Heartlines To Relaunch 8 Films, 8 Values Campaign

Social behaviour change NPO, Heartlines will be relaunching its very successful ‘8 Films, 8 Values’ campaign. Although the films originally aired almost 20 years ago, in 2006, according to Nevelia Moloi, Heartlines’ head of content, the organisation still gets requests to re-broadcast the films or make them publicly available.

“Heartlines films are the reason I became a teacher. I wanted to live for something more than myself,” commented one social media user.

“These films marked a unique moment in our country’s history that we’ve never had again since then,” said a community activist, from Gqeberha.

The film project was the first Heartlines campaign, named ‘8 Weeks, 8 Values, One National Conversation’, and not only sparked conversations countrywide, but helped to launch the careers of several local actors, including Atandwa Kani (best known for his role as the younger King T’Chaka in Marvel’s Black Panther, with the older king played by his father, John Kani).

Each standalone film is an hour long and focuses on a particular value. “I am South African and I am proud to announce that I was part of a great South African storytelling. It goes back to where we as South Africans have started,” Atandwa said at the time, on the making of The Bet, which focused on the value of self-control.

The remaining seven values explored are acceptance, perseverance, forgiveness, honesty, responsibility, compassion, and second chances.

Enduring relevance

Moloi says that while the film and TV landscape has changed dramatically over 19 years, the values on which the ‘8 films, 8 values’ campaign focused remain as relevant as ever.

“Yes, our classrooms might look different; our technology may have advanced. But nothing moves society forward as profoundly as people united to live for the greater good,” she says. “Even 19 years later, we still receive comments on social media about how these films have had a deep personal impact on people’s lives. We have therefore decided to make them available on our website.”

She believes that there is a certain nostalgia towards these films which will also work in their favour. “By re-releasing this series, Heartlines wants to provide a regular reminder of the values that helped get South Africans through the scourge of apartheid and helped us to rebuild as a nation against all odds,” she says. “Today we are facing scourges of different kinds, such as GBV, poverty, inequality, criminality, fatherlessness, unemployment, discrimination and violence of all sorts. We need to return to those same positive values to sustain our freedom from these threats to our families and communities.”

Films and re-release dates

Heartlines is an edutainment organisation that has made several films which not only entertain but educate at the same time. The 2006 campaign comprised eight hour-long TV dramas, each focusing on one of the eight values, supported by resources to spark conversation.

Over the eight-week period, each episode received multiple flightings on SABC channels, preceded in every instance by a message from Nelson Mandela, who said, “Values sustain any walk to freedom. And values commit us to a continuing walk.” Since 2012, the films have been exclusively licensed to M-Net, with the provision that Heartlines may continue to use them for educational purposes.

In re-releasing the films, Heartlines is making them available on their website over an eight-week period, mirroring the original campaign, with the eponymous first film, Heartlines (focusing on grace), releasing on Human Rights Day (21 March). Viewers are able to visit the Heartlines website to view the weekly release of each of the films.

Rollout dates for the campaign are as follows:

Heartlines (Human Rights Day, 21 March 2025) – Grace https://www.heartlines.org.za/films/heartlines-8-films-8-values
Crossroads (28 March 2025) – Forgiveness
The Other Woman (4 April 2025 – Compassion
The Miners (11 April 2025) – Acceptance
The Good Provider (18 April 2025) – Responsibility
The Good Fight (25 April 2025) – Perseverance
The Piano (2 May 2025) – Honesty
The Bet (9 May 2025) – Self-control

Mzansi Pulse

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Heartlines to relaunch 8 Films, 8 Values campaign

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