South African Films

ENCOUNTERS AFRICA SHORTS
Encounters, the Jan Vrijman Fund of IDFA and the SABC have developed and produced five short documentary films on the theme of LOVE through a workshop process to create opportunities for African filmmakers from Malawi, DRC, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The aim is to provide a platform to release and market the filmmakers and their shorts continentally and internationally. A big thank you to Leonard Retel Helmrich and Brian Tilley for supporting and mentoring the filmmakers!

Dear Morris
South Africa, 2008, 12min
Dir: Joanne Levitan

For nine years Levitan had an intense relationship with a pen-pal named Morris. When, finally, she flew to America to meet him for the first time – he never appeared. She never heard from him again. Dear Morris is an intensely intimate and personal film through which Levitan tries solving the mystery of Morris and finally lets go of him.

Old-time, Long-time Love
Zambia / South Africa, 2008, 12min
Dir: Mali Kambandu

Kambandu is scared of marriage, believing that it no longer has relevance, and that it may even change the nature of her loving relationship. Her boyfriend disagrees. In this film she explores why she should consider it by consulting with old couples whose marriages have lasted, and failed, and why there are still so many weddings – every weekend!

Mbira - My Music My Love
Zimbabwe / South Africa, 2008, 12min
Dir: Dorothy Meck-Chimbuya

Traditional values clash with modernity, and it seems the younger generation has lost touch with its cultural identity. This space is being reclaimed by American-born Zimbabwean musician Chiwoniso ‘Chii’ Maraire, who has embraced Zimbabwean music traditions and is determined to make them appealing to the youth.

Silent response
South Africa, 2008, 12min
Dir: Makela Pululu

Pululu is a refugee from the DRC who lost contact with his son in 2005. Mark walked out the door of their Sea Point flat, choosing to live on the streets. Since then Mark has written to his father asking for forgiveness and this film is Pululu’s response.

Where my Heart Belongs
Malawi / South Africa, 2008, 12min
Dir: Villant Virginia Ndasowa

Jen, a Briton, came to Malawi on holiday and finding love in the small fishing village of Chembe, on the shores of lake Malawi, was not something that she expected. Mateyu (Mathew) is a fisherman, and now Chembe is her second home. Despite all the problems they face she is determined to fit into a society that is not ready to accept her as one of their own. Only love will see her through.

A Blues for Tiro
South Africa, 2007, 48min
Tswana with English subtitles
Dir: Steve Kwena Mokwena

Poetic and gritty, A Blues for Tiro pays tribute to black consciousness activist and inspirational leader Onkgopotse Abraham Ramothibi Tiro, who was murdered in 1974. Told through searing artistic imagery and moving interviews with family and friends, the life of an extraordinary man emerges. Born in 1945 in the small village of Dinokana, Tiro worked on the mines after finishing his Matric. He then enrolled at Turfloop University, and became involved in militant student politics. His famous speech at the university in 1972 sparked a major student revolt, which many say inspired the 1976 youth uprising. One of the first Black Consciousness leaders to go into exile, Tiro was killed by a parcel bomb sent to him in Botswana. With Bonginkosi Ngwato aka Prophet supplying a lyrical narrative over a sinuous jazz-blues soundtrack, A Blues for Tiro provides a soulful cinematic slice of South African history.

Bongani Umama
South Africa, 2007, 49min
Zulu with English subtitles
Dir: Liza Aziz

Bongani Umama takes an up-close and personal look at the pioneering construction programmes being run in KwaZulu-Natal, where women are taking a leading role in building and maintaining the province’s roads. Through the stories of two individuals, Doris Zethu Zikhakhane and Thatheni Dulcie Zondi, the documentary celebrates the remarkable contribution women are making as they are recruited and trained to take on demanding construction jobs. Doris supports five children by maintaining a length of road near her homestead, cleaning, digging and picking up stones. Thatheni is slowly establishing her own large-scale business as a contractor, building roads and bridges. Besides their demanding work, both women play hugely supportive roles within their families and communities. Described as a story about “real and resilient women”, the film moves from outdoor construction sites to inside the homes of Doris and Thatheni as they speak about the challenges that they face, and the pride that they feel in their achievements. The Vukuzakhe and Zibambele Programmes in KwaZulu-Natal currently employ over 42 000 women from mainly rural areas in their road construction programmes.

