Father Geek here, finally. I've been out on the West Coast at LosCon where I could not check my E-mail, so this report is late late, but through NO fault of Dr. SOTHA, his hard working nurses, or Rigobert Song who has once again come up with a real fine cover story for the column. Folks... I'm sorry, sorry, sorry! Ol' Father Geek should have sent our good doctor an address out there where I could retreive his report. This won't happen again. Now, enough of me and on to SOTHA's very good column # 25...
DR.SOTHA back for a bumper 25th Edition of Africa-AICN. We have about 50
miligrams of good reportage out of South and North Africa, as well as a
healthy dosage of African American news. In addition try our new medication,
known only as 'Nurzeac' - a revolutionary new technique developed with
our..err.top notch nurses.
Send me your quadruple bypasses to Africaaicn@hotmail.com
Nurse, you don't know the difference between debit and credit, so why ask?.
SOUTH AFRICA
Send me your quadruple bypasses to Africaaicn@hotmail.com
Nurse, you don't know the difference between debit and credit, so why ask?.
SOUTH AFRICA
SOUTH AFRICA
* JSE-listed Facilities and Services Group, Sasani Limited, together with other South African investors, has invested 50 percent of the budget for a feature film which is being co-produced with the UK and Canada. QUEEN'S MESSENGER commences principal photography on 17 November in South Africa. It will be directed by local filmmaker Darrell Roodt (Sarafina / Cry, The Beloved Country) who is busy working on a Peter Fonda / Natasha Henstridge chiller called SECOND SKIN and produced by Johannesburg-based DO Productions.
* Well Luiz sent this insightful report on the South African Film Festival (SITHENGI) that took place this past week. If you're an African film geek you should check out his site at This Location, but now onto Luiz.
The 2000 edition of the annual Southern African International Film and Television Market (known as Sithengi) came to a close in Stellenbosch, Cape Town this Thursday. It was the fifth Sithengi and arguably the most vibrant to date. While still extremely limited as a pure market compared to say, MIPCOM, it nevertheless is a vital feature on the African film landscape. It is perhaps the only opportunity for filmmakers across the continent to meet, gossip, exchange ideas and foster some small glimmer of hope of selling their projects or find financing for their next one.
This year's market took place in Stellenbosch, a University and Winemaking town half an hour out of Cape Town. The venue itself was the impressive Spier wine estate. Its conference centre, restaurants, screening rooms, hotel and various nooks and crannies set in a verdant, summer environment helped to create a relaxed and laid back atmosphere. While many internationals complained that they weren't initially aware of how far it was from Cape Town proper (where most were accommodated), there was unanimous praise for the venue itself. There were a number of notable events and screenings at this year's market.
FILMS ON SHOW
Sithengi offers a number of screening opportunities for films from all over Africa. While most were produced for television, including documentaries, drama series and short films, some were true cinema features. The most hyped screening was the premier of the much-anticipated "BOESMAN AND LENA" on opening night, starring Danny Glover and Angela Basset. A South African co-production with France, it is based on the much revered stage play by South Africa's greatest playwright - Athol Fugard. The end result, directed by the late John Berry (USA), is a film that lacks any authenticity. Revolving around the lives of the title characters, homeless and "coloured", at the peak of Apartheid, they are members of the "bergie" community living in and around the Cape, with their own culture, accents and attitudes.
Unfortunately Basset and Glovers' mangled attempts to emulate the Bergie accent, combining American twangs, South Africanisms and "Bergie talk" make Fugard's dialogue often indecipherable. Basset desperately resorts to throwing in some American Deep South attitude resulting in a passionate performance, which lacks any truth. Coupled with static theatrical staging the film is largely a failure of the imagination and execution. The need to cast American stars in order to raise financing for international films results in yet another stillborn South African film. Screened in an outside amphitheatre on a cold evening, ninety percent of the audience walked out within an hour, heading for the warmth of the hotel bar.
