A documentary following US First Lady Melania Trump will not be screened in South African cinemas. The film, which follows her in the twenty days leading up to Donald Trump’s second inauguration, was set for release at Nu Metro and Ster-Kinekor ahead of its worldwide launch on Friday.
Some South Africans, however, weren’t comfortable giving it a public platform. Activist Herman Eloff, who raised concerns with local distributor Filmfinity, says the decision isn’t about censorship. “I’m not saying ban the film. This isn’t about censorship. It’s about ethics, and having an understanding of what’s happening in the world, and not supporting Trump or anything linked to him,” he explains.
The documentary has also drawn criticism because of its director, Brett Ratner, who faced sexual misconduct allegations in 2017. Eloff says the combination makes the screening in public spaces problematic. “When someone is that closely connected to such a powerful political family, the image being put out there is obviously going to be a sanitised one. There isn’t going to be an objective view here. It’s going to be a cleaned-up version of her story,” he adds.
He argues that cinemas and distributors carry responsibility when choosing what to show. “These are big platforms. So the question is, what do we want to use them for? And what responsibility comes with screening certain films in public spaces?”
After complaints, the documentary was removed from local cinema schedules, though it will still be available on streaming services. For activists, the point was never to ban the film—but to make sure public spaces aren’t automatically amplifying content they question.
The larger conversation remains: when it comes to public platforms, who decides which stories are given space—and what responsibility comes with that choice?