Breaking the Line
South Africa, 2007, 45min
Dir: Tamarin Kaplan

Perhaps more than any other sport in South Africa, rugby has always been racialised. Even now, the game and who plays it remains a contentious issue. Despite the fact that there have been black rugby players in South Africa for nearly a hundred years, on a national and international level the sport has consistently favoured white sportsmen, from selection to sponsorships to superior training facilities. The segregation of players reached its height during the apartheid years. Playing with, or even against, mixed teams was inconceivable and rugby, as Kaplan investigates in this documentary, was ‘not just a game’. Against this backdrop the Eastern Cape-based Watson brothers, Valance and Cheeky, together with a handful of white friends, joined Kwaru (the black Kwazakele Rugby Union). Keen players all, the team was about playing, and hopefully winning, matches. As word of the non-racial team spread, there were alarmed reactions, to the extent that players received death threats and even the then Minister of Sport, Piet Koornhoff, got involved in trying to prevent a much-publicised game featuring the mixed team. Told through interviews with former Kwaru players as well as apartheid-era rugby stalwarts such as Morne du Plessis and Dr. Danie Craven, the film also features archival sports footage.

Courting Justice
South Africa, 2008, 70min
Dir: Jane Lipman

In South Africa, more than a decade after the end of Apartheid, the judiciary is still made up of a select elite group of people. In all aspects of a judge’s professional life they are exactly the same as all the other judges, but these judges share one distinguishing feature: they are women. For years prior to the fall of Apartheid South Africa’s courts were presided over by white men. Thirteen years later, with all the judges that have been appointed, only 18% of superior court seats are held by women and only one female judge holds a leadership position. As a small and effective part of one of the most advanced judicial systems in the world, Constitutional Court Judges Yvonne Mokgoro and Bess Nkabinde, Supreme Court of Appeal’s Mandisa Maya, Johannesburg High Court’s Mathilde Masipa and Cape High Court’s Deputy Judge President Traverso, Pat Goliath and Tandazwa Ndita, express their thoughts, feelings and beliefs around the judicial situation in South Africa, sub-conscious prejudice and the importance of women being in the judiciary. They also discuss their feelings of responsibility and loneliness, their inability to leave their work behind and the family time they sacrifice in their dedication to duty. This film is an absorbing insight into the land’s top female judges and effectively reveals the real women behind the gowns and the gavels.

Distant Cousins
South Africa, 2008, 24min
Dir: Liza Key

An accident, at age 15, confined Kate Jagoe-Davies to a wheelchair. She and husband Bryan, a zoologist, live in the seaside town of Pringle Bay, close to beach and birdlife. In this healing environment Kate has made a remarkable connection, a breakthrough in the much publicised hostile relations between us, homo sapiens, and our distant cousin, papio ursinus, the baboon. Initially beset by raids and left with a trail of destruction, one day in 2002 Kate had an enchanting experience that transformed her perception of the baboons. This film is bound to change ours too.

Urban Cowboy
South Africa, 2008, 24min
English with subtitles
Dir: Liz Fish

Kendre Allies was a crook for a while. By his own admission he was the school bully and a member of the Americans gang. But when he left school in Grade 10 he had the luck to land a job as a stable hand at the Oude Molen riding school. Allies was healed and inspired by working with horses and today he owns the school, has 38 horses and is a beacon of hope in an urban environment which is harsh for both kids and horses alike. Without other sources of funding, or worthy volunteers, he is driven by an abiding love of horses and nature to giving back. It is all rather awe-inspiring.

Laxmi’s Blessing
South Africa, 2007, 24min
Hindi, Kannada with English subtitles
Dir: Karin Slater

In India, temple elephants are loved and respected. Laxmi’s compassionate eyes and venerable wisdom is, in part, due to the considerable attention, training and devotion from her mahout and his family. And he is everything to her. Together, they visit temples and attend spiritual festivals where she bestows blessings on the gatherings. Opening a window on this little known sector of Hindu life and worship, Laxmi’s Blessing is a beautifully shot, fascinating insight into an intimate and touching relationship that makes the ordinary seem sacred.

