Abongwe Booi is a visual creator who believes that it is difficult to separate photography and filmmaking. “Composition,” he says, “is the bases of powerful imagery and without an understanding of photography and the denotive aspects of composition in storytelling, filmmaking falls flat.” Personally he is a fan of aesthetic drama, explosions, blood, fights, kisses, and unrequited love; that’s where he feels his strengths lie the strongest, but he also believes that filmmaking would be nothing without photography.
Being a film director is a laborious job, and the vision of creating something beautiful which will possibly have an impact in society, even if that impact is one person, keeps Abongwe motivated. He goes on to say that being on set rejuvenates him, “even after a long, hard day, I find myself recharged with an energy that excites me for the next day. And seeing something that was in your mind come to life on screen the exact way you had planned it to be is a WIN of its own and that’s what keeps me going.” With 2021 quickly drawing to a close, Booi has achieved some professional goals, and also has not achieved some. He is currently busy working on a number of short films, and has a 5-part webseries on its way. 27
