Gold is dirty.
Mining is the back bone of most communities. However once a mine has depleted its resources, the community is left with the fall out. In Johannesburg, South Africa, where a majority of the world’s gold is mined, many mines have been left abandoned and over time the surrounding areas have turned into uninhabitable wastelands.
Mariette Liefferinck, is a recovered Jehovah’s Witness and Erin Brockovich-type who is trying to help those who can’t. Appalled by the governments lack of interest and response to the plight of the people, she sets out to get things changed. She is on the phone trying to get in touch with people in charge, setting up ‘Toxic Tours’ to former mining sites to show the public how deplorable the conditions are, and tests the waters and dirt to show how radioactive and poisonous the land has become.
Filmmakers Fredrik Gertten & Sylvia Vollenhoven follow Mariette on her crusade to get things changed. She’s open to the fact that she has no formal training in science or the law, but she is passionate about helping others any way she can. This film will hopefully open up a dialogue about how corporate and commercial greed harms small communities and that regulations and laws need to be enacted to make companies responsible for the waste they create.
Sometimes it takes one person who sees something wrong with how people are treated to take a stand and do everything in their power to gain attention. More people should take a tip from Mariette and help others whit what they need.
South African Film Festival 2021 will screen JOZI GOLD on May 19th. Tickets and more information are available HERE
SAFF 2021 Review – Jozi Gold
Reviewed online (screener provided by publicist), May 2, 2021. Rating: TBC. Running time: 74 min.
PRODUCTION: A WG Film, Sant & Usant, VIA – Vision In Africa production. Producer: Margarette Jangård. Executive producer: Fredrik Gertten.
CREW: Directors: Fredrik Gertten, Sylvia Vollenhoven. Writers: Fredrik Gertten, Stefan Sundlöf. Editing: Stefan Sundlöf. Music: Gustav Wall.