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With this bracing drama, made at the climax of the anti-apartheid movement, director Euzhan Palcy issued a devastating indict­ment of South Africa’s racist government — and made history in the process, becoming the first black woman to direct a Hollywood studio film.

A Dry White Season follows the story of Ben du Toit, a high school history teacher and happily married father of two, whose eyes are gradually opened to the repressive nature of his government. The movie is set in June 1976, beginning just days before the South African police opened fire on a crowd of black students marching peacefully against a new school curriculum. Several children were killed, and the incident marked the beginning of the Soweto Uprising, a month or more of violence in which hundreds of black children and teenagers were killed, and thousands more injured. Gordon Ngubene, the du Toit family gardener, comes to Ben for help when his son, Jonathan, is arrested in the initial protest. Ben is skeptical at first that the police would arrest a young boy without good reason, but when Gordon, too, disappears into the clutches of the sinister Special Branch, he begins to ask questions...

Director: Euzhan Palcy
Cast: Donald Sutherland, Janet Suzman, Zakes Mokae, Susan Sarandon, Marlon Brando
Country: USA
Genre: Drama, Thriller

BD50, DVD9 | 1080p AVC, NTSC | 01:46:45 | 40 Gb, 7.27 Gb + 3% rec
Language: English
Subtitles: English

Extras:
• New interview with director Euzhan Palcy by film critic Scott Foundas (34:52)
• Five Scenes, a new program featuring Palcy (28:46)
• Interview from 1989 with actor Donald Sutherland (5:22)
• Excerpt from a 1995 interview Palcy conducted with Nelson Mandela (2:43)
• Footage of Palcy receiving the highest distinction for foreign dignitaries at the 2017 South African National Orders awards (1:30)