Each human being has the potential to bring about change. This is the message I came away with after watching the documentary Agents of Change screened at the Law Faculty on 4 March.

From left Mathotho Masetla, LSC President, Penny Andrews, Law Dean, Ben Rabinowitz, event sponsor, and Mbulelo Ncolisi, LSC member responsible for academics.

Abby Ginzberg, who directed and produced the documentary with Frank Dawson, was at the screening, which was made possible through a generous donation from Ben Rabinowitz, a friend of the Faculty.

Law Dean Penelope Andrews hopes to make film screenings like these a regular occurrence in the faculty. The event was well attended and Andrews expressed the wish that it would play its part in building a sense of community that transcends all divides – real and perceived – in the Faculty.

The documentary is centred on the civil rights movement of 1960s in America but the major focus is on the campuses of Cornell and the San Fransisco State University. The screening was followed by a lively Q&A with the filmmaker Ginzberg.

South African students could relate to the documentary and the issues that were raised in it. It was amazing how a documentary about events that happened decades ago in a different country could touch people in a different time and place. But even more extraordinary was that this documentary enabled us, people from a different location and age, to better relate to the social issues and the contexts we were raised in.

Co-director and –producer of Agents of Change, Abby Ginzberg, interacting with law students, staff and alumni after the screening of her film at UCT’s Faculty of Law.

As the credits rolled up, I realised there is a lot we can learn from each other. We as a society do not only learn from our own history, but also the histories of others, separated from us by time and space. Somehow humanity is connected and together through our different histories and contexts, we can find solutions to everyday problems.

Therefore each one of us has an obligation to be an agent of change in their societies, countries and the world as a whole. Each and every one of us can make a difference. We just have to find out how to make that difference.