Time, Paper, Bone

About Time, Paper, Bone

The last time Nombulelo Booi saw her father – anti-apartheid activist, James Booi – it was 1963. He was dragged into an armoured police vehicle in the early hours of the morning, and never seen again. Sixty years later, Nombulelo teams up with Madeleine Fullard, head of South Africa’s Missing Persons Task Team, to find the remains of James Booi.

Time, Paper, Bone is an investigative documentary that traces this remarkable journey. Based on three years of reporting by collaborators Bongani Kona and Catherine Boulle, it chronicles Nombulelo Booi’s lifelong quest for justice and closure.

We recently premiered a 30-minute version of Time, Paper, Bone at the 2024 Sheffield DocFest.

Previously, we won the Podcast Pitch Award at the 2023 Sheffield DocFest, as well as the 2021 Whickers Radio & Audio Funding Award (RAFA), which enabled us to start reporting this story.

Listen to a 9-minute version of the story, ‘Nombulelo Booi’, which aired on BBC Radio 4’s Short Cuts (Past Tense episode).

The full documentary is forthcoming.