TB in Town 2
This film tells the story of patients with tuberculosis living in Town 2, one of the biggest and
most violent townships of South Africa. Treatment is available for free and tuberculosis patients can be completely cured. Nevertheless, many people in this area get this disease and die. This film is about how patients deal with their medication, the side effects, and how they fight for their lives. How this affects the relationships with friends, family, and healthcare providers. It's about their hunger in combination with treatment that seems to make them loose their minds.
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Dr. Lianne (A.L.) CremersDirector
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Dr. Lianne (A.L.) CremersWriter
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Studio DUS Media & DesignProducerStudio DUS is prior awarded for the film Toxic Tears with former scholar Tom Deiters to more commercial (local-) governmental assignments (Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment, Central council of Amsterdam), ING photography and design until a community college project about Freedom.
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Monwa MaqogiKey Cast
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Nokubonga MaqogiKey Cast
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Vuyelwa ChakoKey Cast
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Chumisa SikepuKey Cast
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George LungileKey Cast
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Khulish MdyogoloKey Cast
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Nokuzolo JamaKey Cast
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Tamtam DinganaKey Cast
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Siyabonga DakaKey Cast
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Project Type:Documentary
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Runtime:46 minutes
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Completion Date:November 26, 2017
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Production Budget:20,000 USD
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Country of Origin:Netherlands
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Country of Filming:South Africa
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Ditigial
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:Yes
Lianne (A.L.) Cremers is a visual medical anthropologist from the Academic Medical Center and the University of Amsterdam. She did a PhD about Patients’ experience with tuberculosis and healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa. She is additionally working as a freelance (visual) anthropologist for amongst others the Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development, KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, and the AIDS Foundation. Her areas of expertise are interdisciplinary research, ethnography, documentary-making, infectious disease, and community-based care.
During my PhD research about tuberculosis in Africa, I was impressed by the tuberculosis programme available in South Africa. Their interdisciplinary approach seemed to attack tuberculosis from an economic, social, cultural, and medical perspective. Nevertheless, tuberculosis rates go up and I was shocked about the devastating impact tuberculosis has on the black population in Cape Town, South Africa.
The people I met in the township, Khayelitsha, were often confronted with friends and family members passing away. Death took mundane forms in their everyday lives. Many people in the community of Town 2 have played an activist role during the Apartheid regime and most are frustrated that they are at the moment politically free, but economically not at all. People feel their voices are not heard. Many live in very poor situations, struggling with every-day food supply, unemployment, and diseases of poverty. They are stuck in structures of inequality and poverty and get infected with tuberculosis over and over again. Tuberculosis is curable, but many people still die because of this disease.
I have lived for five months in Cape Town and have made friendships with the people I studied. They asked me to spread the word, to tell other people about tuberculosis and how this impact their lives. That is why I am highly motivated to distribute this film internationally. When one of my close friends and respondent of the film passed away, this motivation was even stronger. I hope I can spread the message of TB patients to as many viewers as possible. I hope this film can enhance deeper understanding of their complex situation. Moreover, I hope this film can show the strenghth of visual anthropology and how it can be used as a powerful tool to trigger change.