The Shaman’s Apprentice
South Africa, 2007, 24min
Afrikaans with English subtitles
Dir: Catherine Winter

Engaging, somewhat eccentric cabaret artist Antoinette Pienaar dreamed that she would “one day learn about herbs from an old shepherd.” After years of performing and a mean bout of cerebral malaria, it comes true. She is apprentice to 92-year-old Johannes “Tikkie” Willemse, a herbalist in the remote Karoo. Hers is a tale of healing as she learns the secrets of the veldt from Willemse, a patient and wise mentor who guides her journey of the self, rhythms of the bush and the properties of plants with immense grace and warmth. It is gentle, beautifully shot and underscored by a lilting Pienaar soundtrack.

New Deal?
South Africa, 1983, 23min
Dir: Tony Bensusan

Twenty-five years ago the United Democratic Front was formed in opposition to the government’s constitutional reform proposals. A broad coalition of anti apartheid organisations came together at the Rocklands Civic Centre in Mitchell’s Plain on 20 August 1983 to launch the UDF and over 12 000 people attended. It was here that Rev. Allan Boesak, Helen Joseph, Frank Chikane, Francis Baard, Sheik Gabier and others delivered rousing speeches to a chorus of Amandlas! Apartheid state crackdowns necessitated that films be made anonymously, though they were still widely distributed throughout the townships. Bensusan’s crew included Brian Tilley, Lawrence Dworkin and Sipiwe Ralo, Popo Molefe (voice), an unknown guitarist and many others. It is the only footage of the event and the crowd scenes energetically relay the spirit of the moment.

Shamiela’s House
South Africa, 2008, 48min
English, Afrikaans with English subtitles Dir: Robyn Rorke

A house is far more than four walls and a roof. To Shamiela it represents a home, stability and a safe haven for her family. A local housing scheme is launched and Shamiela applies for a house and succeeds. Growing up underprivileged and moving from house to house across the Cape Flats, Shamiela cannot believe that the wait is finally over. When she moves in, she finds that not only is the house in an extreme state of disrepair but she must now pay more than double the original agreed figure. Then rumours spread that the housing company is evicting people from their houses due to non-payment. Principled and dignified, Shamiela has only one option: to join a protest group and fight for her right to a decent roof over her head. This honest and intimate slice of Cape Town life takes on the perspective of the community as Shamiela and her troop navigate the corruption and mismanagement that has caused considerable heartache, insecurity and emotional trauma to some of the city’s most vulnerable citizens.

Streets on Fire
South Africa, 2007, 48min
English, Xhosa with English subtitles
Dir: Quinton aka Bertram Fredericks

The 1980s in South Africa were one of the most turbulent decades in the country’s history. As the struggle against apartheid intensified, literally hundreds were detained and many protesters were killed. In Cape Town, the areas of KTC and Crossroads saw some of the worst violence as police forces manipulated the notorious “witdoeke” to terrorise whole communities. Seen through the eyes of four women who were politically involved at the time, Streets on Fire, made for the SABC2 ‘Petrol Bombs and Bad Hair Days’ series, vividly recalls this period of burning and street battles. The potent mix of archival footage and personal stories features the experiences of Mampe Ramotsamai, Maureen Thandi Mazibuko, Zukiswa Patricia Matolengwe and Nosipho Ethol Khali. Imprisoned and tortured, their homes destroyed and their families shattered, they continued to rally together with their comrades. And they survived. Now, 20 years later, they speak of the healing process they have been through and their wishes for the future.

A Truly Wonderful Adventure
South Africa, 2007, 47min
English, Afrikaans with English subtitles
Dir: Lederle Bosch

“In a way, 1980 was Cape Town’s 1976.” In A Truly Wonderful Adventure (made for the SABC2 ‘Petrol Bombs and Bad Hair Days’ series) Bosch, ignited by the memory of the death of 11-year-old Bernard Fortuin at the hands of the police forces, rounds up veterans of the remarkable year when Western Cape students united across school yards to protest against the apartheid system and its gutter education. Then Pacman was the hot new game, Stevie Wonder was on the radio, and Star Wars played at the bioscope. Simultaneously, kids from Spes Bona High, Crystal High, Livingstone High, Fezeka High and other schools were furiously involved in student politics, forming the famous Committee of 81 and taking the struggle on to the streets. There were casualties – like innocent Bernard Fortuin – and survivors, like Zackie Achmat, Tyrone Seale, printer Allie Parker and many more, who braved detention and beatings and came back to carry on. Told through interviews with past students, Fortuin’s remaining family, and archival footage, the film vividly captures a seminal moment in South Africa’s history, offset by a haunting soundtrack by Jonathan de Vries.

