YNTV Live from the Slaughterhouse II

Youth Network Television (YNTV) is an innovative youth series targeting 14- to 25-year-olds. YNTV uses a mix of live satellite television and networking system through ISDN lines to connect youth world-wide with their peers. This is not a chat show or a panel discussion: this is highly interactive, controversial, in-your-face stuff with young people choosing the topics they want to discuss and the pictures they prefer to show one another. “Live from the Slaughterhouse II”: a gruesome title, but it´s all quite innocent. South Africa and the German network ARD link a youth program live from a converted abattoir. This program was shot on satellite television with live broadcasts across 17 German channels, achieving the third highest audience ratings of the series for the year in Germany. There is some shocking material in this program as German skinheads openly discuss their hatred of “niggers” and immigrants. They are confronted head-on by both German and South African youth, and their comments lead to heated discussions about race and racism and what South Africans can do about it. The docu-debate continues by exploring racial tensions between black and colored people. We join a black reggae group, Mike, Frank and Titi, and colored rappers Black Noise in Robben Island as they address this issue in a brutally honest and ultimately musical way. We also delve further into the rise of xenophobia both in Germany and South Africa and take a look at some inspiring youth initiatives that are working to overcome this disturbing phenomenon.