Female TV directors ruling the roost

ALYSSIA BIRJALAL

CATHERINE COOKE

Golden Horn award-winning director Catherine Cook found herself in front of the camera as an actress before getting behind it and directing award-winning shows such as iNumber Number and The River.

She has also directed Showmax’s Girl of St. Agnes and her latest series, Reyka, will be premiering on M-Net later this month.

Cooke’s robust imagination gives her the ability to lift the writers’ creation off paper and breathe life into their work.

“My acting background has especially been helpful to me as a director, as I feel actors can trust me to respect and hold their vulnerability safe in front of the camera. My work in theatre and my years as an assistant director also taught me to have discipline on my sets,” she said in an online interview.

Catherine Cooke

Zimkhitha Maseko

Powerhouse Zimkhitha Maseko fell in love with directing when she interned on the set of e.tv’s Rhythm City. She’s been directing for the past 7 years on shows like Mzansi Magic’s Zabalaza, SABC3’s High Rollers, e.tv’s Harvest, Imbewu: The Seed and Durban Gen and is currently directing M-Net’s award-winning telenovela, Legacy.

She believes women directing film and television “should be standard and not viewed as a novel thing. Anyone with a keen sense for emotive translation of screenplays or story through the various tools that we have to utilise should be at the helm and be afforded an opportunity to direct.” She added: “It’s problematic that we still have to be identified as “female directors” whereas our male counterparts are not referred to as “male directors.”

Maseko said representation and transformation is key in this industry and a cheque to match would also be great. “Seeing as we all do the same job and the pressures are the same whether male or female – failure to execute your job results in a bad show.

With all that said, we definitely need more representation across all disciplines in this business, like sound man are almost always men.”

Maseko, who runs Exit Media said her dream job is to see her company fully established and she producing and directing stories that are close to her heart.

Zimkhitha Maseko

Roxanne Blaise

Safta-nominated director Roxanne Blaise is the talented woman behind kykNET&kie’s telenovela Arendsvlei. Blaise started in the industry as a theatre actress and director, before moving to acting on television and in film. Her TV roles include Gadija in Sara Se Geheim and Elsa in three seasons of the show she currently directs, Arendsvlei. Her past directorships include Il console italiano and Tali’s Wedding Diary in 2017.

Amy Jeptha

Celebrated theatre practitioner, film-maker, playwright, screenwriter and director Amy Jeptha is a force to be reckon with. Jeptha’s original crimethriller series, Skemerdans, was commissioned by Showmax under her company banner, Nagvlug Films, and was released this year.

Jeptha’s focus now is on producing for film and television. Her feature debut, Barakat, was released theatrically in 2021 after a string of festival appearances. It was also award for Best Narrative at the 23rd Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Festival in the US.