Uit my Kop Uit
South Africa, 2007, 56 min
Afrikaans with English subtitles
Dir: Jeanette Jegger

Lienkie tells her teacher she wants to be a policewoman, Elfansou wants to be a cowboy and Danylisha dreams of being a doctor. But growing up poor in Nieu Bethesda, in the shadow of the Sneeuberg Mountains, means growing up with a lot of hardship. Unemployment, alcohol abuse and the spread of HIV/AIDS further adds to the challenges that surround the children in this village. But with the support of a dedicated teacher, and the encouragement of their families, who see education as a way to get ahead, the three kids and their friends face life with a positive attitude. “If you give them love, they can go far,” says their teacher, and she tries her best. Uit my Kop Uit is a gentle chronicle tracing a year in Nieu Bethesda – not the tourist part, where visitors admire the quaint Owl House and other attractions, but the section where poverty is an all-pervasive reality. Essentially a tale of women and children, it follows the rhythms of the village from church gatherings to school classes, documenting a way of life that is tough, but is also celebrated through small victories, like getting a good school report.

Coming of age
Kenya, 2007, 9min
Dir: Judy Kibinge

Kenya growing to maturity as seen by a girl travelling the same road, first under Kenyatta with great optimism, then through turbulent teens with Daniel arap Moi, and then all grown up, but wondering ‘where to?’ under the rule of Mwai Kibaki.

Don’t Shoot
South Africa, 2007, 11min
Dir: Lucilla Blankenberg

Riaan Cruywagen in the picture. No, it’s not a news bulletin, but the “face of the news in South Africa” and the longest serving newsreader in the world, telling how his professional ethics have kept him in the seat since 1976 and through our transition to democracy.

Iron Ladies of Liberia
USA, 2007, 52 min
Dir: Siatta Scott Johnson & Daniel Junge

How different would the world be if women were running the show? This fascinating fly-on-the-wall account of the first year of power for Africa’s first woman president provides a glimpse of just how effective a group of women can be on one civil-war-strewn African nation. In 2005, the majority of Liberia’s shell-shocked population voted in Africa’s first women president. At her inauguration Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf vowed to rebuild her country, fight corruption, elevate women and exercise leadership without repression. None of these have proved easy tasks. Instead, the Harvard-educated economist and grandmother of eight faces almost insurmountable obstacles, not least of which is that after two civil wars the country’s economic and social fabric is in ruins. Followed by an impartial camera crew, Johnson-Sirleaf and her merry band of feisty women (comprising of the minister of finance, chief of police and minister of commerce) transfers the local market, berates an international company, seeks clemency on an astonishing US$4billion national debt, re-organises the police force, seeks out new international partners, negotiates ex-soldier’s pensions, and silences dissent from those still loyal to Charles Taylor – all in a year’s work. Dogmatic, practical and facing every situation with refreshing calm and honesty, Johnson-Sirleaf makes an admirable start at dragging Liberia, kicking and screaming into the new millennium and stopping it from, once again, sliding into anarchy and chaos.

You Chuse
South Africa, 2008, 77min
Dir: Rehad Desai, Anita Khanna

How does the global fight over who owns content, copyright and programmes perpetuate the divide between developed nations and developing ones? This fun, yet insightful documentary navigates global and local initiatives that keep information in the public domain. Information technology is increasingly taken for granted and we use it as a tool to facilitate our everyday existence and generally pay the price that the software and content giants demand without asking. In this so-called ‘Information Age’, knowledge has become a commodity. Does this conflict with the basic human right of freedom of access to knowledge? How does this affect us in South Africa where knowledge is the one area where developing countries can realise their human potential? It’s now official: to compete in the global economy and become producers and not merely consumers of knowledge, the most urgent needs of all South Africans are now water, electricity and - broadband! Information warriors are fighting for all our rights to create, recreate, collaborate and innovate. They are taking on the big corporations. Navigating the minefield of copyright, open source and content creation, this fast-paced local documentary uses snappy graphics, entertaining clips and in-depth interviews with global warriors such as Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, Pirate Bay’s bad boys and local players to broaden our cyber horizons.

