006.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
made by Nick Broomfield
Nick Broomfield
Nicholas "Nick" Broomfield is an English documentary film-maker. He is the son of Maurice Broomfield, a photographer.Broomfield works with a minimal crew, recording sound himself and using one or two camera operators...
. It is a follow up to his 1991 film The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife
The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife
The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife is a 1991 British feature-length documentary film set during the final days of the apartheid regime in South Africa, particularly centering on Eugène Terre'Blanche, founder and leader of the far-right, white supremacist political organisation AWB. The...
. It was shown for the first time as part of More4
More4
More4 is a digital television channel, run by British broadcaster Channel 4, that launched on 10 October 2005. It is carried on Freeview, on satellite broadcasters Freesat and Sky, UK IPTV broadcaster TalkTalk TV and on UK cable network Virgin Media and in the Republic of Ireland cable networks...
's Nick Broomfield week which started on February 27, 2006.
The documentary follows Broomfield as he returns to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
12 years after the collapse of the apartheid regime. His previous film focused largely on JP Meyer, a driver for Eugene Terre'Blanche
Eugène Terre'Blanche
Eugène Ney Terre'Blanche was a former member of South Africa's Herstigte Nasionale Party who founded the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging during the apartheid era...
(the leader of the far-right Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging
Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging
The Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging is a South African far right separatist political and former paramilitary organization, since its creation dedicated to secessionist Afrikaner nationalism and the creation of an independent Boer-Afrikaner republic or "" in part of South Africa...
), and JP's wife, Anita.
His Big White Self sees Broomfield returning to Ventersdorp in the former Transvaal
Transvaal Province
Transvaal Province was a province of the Union of South Africa from 1910 to 1961, and of its successor, the Republic of South Africa, from 1961 until the end of apartheid in 1994 when a new constitution subdivided it.-History:...
(now North West Province), meeting JP and Anita to see how their lives have changed since the fall of apartheid in 1994. JP and Anita have since divorced and JP now finds work as an ambulance driver splitting his time between this and his new wife. Anita has since moved to the town of Ottosdal and devotes much of her time to her grandchildren teaching them Afrikaaner ways and traditions. JP largely displays feelings of betrayal as he believed that the AWB would instigate a 'Boer
Boer
Boer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
revolution' in their quest for a white homeland after Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
and the ANC
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
came to power, something that the AWB
Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging
The Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging is a South African far right separatist political and former paramilitary organization, since its creation dedicated to secessionist Afrikaner nationalism and the creation of an independent Boer-Afrikaner republic or "" in part of South Africa...
failed to deliver. JP also seems to suggest that there was a sound logic behind apartheid and its principles of separation by race were the best way for South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
to exist harmoniously. Anita on the other hand seems to have made a marked transition from a radical champion of white rule to a conclusion that a minority has no right to govern a majority. Broomfield also gains access to Eugene Terre'Blanche himself, meeting him in disguise to prevent the leader from recognising him. During Broomfield's previous meeting with Terre'Blanche, the leader considered himself to have been portrayed as foolish, leading to death threats being sent to Broomfield. The film also documents some particularly noteworthy events which all occurred in the run up to the ending of Apartheid and the South African general election, 1994
South African general election, 1994
The South African general election of 1994 was an election held in South Africa to mark the end of apartheid, therefore also the first held with universal adult suffrage. The election was conducted under the direction of the Independent Electoral Commission .Millions queued in lines over a three...
. This includes the events of August 9, 1991 when President F. W. de Klerk visited Ventersdorp (the leader's birthplace and a major power base for the AWB at the time) and the battle which subsequently ensued when the AWB allegedly cut the town's power supply and began firing on police. The Storming of the Kempton Park World Trade Centre is also shown. In June 1993, the AWB and other far right groups stormed the Kempton Park World Trade Centre near Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
. At the time the venue was being used for negotiations between the ANC and the National Party to end Apartheid. Again the AWB made national headlines when in March 1994 they invaded the tribal homeland of Bophuthatswana
Bophuthatswana
Bophuthatswana , officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana was a Bantustan – an area set aside for members of a specific ethnicity – and nominal parliamentary democracy in the northwestern region of South Africa...
uninvited seemingly acting as if on a hunting parade killing many civilians. The film captures the event when three AWB commandos were summarily executed by a Bophuthatswanan soldier as they were attempting to leave the tribal homeland. At the time Bophuthatswana was still a so-called independent homeland for blacks set up by the Apartheid regime and its leader, Lucas Mangope
Lucas Mangope
Kgosi Lucas Manyane Mangope is the former leader of the Bantustan of Bophuthatswana and current leader of the United Christian Democratic Party, a minor political party based in the North West province of South Africa....
was refusing to reintegrate the homeland with the new South Africa prompting a coup. The film's final scene shows Anita, still working as a nurse, treating a small black child who has sustained some minor leg wounds which seemingly alludes to the new South Africa where black and white are no longer separate, previously hospitals were segregated by race as were many other public amenities.
The film was released in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
as a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
boxset together with The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife
The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife
The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife is a 1991 British feature-length documentary film set during the final days of the apartheid regime in South Africa, particularly centering on Eugène Terre'Blanche, founder and leader of the far-right, white supremacist political organisation AWB. The...
on April 3, 2006.