Perhaps the find of the festivals was the long in the making "PURE BLOOD", directed by Ken Kaplan. Screened in one of the smallest screening rooms, it was a true Indie effort with Ken handing out pamphlets himself in order to raise an audience. What makes the film stand out on the African film scene is its freshness and vibrancy. PURE BLOOD is a dark comedy combining elements of early David Lynch (Eraserhead) and Peter Jackson (Brain Dead) with a unique South African sensibility and Ken's own stylistic strengths. The film is about a young white cop, Fanus, living in a strangely unreal industrial town with his mother. His late father was a sinister general in the Apartheid regime and his long-lost older half brother has just returned home to resume an incestuous relationship with Fanus' mother. Little does Fanus know that his "racially pure" blood is the key to resurrecting his dead father and the sinister order that he embodied. Combining a new age black maid, blood-drinking zombie racists and a plot to poison the town with blood cakes, it is a bizarre mishmash that just managed to maintain its own cohesiveness. Pure Blood, through its daring to tackle serious issues without a didactic diatribe and the traditionally dour sensibility of African film makes Ken Kaplan a filmmaker to watch.
At this year's Sithengi, a mini input was held as part of the market, highlighting the most interesting South African television projects. It was a unique opportunity for South African TV producers and directors to interact with an audience, a rare occurrence for Africa with its lack of film and television festivals. Projects screened at Sithengi this year included the acclaimed documentaries METAMORPHOSIS (Luiz DeBarros - SA), PAVEMENT ARISTOCRATS (Francois Venter- SA. - a documentary on the Bergies which perhaps the producers of Boesman and Lena should have watched), shorts such as PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MAN DROWNING (Teboho Mahlatsi - SA), ANGELS IN A CAGE (David Hickson - SA), CHRISTMAS WITH GRANNY (Dumisane Phakati - SA), features such as A REASONABLE MAN (Gavin Hood - SA), Al Medina - THE CITY (Youssry Nasrallah - Egypt) and ADWA (Heile Gerima - Ethiopia).
EVENTS
The market was packed with conferences, talks and organisation "report back". A highlight was the report back by the National Film and Video Foundation (of South Africa), which was set up only a year ago. The Foundation has been put in charge of administering the (admittedly modest) National Film Fund as well as developing and promoting the South African film industry. Key to the briefing was the announcement that the organisation's CEO has been appointed to sit on the Dispersement Committee of the National Lottery, which may well result in the Film Fund being bolstered by funds from the Lottery (ala the UK). The Foundation also presented a comprehensive study on the film industry, which will allow it to more successfully lobby government. Perhaps most interestingly was the work that has been undertaken to convince the Department of Finance to structure tax incentives for filmmaking in the country. It has also recently held a conference with the European Union in order to leverage funds and resources from the North. The briefing was an opportunity for the foundation to issue its Funding Criteria document for which they are seeking comment from those within the film and television community.
Sony made use of Sithengi to launch its new CineAlta 24P digital cameras. These are the same cameras that were recently used to shoot "STAR WARS EPISODE 2" in Australia. (Unfortunately we didn't get to see any footage from Lucas' epic). Projected on a cinema screen the image quality of the footage shot on the system was astonishing. The general reaction from viewing the capabilities of the new technology was that the days of film are rapidly coming to a close. A revolution in the making.
The African Directors Speak was a fascinating element of the market which saw much debate between the expectations of those from the developing South and the developed North. Directors complained about the fact that often the only avenues of interest for their films internationally were film festivals that do not pay to screen their films. And while their Northern counterparts use festivals to create interest in their projects, African filmmakers have minimal payoff from the screenings at festivals, as there are few broadcasters or distributors interested in their material.
