As a prologue, four young artists take us into the ideas, emotions and dreams of the youth of contemporary Cape Town. From this entry point, the Fallist activists let us dive into the first spectacular year of the Fallist movement that changed the South African universities and society forever. The story begins with a statue of the former colonialist and Prime Minister of the Cape Colony - Cecil Rhodes - overlooking the University of Cape Town. A black student throws faeces from his township at the statue to protest the racism and elitism still looming at the university and in South African society. A whole generation of students begin to stir. Within weeks, students of colour rise to protest white supremacy at universities across the nation, including Phakamani, Mickey, Wandile and Anzio. They want to get rid of apartheid legacies once and for all, with the campaign RhodesMustFall.
It’s not long before the students realise that the issue of race in South Africa is strongly interlinked with class. Phakamani, a youth from the poorest township outside Cape Town, begins to fight for free education for everyone through #FeesMustFall . South Africa is the most unequal society in the world, and most black youth, who make up the majority of the country’s population, could never afford higher education. Now they are confronting the state itself; violent encounters with university security, police and the army descend on these impassioned youth.
Mickey, and other female students, quickly experience that women are supposed to stay in the background and keep quiet, as the movement begins to increase rapidly, and the male students dominate the front line. They start # PatriarchyMustFall , to protest violence against women and misogyny within the movement; a microcosm of South Africa’s shocking gender-based violence statistics. One year after the Fallist movement´s genesis, it is decided that only women shall lead at the massive one-year anniversary, and men must take a step back.
Wandile, and other transgender activists who have been part of the Fallists from the beginning, feel left out. On the anniversary, they capture the celebrations in a protest infamously termed “transcapture”. They have been harassed by fellow activists throughout and feel that the activists repress them just like society in general. The Trans Collective wants to fix the movement, but instead they are blamed for destroying it. The movement is left hanging in uncertainty, much like the future of a free and equal South Africa.
