Zulu Dawn Zulu Dawn Zulu Dawn is a 1979 American war film about the historical Battle of Isandlwana between British and Zulu forces in 1879 in South Africa. The screenplay was by Cy Endfield, from his book, and Anthony Storey. The film was directed by Douglas Hickox. The score was composed by Elmer Bernstein. "Zulu Dawn" is a prequel to "Zulu", released in 1964, which depicts the historical Battle of Rorke's Drift later the same day, and was co-written and directed by Cy Endfield. The film is set in British South Africa, in the province of Natal, in January 1879. The first
South African Wars (1879–1915) the direct control of the appointed British Governor. It had a more restrictive political system than the neighbouring Cape Colony and its small (mostly British) white population had an uneasy relationship with the powerful independent Zulu Kingdom on their northern border. The Anglo-Zulu War (1879) led to the later annexation of Zululand to Natal in 1897. At the close of the South African Wars, the colony became part of the 1910 Union, and is now known as Kwazulu-Natal, a province of South Africa. The land of indigenous Khoi Khoi and Sotho people, Basutoland was positioned between the Cape Colony, Orange