Maids and Madams 1985

Directed by Mira Hamermesh

Over a million black women live in a state of domestic bondage, underpaid, working long hours, at the mercy of draconian laws which separate them from their own families. This powerful 1985 documentary, shot in South Africa, examines the tragedy of Apartheid through the complex relationship between a black household worker and her white employer. This domestic situation is a microcosm of the situation at large.