Fiela se Kind (1988) User Reviews

Sad but true.

[smedleybill · 7/10 · 21 September 2019]

People are people and no matter when or where. Ignorance and bigotry is always with us.

a mother knows when a child is her own

[RedRainbowUnicorn23 · 8/10 · 8 February 2015]

This movie also falls on the panel of my favorite movies ever.the entire movie is so touching and its the start of Sharleen surtie Richards movie Career. A white child 3 years old is found by Fiela(Sharleen) one night on her door step.So she takes care of him like he was her own.She called him Benjamin(Jan Ellis).then one day 2 census men came to Fiel's quarters to count the people.Everything went well then Benjamin arrives and both men were shocked because those days whites and brown were not allowed to mix so they took him away to Knysna.they believe he is the boys who got lost 9 years ago But Fiela is going to do anything to prove them wrong and get Benjamin back. Watch this outstanding movie and get the bigger picture. Directed by Katinka Heyns. A sonneblom films classic,,

How wicked can the world be?

[14040611 · 10/10 · 1 November 2004]

This is the moving story about a close family being torn apart by the social convictions of the day. It is the story of a mother's enduring love and hope to see her taken son again. Fiela (Sharleen Surtie-Richards) is a down to earth stealthy woman farmer who doesn't let anyone step on her. She raised a white castaway child, Benjamin (Jan Ellis and Dawid Minnaar), and teaches him the simple things in life. After Benjamin is taken away by the white authorities, his mother endure the harsh Outeniqua Mountains to go to town and speak to the Magistrate about her brought-up son. In the South Africa of the day it was unacceptable for a white child to be raised by non-whites. Benjamin is off to the feared Knysna wood where primitive whites dwelled the woods to make a living from wood chopping. Elias (André Rossouw) and Bartha (Lida Botha) take the child under their wings and raises him further into adulthood. The reuniting of Benjamin and Fiela is a heart-broking part in the movie and few cinema-goers will endure it without a tear! This film launched the career of Surtie-Richards, markable one of the best South African actresses since the 1980's. Never have I seen anyone, be it actor or actress, slid into a role like this formidable woman.

Rossouw's manifestation of the wicked Elias is also praiseworthy and shows him as a veteran actor! All and all, this is unquestionably the best South African film of the 1980's!

A South African classic

[Erandir · 9 April 2000]

"Fiela se Kind" (Fiela's Child) 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.