Alison the Movie: A Powerful South African Story of HOPE
On a night in South Africa when Alison Botha desperately needed a hero – after being raped, stabbed and left for dead – she became one. Her story – which made international headlines – is heartbreaking and empowering. Painful and uplifting. And has been turned into a film – “Alison the Movie” – which was […]
On a night in South Africa when Alison Botha desperately needed a hero – after being raped, stabbed and left for dead – she became one. Her story – which made international headlines – is heartbreaking and empowering. Painful and uplifting. And has been turned into a film – “Alison the Movie” – which was available to watch in South Africa on Showmax. (Watch trailer below.)
For Alison, a night in December 1994 that should have been the end, became the beginning.
She was abducted by two men at knifepoint, raped, disemboweled, stabbed in the stomach 37 times and had her neck slashed 17 times!!
Alison was dumped on the outskirts of a nature reserve outside Port Elizabeth… and nobody saw her. Nobody heard a thing. She had to DRAG herself, in that condition, to seek help.
In the words of the movie-makers who created the documentary, Alison: “That night she needed a hero… so that’s what she became!”
Alison’s story is one of monsters, magic… and HOPE. The epitome of the extraordinary strength and courage that lies within ordinary people. The film is difficult to watch at times as viewers get a glimpse into the cruelty that she suffered.
Her story both horrified – and inspired – South Africans, as she miraculously survived such a shocking attack… and was brave enough to come out as one the first women to speak publicly about rape, becoming an inspirational speaker at venues around the world.
The film has won several awards and nominations around the world – including Best Documentary at the World Humanitarian Film Awards in 2016, and five SAFTA nominations back home.
In 2018 it was named winner of the Best Filmmaker category by the World of Women Cinema.
Despite the gruesome attack, Alison – who now lives in George in the Western Cape – told SAPeople she had no desire to leave South Africa, although her brother and his family emigrated to Australia over 15 years ago.
“I LOVE living in South Africa,” she says, “so I haven’t had any thoughts of leaving – and certainly not as a result of what happened to me. However – I cannot say that I would NEVER want to leave because I don’t know what the future holds…”
Alison stars as herself, Christia Visser as the young Alison, Zak Hendrikz as Perpetrator #1, De Klerk Oelofse as Perpetrator #2 and Francois Maree as young Tiaan.
Alison’s book “I have Life”, written by Marianne Thamm, was translated into seven languages and has become a perennial on Penguin’s best seller list since 1998.
The movie not only tells the harrowing story of Alison’s horrific attack and how she survived to rebuild her life, but deals with so much more as we also get to see what Alison has done and become since.
It’s a deeply personal and emotional story of triumph and survival. In the trailer, Alison says: “So many people want the happy fairy tale ending for me. So do I. But for now – it keeps on eluding me…” But that hasn’t made her give up…
“We actually are capable of a lot more than we allow ourselves to think,” says Alison.
Watch Alison on Showmax if you’re in South Africa – if you sign up now you can get a FREE 14-day trial! (UPDATE Nov 2019: The film is no longer on Showmax, but thousands of other SA movies and TV shows are. ‘Alison’ is now on Amazon Prime Video.)