De Voortrekkers

This 1916 epic film was one of the first South African dramatic film productions, and the oldest surviving South African feature film. It tells the story of the Boers’ Great Trek, concluding with a reconstruction of the horrific 1838 Battle of Blood River, where a few hundred armed Afrikaners defeated several thousand Zulus. Commemorating as it did the Afrikaners’ view of a highly contentious period of history, and celebrating what was believed to be a God-given victory against the odds, the film came to be revered by the Afrikaner nation at the time. It has been compared to the equally co...