By Dave Riley
SBS is running some regular and some special programming worth staying in for.
Out of Africa (Wednesday, 9.30 p.m.). The continuing series of documentaries from or about Africa and Africans is worth monitoring. Loosely based on the case of the Sharpeville Six, the movie-length feature Dark City is billed as a compelling thriller. The mix of political reality and bitter violence builds to a startling climax.
The following week (May 27) examines the new political theatre of South Africa. Township Fever by Mbongeni Ngema is featured in this documentary. Combining dance, music, song and drama, the play deals with the national train strike of 1987. It opened to considerable controversy — even among black audiences — and exemplifies the role of the arts in the rapidly changing South Africa.
Connections (Friday, 8.30 p.m.). In February 1991, 27,000 employees of Carl Zeiss Jena (one of the world's finest and largest makers of scientific and technical instruments) came out on the streets of Jena (East Germany) to protest against 90% lay-offs. At the end of World War II, General Eisenhower ordered the US forces occupying the town to "take the brains", and 126 top scientists and managers were ordered to the West, where they established Zeiss West Germany, now ranked number two in the world. For 45 years the two companies expanded and thrived on opposite sides of the Wall. The Long Road to the West examines the enormous problems facing the Carl Zeiss Jena today.
The Nat King Cole Show (Saturday, 7.30 p.m.). Remembered as a ballad singer with a velvet voice, Nat King Cole was also an important jazz musician. His piano style was a major influence on Oscar Petersen and Ray Charles. Forty years on, the Nat King Cole Show is the best music show on local television. His guests are a delightful mix of some the best in their prime: Pearl Bailey and Ella Fitzgerald featured recently and Eartha Kitt guests this week. Next week (May 30) is a special jazz edition featuring some of the world's greatest jazz players including Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Ray Eldridge, Stan Getz and Coleman Hawkins.
Kegemusha (Monday, 9.30 p.m.). From the director of The Seven Samurai, Roshomon, Living and much more, Kegemusha is a recent film by Akira Kurosawa. Set in 16th century Japan, it is an epic drama of feudal conflict and resolution. The film took out the Grand Prize at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival and was produced by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas.
The Cutting Edge (Tuesday, 8.30 p.m.). Jakarta's colonising zeal is not limited to East Timor. The people of West Papua have been victims of assimilation and transmigration programs since 1963. Arrows Against The Wind (May 26) is a revealing documentary, with smuggled cameras, about the Dani and the Asmat — whose lands have been irreversibly damaged and peoples displaced by the policies of the Suharto regime.
The following night, Face the Press (May 27, 8 p.m.) carries an interview with Otto Ondawame, a leader of the Organisasi Papua Merdeka, which has been committed to the liberation of West Papua from Indonesian occupation since 1965.