Biography
Lionel Ngakane (17 July 1928 – 26 November 2003) was a South African filmmaker and actor, who lived in exile in the United Kingdom from the 1950s until 1994, when he returned to South Africa after the end of apartheid. His 1965 film Jemima and Johnny, inspired by the 1958 "race riots" in Notting Hill, London, won awards at the Venice and Rimini film festivals. In the 1960s, Ngakane was a founding member of the Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI) and Fespaco, the Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO). Ngakane was born in Pretoria, South Africa.[2] In 1936, his family and he moved to the Sophiatown neighbourhood of Johannesburg. His father (a teacher) set up a hostel with Alan Paton, author of the 1948 novel Cry, The Beloved Country. Ngakane was educated at Fort Hare University College and the University of Witwatersrand, and worked on Drum and Zonk magazines from 1948 to 1950. In 1950, he began his career in film as an assistant director and actor in the film version of Cry, the Beloved Country (1951), directed by Zoltan Korda. Shortly thereafter, Ngakane went into exile in the United Kingdom. As an actor, he appeared in films, including The Ma…
Movies & TV Shows
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Danger Man (1960) — Moses Amadu
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Safari (1956) — Makora
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Cry, the Beloved Country (1951) — Absolom Kumalo
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The Squeeze (1977) — West Indian
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The Painted Smile (1962) — Barman
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Duel in the Jungle (1954) — Servant
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The Mark of the Hawk (1957) — African Doctor
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Nor the Moon by Night (1958) — Nimrod
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Theatre 625 (1964) — Ofodile
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Nothing Barred (1961) — Convict
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It’s the Only Way to Go (1970)
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The Night We Got the Bird (1960) — Porter
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Two Gentlemen Sharing (1969) — Bill
- Studio 4 (1962) — Houseboy
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Wind Versus Polygamy (1968) — Ofodile
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In Darkest Hollywood: Cinema and Apartheid (1994) — Self
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Victims of Apartheid (1978) — Mokwe
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Child of Hope (1975) — Mutumbulua
- Baobab: Portrait of a Tree (1971) — Legend Storyteller (voice)
