From tyranny to democracy. Fourteen years after the defeat of apartheid, South Africa’s fledgling democracy is acclaimed for its constitutional promise of comprehensive human rights and unprecedented judicial reform. But what is essential for transformation to succeed? Courting Justice takes viewers behind the gowns and gavels to reveal the women who make up 18 percent of South Africa’s male-dominated judiciary. Hailing from diverse backgrounds and entrusted with enormous responsibilities, these pioneering women share with candor, and unexpected humor, accounts of their country’s transformation since apartheid, and the evolving demands of balancing their courts, country, and families.
Creator Ruth Cowan, a feminist and developing world scholar, is a leader in the fields of microfinance, human rights, judiciary development, and gender and race issues. With acuity and spirit, her film chronicles the hard fought progress of achieving gender and racial justice in a burgeoning new judiciary. It is a pivotal work that examines the exciting transformation of an entire legal system, through the intimate, unique, and inspiring stories of women working to change it from the bench.
Cast & Crew:
A film created by Ruth Cowan
Directed by Jane Thandi Lipman
Produced by Bridget Pickering FIREWORX MEDIA
Details:
Release Date: 2008
Country: South Africa
Running time: 54 Minutes, Color, English
Encounters: South African International Documentary Festival
Parliament Film Festival, South Africa
Addis International Film Festival, Africa
International Images Film Festival for Woman
Cinema Arts Centre, New York
Poster/Photo:
Some Qoutes:
“Educational and informative, I highly recommend it. Depicts the enormous potential for growth and development when freedom and dignity have a chance. Ruth Cowan has brilliantly brought the life of female Judges as mothers, daughters, and judiciary powers to the world’s attention.”
Dr. Kajal M. Rahmani
Anthropology Dept., Boston University
“A rich, moving film for a wide variety of audiences…captures in their own words several of the first women, particularly black women, to become judges in South Africa, presenting them as individuals and placing them in the extraordinary history of their country.”
Lynn Hecht Schafran
National Judicial Education Program, Legal Momentum
SOURCE:
http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/pages/c740.shtml downloaded January 28, 2010
