The last years of Apartheid of South Africa was not only amazingly trying on the natives of the land, but also on the photographers as shown in Steven Silver’s 2010 true story film, “The Bang Bang Club.”

The film focuses on mainly the characters and the drama that comes between them, but the overall point is how they go about capturing phenomenal photos during this extremely dangerous time period from 1948 to 1993 when a system of legal racial separation existed in South Africa.

Neels VanJaarsveld (Joao Silva), Taylor Kitsch (Kevin Carter) and Frank Rautenbach (Ken Oosterbroek) are three young combat photographers who eventually meet up with Greg Marinovich (Ryan Phillippe), and are all bonded by friendship and their sense of purpose to tell the truth.

If you are in the mood for a suspenseful, risk-taking movie, this one shows how four photographers jeopardized their lives to tell the world of the brutality and violence during this time.

The intensity of the political period brought out their best work which won two of them Pulitzer prizes.

Based on the book of the same name, written by two of the photographers, the film also stars Robin Comley (Malin Akerman). It explores the thrill, danger and moral questions associated with exposing the truth.

For any journalist, especially photojournalists, this movie is a must see.

It explains that nothing is impossible — no matter what it takes to get the shot, the story, it is all worth it.

Rating: A

—Sarah Hussain

Senior Writer

To contact Sarah Hussain, email seniorwriter@occc.edu.