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The launch was held at the Eyethu Heritage Hall in Soweto on Thursday afternoon.
Thapelo Motloung Speaking at launch of Soweto Film Market in Soweto. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
The uprising of youth in Soweto in 1976 was a protest against the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in black schools.
In addition to that, the remonstration was also against apartheid’s chokehold on young black people’s dreams.
On Thursday, just a few days to the day that the historic protest took place 49 years ago, a young filmmaker from Soweto, Thapelo Motloung, launched the Soweto Film Market in the township—something that very few people could see nearly 50 years ago.
“We are free today because they had to fight, and for me to have a voice. I’m here today, 26 years old, and we are making this happen in Soweto. We’ve changed the narrative; we are innovators, we are change makers,” Motloung said, speaking to The Citizen.
The Soweto Film Market has joined forces with the long-standing Soweto International Film Festival (SIFF). The market is born from SIFF’s mission to elevate African voices. The Market is where creativity meets commerce.
“Teboho Mashinini, Hector Pieterson and them are in our history during this month, so it is also a commemoration to the heroes that have fallen.”
The Soweto Film Market and SIFF will take place from November 19 to 22, 2025.
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Rewriting the future of African film
Together with SIFF, the Soweto Film Market is rewriting the future of African film.
“How many other Thapelos are out there looking for platforms?… I’ve been rejected a lot of times and at a number of places,” he shares.
“The whole idea was, how do I service a Thapelo somewhere, someone who is trying to get into the industry,” Motloung says.
“Soweto did not have a market necessarily, and we’re such a big township that is known globally. Coming up with a market was a matter of saying ‘why don’t we have trade in Soweto’ because that’s where the two Nobel Prize winners are from,” says Motloung, referring to the significance of the township.
Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu are the two Nobel winners who resided on the same street in Soweto.
He says the market is aimed at filmmakers, where workshops will be held, and industry skills will be shared.
“We have the festival side of things, where we’re premiering a film every night here at Eyethu. During the day, we’re at Soweto Theatre and in the evening we’re here premiering first-time films at Eyethu cinema, which is the oldest cinema in Africa.”
Located in Mofolo Soweto, Eyethu is one of the first black-owned cinemas in South Africa and a historic venue in Soweto, where memorable shows and funeral services of Soweto’s most prominent were held.
“When you go through the venue, you get to realise that someone started and someone needs to take the baton — I’m here to take the baton,” said Motloung.
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