I was attracted to watching this film because I love Africana culture and music. I can also relate to the oppressed minority context. These are my thoughts. This film was really hard to follow because of all the reasons the previous reviewers gave: poor sound quality, accents with no subtitles, haphazard or arbitrary recording, and a lack of focus. However, I don't care for the mean comments about Nick Bloomfield. He was up against a lot of resistance: the participants started out avoiding the filming, Chico is reticent, even though he's the main character in the film, you see Tempbi, his favorite wife, I believe it is, for example, running away from the camera through her house, the cigarette smoking wife won't explain what's going on, on and on. Bloomfield is giving this Chico artist, whom I can't even remember the full name of, a great opportunity to expose the difficulties of apartheid. Instead Chico wastes the entire time lollygagging around, only proves to cower to Atti, you see him along with his other friends disrespectfully putting Nick down left and right, and shows with all his homes and wives and cars, he's as materialistic as any other race. At the same time of wanting and wishing for things to be done the right way with his concerts and blacks, he wants out from under Atti, rather than stick out the situation and problem solve, he's running away from his problem. The only thing Chico seems to be comfortable with is allowing Tempbi show her fashion designs. They can see the opportunity in that, and that's when you see her more talkative. Both Chico and Tempbi are hypocritical, they are just the same as the opportunistic Atti and the white man. I do believe there is grave injustice against blacks, they are basically in an occupied land, look at the way the security man talks and treats Nick Bloomfield at the last concert, but blacks are strong and have a rich cultural background, this film shows a need for them to apply their innate wisdom and problem solve.

The entire move was a flop. I believe it was made as a doc for the BBC from what I can tell. But ...that said it was few and far between what I could understand. The accents were so thick that you needed subtitles to be sure (or at least a secret decoder ring).The movie wasn't racist. Broomfield is called a "white" a couple times. So what it's Africa. Worse is the whole movie is just like a cheap hair weave left in a tangled dirty
ball by the side of the road that Broomfield keeps chasing and picking up and shaking out trying to slavage a film out of it. And it isn't happening. Apparently he is there to document the "new south africa" post aparthied. In particular, a Tracy Chapman concert put on by a shady chico character and his two white partners.
The concert doesn't happen, neither do the replacement tries of Duran Duran . -this should date the film for people- as nothing is in ANY context in the film.Not even Chico's inapropriate "friendship with Winnie Mandella " can help poor beleagered Chico. ( or Nick) Nick isn't wanted at any meetings with Mrs. Mandella. ( he isn;t particularly wanted by anyone involved. They ignore him!
Not that Nick would give any info, but...
Winnie was later divorced by Nelson M. for fraternizing with the wrong type of thugs. ...like Chico. But this doc doesn' t explain anything...it's all scrappy travel home movies. Lots of cartoonish African dancing and singing. Made cartoonish because of the context Broomfield puts it in. I happen to like African music! So, since that isn't happening, Nick roams around being a pest and a nosey parker. Chico seems like a early 90's era crack dealer. He's no Suge Knight. It's a mess of fast talk that desperately needs sub titles. The man is asked how many wives he has and cannot answer the same way twice. He'd LIKE to have ten, but doesn't. But to quote the immortal words of Buckweat from "The Little Rascals" I ain't never gettin' married, and I'm gonna raise my kids the same ways!' I doubt there is any legal marriages to anyone. But many chirrens abound. He keeps them in seperate housing with"they baby mamas." To use today's nomenclature.The filming is messy home movie quality footage. Chico seems unable to give a straight answer to even the smallest question.Broomfield MUST put himself into every movie and thus make it even worse and more home made. It adds nothing. It's like a watching a stage door johnnie in the act. Broomfield made one good film. Chickenranch. A LONG time ago. Before Vice was wise to the ways of filmmakers. ( At the end you see him yelled at by the pimp who's sick of him. lol) But Yes, I give him props for being first with that genre of documentary. Chickenranch is a great piece of work. The rest of his films are just a waste of time. Just a thought: if anyone sees this as racist, maybe it's because Broomfield made the concious choice to NOT put in subtitles. If there was some kill whitey rhetoric, it could have been entertaining. Or, if the white man was really making it hard on the black, you'd know that too...but it's all a pantomime. ( i dare say minstrel show) Chico barely even speaks to Broomfield. He shows a gun in his shirt only to move it for the microphone reverb. It wasn;t a threat. Chico didn't name the film either. More Broomfield hyperbole. More provocative with this title.Since Broomfield is the only one we can barely understand we have to take his word on everything happening. ( which is little) And validates - at least in his mind- why he is needed in the film and why he MUST continuously narrate it. Like some WW2 newsreel running endlessly.As for the reviewers who are whining about racism and bringing in stuff like latinos, asian, kurds, armenians, jews, what are you watching??? Stick to this film! that's you reviewer Harper. Liked your assessment Dex.as for the film, if broomfield did his job right, it'd be an in depth look into a scummy criminally bent music promoter ( and whatever else he does) life at a particularly hot spot in time in history in a fascinating country. Broomfield failed miserably. so he marketed it as some aparthied look see. Nothing to see.