Centre for Film and Media Studies - UCT

CFMS' Ochega Etu-Ataguba's New Chapter!

PhD scholar, Ochega Etu-Ataguba, has written a chapter entitled 'Hashtags of Contention and Rights Claims' for the Routlege book, 'African Digital Cultures: Platforms, Publics, and Infrastructures!

The chapter emergered from her PhD thesis examining the disruptive and creative uses of political hashtags on X during the 2023 Nigerian national elections!

We couldn't be prouder of you Ochega!

Running bodies, raced landscapes

How do racialised belonging and digital self-tracking shape experiences of outdoor leisure in post-apartheid South Africa? In her latest article, 'Running Bodies, Raced Landscapes: trail running, self-tracking, and belonging in South African leisure spaces', Prof Tanja Bosch of and autoethnographically explores mountain trails as a leisure space structured by race, gender, class, and colonial histories.

Full Abstract:
This article examines how racialised belonging and digital self-tracking shape experiences of outdoor leisure in post-apartheid South Africa. Drawing on a critical autoethnography of trail running at a South African mountain marathon, it argues that mountain trails are socially produced leisure spaces structured by race, gender, class, and colonial histories of land and access. Using Lefebvre’s theory of the production of space alongside scholarship on racial geographies, embodiment, and the politics of belonging, the article shows how GPS watches, tracking apps, and performance metrics mediate both physical effort and social visibility. While these technologies promise optimisation, motivation, and self-knowledge, they also intensify comparison, surveillance, and affective experiences of not belonging within historically white, elite outdoor recreation cultures. Through autoethnographic vignettes, the analysis demonstrates how trail running becomes a site where embodied movement, data practices, and spatial politics intersect, revealing how leisure practices reproduce and make visible broader inequalities. The article brings together critical leisure studies on race and outdoor recreation, scholarship on the quantified self, and post-apartheid spatial geography.

Read it here: https://doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2026.2692686

The University of Cape Town remains the highest-ranked university in Africa in the 2027 Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings released on 18 June 2026. The university is placed within the top 2% of more than 8 808 institutions evaluated worldwide.

Read more: qr.codes/xTQBbr

A live-staged audio drama awaits!

CFMS senior lecturer, Dr Ian-Malcolm Rijsdijk, and alumni Matthew Kalil are hosting a live-staged audio drama murder mystery double feature at Masque Theatre on Friday, 3 July at 7pm!

The production runs for one night only, so book your tickets now for this one-of-a-kind event.

https://www.quicket.co.za/.../377861-to-kill-a-hadeda-crows/

TO KILL A HADEDA is a madcap comedy murder mystery set in a security estate - written by Matthew Kalil, starring Brett Fish Anderson, Charles Tertiens, Jana Coetzee and Shirley Johnston.

CROWS is a tense dark comedy murder mystery set in the Cape wetlands - written by Ian-Malcolm Rijsdijk, starring Shirley Johnston and Charles Tertiens.

Something awesome coming soon!

While everyone is winding down before the break, our awesome student-led team has been tirelessly conducting interviews and filming content for some upcoming social media projects!

Watch this space!

CFMS scholars Dylan Valley and Prof Tanja Bosch closed off their sessions with amazing presentations on VR for Spatial Justice and Restorative Memory, and Algorithmic Seasonality, respectively.

And like that, an astounding conference filled with innovative research and important discussions comes to a close!

Congratulations to all our staff, alumni, and students who presented and attended!

A/Prof Martha Evans in her ICA session: Recovering Repressed Histories of Media, Institutions, and Social Movements

Chair
Esperanza Herrero, U of Murcia, SPAIN

Participants
Broadcasting and the Creation of a Black Public Opinion in the Portuguese Empire: Using
Radio to Promote and Counter Cultural and Social Inequalities
Nelson Ribeiro, U Católica Portuguesa, PORTUGAL

“Communicating in the Air Force”: The National Society for the Study of Communication
and U.S. Military Education, 1950–1962
Dominique Trudel, Audencia Business School, FRANCE

Dave Park, Lake Forest College, USA
Communicating Disability, Silencing Dissent: Veteran Media and Colonial Biopower in
Algeria and Senegal
Russell Adzedu, U of Cincinnati, USA

“Covering Our Tracks”: Archival Research on Liberation Movement Communication in
South Africa, 1963–1980 | Limits and Possibilities
Martha Evans, University of Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA

🎬NFVF PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT CALL🚨

The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the call for Cycle 1 funding applications for the 2026/2027 financial year is now open.

🗓Closes: Monday, 06 July 2026
📧Submit application to: https://nfvf.praxisgms.co.za
🌐Full Call is available on www.nfvf.co.za or on the link in our bio.