Zulu Surf Riders
South Africa, 2007, 50min
Zulu with English subtitles
Dir: André Cronje, Carlos Francisco

On the KwaZulu-Natal coast surfers are no longer the global stereotyped blonde, sun-bleached beach bum, but guys who are just as stoked to catch the perfect wave, like twins Cyril and Meshack Mqadi, from semi-rural Umzumbe, who have taken to the sport like – well, ducks to water. Surfing in South Africa has been the preserve of white boys for the usual reasons – access to beaches, and money to buy boards, among others. Cyril and Meshack are breaking that mould, ripping into breaks with style, life-saving and judging surf competitions. Even better – they’re training up the next generation of Zulu wave riders. Beautifully shot both in and out of the water, this is a surf movie with a difference, blending cool cutbacks with social commentary. The soundtrack is pretty groovy, too.

Birdman
South Africa, 2007, 4min
Dir: Rob Nicholls

Sashaying across a stark urban landscape, a man dips, sways, dances with unusual partners. Perhaps 40 pigeons match his pace, riding on his shoulders, alighting on his head, balancing on his hands.

30 Seconds
South Africa, 2008, 6min
Dir: Kekeletso Khena

Based around the staggering statistic that every 30 seconds a woman is raped in South Africa, this deftly-crafted student film approaches the subject from the point of a lesbian couple. Despite prejudice against their sexuality, Erin and Lebo are carefree and in love until a jealous male bigot with his own eye on Erin rips their joy asunder.

The Beneficiary
South Africa, 2008, 7min
Sotho with English subtitles
Dir: Themba Monare

Matukisi Motloung was brought up in dire poverty and although through the hardship she made sacrifices to survive, she never resorted to crime. Her son, Mateki, has been given everything she can afford. But this is not good enough, and with no jobs on offer and no prospects, he has resorted to crime to afford the trappings he aspires to. The Beneficiary is a heart rending film that shows the personal toll taken on a mother who is deeply ashamed of her son’s criminal choices but lacks the ability to do anything about them.

God Loves Sinners
South Africa, 2007, 22min
Tswana, Xhosa, Zulu with English subtitles
Dir: Nami Mhlongo

In 2007, the deaths of four lesbians made headlines. Sizakele Sigasa, Salome Massima, Thokozane Qwabe and Simangele Nhlapo, whose two-year-old daughter was raped and murdered alongside her, were all victims of hate crimes. Despite a Constitution which supports diversity, homophobia is a vicious reality in South Africa. Nomonde Mafunda and Tumi Ndweni, live and love in a community where being lesbian is sometimes seen as “unGodly” and “unAfrican”, yet find surprising pockets of support amongst their family and friends.

Kabelo’s Zeroid Xpress
South Africa, 2008, 13min
Tswana, Zulu, Venda with English subtitles
Dir: Thapelo Maleka

Led by Kabelo Khalid Mkwanazi, the four-member Zeroid Xpress is a Hip Hop band with a difference. Drawing their inspiration from Venda and Tsetswana cultures, current affairs and Islamic literature they make no bones about the fact that they have no rhythm and there is no way to dance to their music. Their aim is for people to listen, hear the message, and be inspired by truth. This is an honest portrayal of artists struggling for recognition and using whatever means necessary and without selling out to commercial interests, they prefer to “stay underground, to keep it real.”

“Spiderman” and Romeo
South Africa, 2007, 8min
Zulu with English subtitles
Dir: Sifiso Khanyile

Train surfing’s cool. Balancing precariously on top of speeding railway carriages, dodging electric cables and iron pylons it’s the ultimate urban rush. Romeo used to be a train surfer until his best friend was killed. Now he’s a Metro Rail Safety Ambassador who tells teenagers about the dangers of fooling around on trains. He speaks of how “I had the world in my hands”, but also of the sadness he experienced after his friend died. “You are not Spiderman,” he warns youngsters.