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Johannesburg - Comedian and writer Kagiso Lediga has been a busy man this year.
Not only did he take to the stage at the Johannesburg International Comedy Festival in March and continue production on his SABC2 TV show The Bantu Hour, two of his films also premiered in Cape Town this week.
Catching Feelings marks his directorial debut. Funded by the Industrial Development Corporation and the department of trade and industry, it premiered globally at the Los Angeles Film Festival in the US in June.
The film also saw its east coast premiere in New York last month at the Urbanworld Film Festival.
After a long wait, the movie was finally screened to local audiences on Tuesday at the Cape Town International Film Market and Festival, held at the V&A Waterfront.
Lediga says he not only wanted to showcase Johannesburg through Catching Feelings, but also to break stereotypes about the city.
“Joburg is an extremely sophisticated place. I wanted that to come through in the film, but also to have a dialogue-driven film that was entertaining.”
Lediga himself stars in the movie, as does Quantico’s Pearl Thusi and theatre veteran and aficionado Andrew Buckland.
The comedian has been instrumental in establishing South Africa’s TV comedy sketch culture, having written and produced various programmes, including the popular Pure Monate Show.
When asked if this leap into cinema means he will no longer be working in the medium of television, he says: “No, I think I’ll always do both. But making movies is one of those things I have always wanted to do.”
He says directing films is not especially challenging for him as he is used to directing for television.
“The things that I direct are the things that I wrote, so far.”
Another of his movies, Matwetwe (Wizard), funded independently, recently screened at Fantastic Fest – a horror, fantasy, sci-fi and action festival which takes place annually in the US – before being shown at the Waterfront on Wednesday.
Matwetwe tells of the comedic crime caper of two best friends, while Catching Feelings is a comedic romance. Calling Matwetwe “a real crowd pleaser”, Lediga says he has been happy with audience responses in the US as well as Cape Town.
Both films are set for release locally early next year.
