21 Up South Africa: Mandela's Children is a powerful and engaging documentary that longitudinally chronicles of the lives of 11 South African children. Moving back and forth through time, the film begins with each child at age 7 (filmed in 1992) and revisits them at ages 14 and again at 21; it is fascinating to hear each child share their thoughts, feelings, and family lives, and see what, if any, of their opinions and life circumstances have changed over time. The 11 children, who are Black, White, Colored (of mixed race), Indian and Jewish, have adopted various aspects of Western culture and are living in an Post Apartheid era, one that is also rife with HIV / AIDS. These young adults are insightful and refreshingly normal, dealing with adolescence, love, crime, substance abuse, poverty, working, and unfortunately death, as any young adult would in other parts of the world. The film ends with the promise to visit the remain children in another 7 years, when they are 28 years of age, which should add even more depth and insight to this already intriguing and well done documentary.
