Fiela se Kind
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Fiela se Kind(Fiela's Child) is a novel by Dalene Matthee.
It was made into a film in 1988.
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It is the story of a white foundling boy that is raised by a brown family. But Benjamin's life changes irrevocably when white census officials discover him living across the established borders of society, and he is removed from his foster parents. Thus begins Benjamin's journey to discover his true identity. It is a moving rendition of South African life a century past, and certainly well worth watching.
Fiela’s Child
[edit] Review
The Cape, the late 1800s. Two white census officers arrive at feisty Fiela's remote property near Knysna forest and are astonished to discover that one of the woman's young sons is a blonde Caucasian. Fiela is a Cape Coloured, and it transpires that nine years earlier she had discovered an abandoned baby on her doorstep and, without informing anyone, had taken it upon herself to nurture him as one of the family. A form of apartheid was already in place during this period, so the authorities insist she return the boy to his biological parents, the van Rooyens, a couple of poor Boers living on the edge of the forest. This old-fashioned, long-haul family saga was clearly made on a tight budget, but it's moderately charming in parts, and often quite moving. Unfortunately, the thick Afrikaner accents are hard going for non-South Africans, and some of the dialogue sounds like it's either dubbed or badly out of synch. (From a novel by Dalene Matthee).