One of the most exciting production opportunities for Southern African filmmakers was the launch of the Steps for the Future project. This project is a collaboration between broadcasters from around the world and organisations such as the Soros Documentary Fund, the European Documentary Network and UNAIDS. It aims to commission 27 documentary programs ranging from 1 minute to 52 minutes in length revolving around the AIDS epidemic in the region. Eclecticism seems to be the focus of the project - aiming to create a multiplicity of voices and perspectives on the crisis. There are no other restrictions on programs and proposals can include music videos, documentaries, experimental films, personal diaries and investigative stories. For more information contact Day Zero Films. In between all the events, filmmakers, producers, writers and directors pitched their projects in development and those already completed in an ongoing round of personal meetings and wine drinking across the estate. There were more buyers than in previous years (although not enough to satisfy the filmmakers). Sithengi however continues to grow. And while organisational issues often remain problematic, there was a more eclectic range of films and television programming on offer than ever before. There was sense that it was yet another large step taken by Africa in claiming its part in the global film and television community. But it also once again illustrated that before we can look to the outside world as a saviour we need to first work very hard at cleaning out our own backyard. (I can't say I disagree with this - DR. SOTHA)
NORTH AFRICA
* THE TURIN FILM FESTIVAL.The director's cut of "The Exorcist" opens this year's events, a leading showcase for new filmmakers. The festival's eclectic competition line-up includes two Italian films - Pergiorgio Gay's "Guarda II Ciello", a tale of 3 woman in different decades, and Daniele Gaglianone's "I Nostri Anni," about 2 ex-World War 2 partisans. MOROCCO, Kazakhstan, Japan, Iran, and EGYPT will each have one film, as will France, the US and the UK. Out of competition screenings include George Romer's "BRUISER" and Paul Schrader's "FOREVER MINE". (Please send me reports if you're attending - DR. SOTHA)
* Time for another Rigobert special
Hello there readers. It seems that there are people out there who are interested in African Film, thanks for the e-mails and keep them coming to rigobertsong@hotmail.com I have a landmark in African film which originally started out as a series, but soon evolved into a cult success on video. Without further ado.
IN A TIME OF VIOLENCE Produced by Jeremy Nathan and directed by Brian Tilley.
Sometimes the reaction to a film can be almost as interesting as the film itself. When the first episode of "In a Time of Violence" aired in July, 1994, thousands of Zulu hostel dwellers, supporters of the Inkatha Freedom Party, stormed South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) headquarters. They threatened the cast with violence; the rival ANC reported 11 deaths related to the telecast. CCV, the arm of SABC which broadcasts specifically to the black population, banned the remaining two episodes. But, after a nation-wide protest against this capitulation to political pressure, it broadcast the entire series a week later to a record audience.
"In a Time of Violence" is a fast paced political thriller set during the final tense months of apartheid. One of the most ambitious television dramas ever produced in South Africa, it was written by Mapantsula director Olivers Schmitz, stars some of the country's finest actors and features a vibrant score by top Township bands. The series dramatizes the basic ANC policy of ethnic reconciliation within a multi-racial democratic society. The series' hero, Bongani, a young ANC activist and poet from Soweto, is the sole witness to a brutal train massacre by an Inkatha militant, Duma. When Bongani is recognized he and his girlfriend, Mpho, a member of his ANC youth unit, take refuge in his uncle's flat in Comiston Court, a run-down apartment block in Johannesburg. If Soweto represents the old South Africa of inter-ethnic violence, the residents of Comiston Court suggest a post- apartheid "Rainbow Coalition:" Bongani's uncle, an up-and- coming trader; the Afrikaaner caretaker, adrift in the new society; a Coloured prostitute, who shares his lonelienss; a gay black couple; a disillusioned former Mozambican revolutionary, now a gun-runner.
The series deftly interweaves the Soweto and Comiston Court storylines to contrast violent and non-violent paths to South Africa's future. The apartment block unites across racial and class lines in a successful rent strike against a black real estate speculator, an example of the series' deliberate challenging of stereotypes. A renegade white police agent who has been supplying Duma with guns, kidnaps Bongani (revealing police involvement in what came to be called "black on black violence.") But in the changing political climate, it is legal pressure, not Bongani's armed ANC comrades, which leads to his ultimate release.
The following quotes, a cross section of the commentary around "In a Time of Violence", explore important questions about the role of the media both in South Africa and the U.S. How can television insure balance without sacrificing diverse points of view? How can it help forge a new multi-cultural society yet insure minorities the right to dissent from this consensus? I'd like to direct you to a quote in the Weekly Mail and Guardian - "Now with more publicity than it could have hoped for, In a Time of Violence, has a lot to live up to. The good news is it delivers." This landmark series is available on video for sale, so look for it if you are so inclined.
