Alexandra My Alexandra

When the book Alexandra: A History was published by Wits University Press in 2008, we read it and were immediately inspired by the significance of the township, as detailed in the book. We approached the authors of the book, Noor Nieftagodien and Philip Bonner, and through them the Alexandra Heritage Society, and entered into an agreement to make a six-part documentary series that would get this history out there in a way that a book cannot do. Having secured some funding from the National Lotteries Distribution Trust Fund, we embarked on our production period in January 2012 and aim to launch the series in the run up to the Alexandra Centenary celebrations in September 2012.

The story of Alexandra, its colourful characters, its highs, lows and ultimately, its pioneering cultural and political influence on the rest of the nation, lends itself both to local and international TV and DVD distribution. Our intention is to create something that entertains, informs and inspires. The approach is history from below, the people of Alexandra as much as possible telling their own history, not just of the political legacy of Alexandra, which is rich in itself and has its heroes and heroines, but the music, the poetry, the sporting heroes and the gangsters, all spawned from Alexandra’s dust. Alexandrans have thus far proved themselves natural and entertaining storytellers. While their tales are vivid, giving us a vista into our nation’s past and present, it is our hope that the series once completed will not only preserve and record its history, but will bring its contemporary reality to audiences far and wide. The series then becomes a movable heritage object that can be shared and potentially exhibited through many spaces – from public broadcast platforms, to civil society groups, schools and museums.