AFRICAN AMERICAN
* Taken from Screen Intl. ..Spike Lee was the principal guest at a discussion on race and the media held at Harvard University last week. The filmmaker screened clips from his controversial 'Bamboozled', the story of a television executive who creates a modern minstrel show. During the discussion afterward, Lee to aim at Will Smith for his role as the title caddy in Robert Redford's "The Legend of Bagger Vance". Referring to the film as "Driving Mr. Damon", Lee suggested that his portrayal of race relations during the 1930's was anachronistic at best. Blacks, said Lee, were being "castrated and lynched left and right." With all that going on, he wondered why Smith's character was helping Damon's character get his golf swing back. Earlier this year in an open letter to the industry, Lee castigated the Roland Emmerich directed "The Patriot" for whitewashing the issue of slavery, writing that "the Patriot is pure, blatant American Hollywood Propaganda." Asked by one Harvard student how "institutionalized racism" in the entertainment industry could be corrected, Lee replied: "The move we have to make is on the gatekeepers. These are the people who decide what movies get made and which ones don't, what's on your television and what's doesn't get on, what goes on the front page of your paper and what gets buried. We have to exert whatever power we can on the people who make these decisions." Lee said he was thus far unsuccessful in finding a backer for a film on the American baseball hero, Jackie Robinson, the first black to play in the major leagues. The filmmaker is now working on a film about the 1930's black vs white, US vs Germany bouts between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling. (Wheeww, what do you talkbackers make of all this? - DR. SOTHA)
* Certain to ignite new controversy over the television networks' enthusiasm for dramas starring minority actors, CBS on Tuesday canceled City of Angels, the only dramatic television show featuring a predominantly African-American cast, according to Wednesday)'s Los Angeles Times. The newspaper observed that several original episodes have yet to air and that the network did not indicate when the show will go off the air. Broadcast at 9:00 p.m. on Thursdays, Angels airs opposite two of the most popular programs on TV, NBC's Will & Grace and ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Despite being reworked extensively over the summer by producer Steve Bochco, it is CBS's lowest-rated primetime program.
* Samuel L. Jackson Loved Opening A Can Of Jedi Whup-Ass Movie and can't keep quiet about filming the latest Star Wars prequel - because he got to swing a light saber. The actor was disappointed not to have any fight scenes in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), but says the new sc-fi fight scene is one of his highlights as an actor. He says, "There's like nothing in this room but a blue screen and George Lucas says, 'OK, you're in a big battle now,' and I'm like, 'How many people?' 'A lot - and there's a big thing coming at you,' 'How big?' 'Pretty big.' "So there I am swinging this thing around until George says 'Cut,' and I'm one of the best light saber swordsmen in the universe."
AFRICAN COAXIAL
* African cinema goers will get the lap of luxury treatment. Nu Metro and Nedbank have joined forces to introduce a realm of entertainment offering the public an elite cinema-going experience at a premium ticket price. Nedbank Cinema Prive will offer viewers the latest current commercial releases, maximum comfort, luxury and an entertainment experience par excellence. Tickets costing R50 (about $8 - DR. SOTHA) per person, will entitle patrons to access the Nedbank Cinema Prive lounge and cocktail bar where delicious snacks, exotic cocktails, champagne or complimentary tea and coffee will be served. Nedbank Cinema Prive patrons will watch the movie in the lap of luxury sitting in comfortable wide leather seats with double armrests, drinks tables and plenty of leg room, while sipping their drink of choice. By early 2001 there will be six Nedbank Cinema Prive locations in South Africa.
* The 7th International Festival of Ethnographic Film and Conference on the Future of Ethnographic Film will take place from 16 to 18 December 2000 at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. It will be sponsored by the Royal Anthropological Institute and School of Oriental and African Studies. For more info please visit Their Site.
