Scriptwriting incubator class graduates

Johannesburg - Eleven interns have successfully graduated from the first MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF) Scriptwriting Incubator.

The MTF is a year-long filmmaking training programme offered in 14 countries across Africa and includes producing films for broadcast on M-Net local channels and Showmax.

In South Africa the MTF launched a Scriptwriting Incubator, a first for Africa, run in partnership with the Wits University’s Film and Television Department and Tshedza Pictures, producers of Legacy, The River and Giyani: Land of Blood

The programme offers practical workplace experience and mentorship from experienced South Afri- can producers and scriptwriters.

MultiChoice group corporate affairs executive Collen Dlamini said sustainability forms the basis of their CSI initiatives.

“We set out to create learnership programmes that are informative and also provide candidates with insightful practical experience for ease of entry into the workplace. We honour our African roots through the stories we tell. It is important that MultiChoice continues to build on this narrative in everything we do,” Dlamini said.

The programme started in February 2021 and was open to all South Africans with a passion and talent for writing, including those with no formal education. Several applica- tions were received and the top 40 went through a writing test. Based on that 20 were interviewed and 12 final interns were elected. The end goal was for interns to pitch a palette for a drama series that was good enough for the channel to commission. Five movies have already been commissioned by the channel. tackles personal implications of the supposed new equality. It is listed among the top 10 best plays produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 60 years.

“We are proud of our graduates, one of them has written an episode of The River (S4, episode 147), five have been offered employment by Tshedza Pictures, while other graduates already have jobs lined up,” Dlamini added.

MultiChoice look to expand the script writing programme to other hubs in Africa, Dlamini said.

Writer and actor John Kani does it through a confrontation between two men who represent polarised aspects of the South African experience. Michael Richard plays Jack Morris, a cantankerous old actor who hopes to overcome severe liver cancer to get to Cape Town to play King Lear; and Kani is Lunga Kunene.

Directly from the Ambassador Theatre in London, Joburg Theatre and John Kani present the premiere of Kunene and The King as well as the national tour, directed by Janice Honeyman. The play returns to South African theatres with performances at the Joburg Theatre from 27 May, then moving onto the Playhouse Theatre and Mandela Bay Theatre Complex in July.

After a successful run in Stratford–upon-Avon in 2019, Kunene and the King premiered to a soldout house at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Swan Theatre, before continuing to the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town.

Kani was presented with the Pragnell Shakespeare Birthday Award in 2021.

Kani says he wrote the play to deal with questions he had within himself.

Own Correspondent

A partnership between the South African National Association for the Visual Arts (Sanava) and Absa has opened applications for the 2022 Absa L’Atelier art competition.

Art curator at Absa Group Dr Paul Bayliss said: “We are calling on our continent’s creators to take their artworks to the world by entering the competition. This will provide an opportunity for visual artists to make their voices heard. We are committed to ensure that young artists from across Africa can reimagine their future and bring their possibilities to life.”

The L’Atelier was re-envisioned in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The pandemic forced us to be digitally progressive and make sure artists still get the opportunity to showcase their work, and went entirely digital,” said Bayliss.

The adjudicators select three artists as ambassadors who will each receive a laptop, data and exposure to virtually hosted mentorship and master classes geared towards enabling them to take their careers to the next level.

“In addition the artists will have a collaborative exhibition in the Absa Gallery in November. This will then travel to their respective countries in 2024. They will also have an option to take up a solo exhibition within a five-year period. This is no longer just about giving artists an amount of money but affording them the skillset to develop,” Bayliss said.

The most deserving South African artist aged 25 to 35 will be eligible for the Gerard Sekoto Award, made possible through the partnership, with the French embassy, the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) and the Alliance Françoise network.

Sanava president, Dr Avitha Sooful said the partnership bodes well for the development of African artists whose work will influence the creative economy.

“We hope to double the number of entries, and we call on all artists to become part of the legacy,” Sooful said.

Visit https://latelier.absa.africa.

Joburg City Theatres CEO Xoliswa Nduneni-Ngema says: “We are thrilled to partner with a theatre doyen such as John Kani. It is pivotal to always tell our stories as we introspect on history and look forward to building a brighter future as a nation. Theatre is a vehicle; it is the key driver in building the generation of storytellers.”

Penned by actor and playwright Kani, Kunene and the King is set 25 years after the first post-apartheid democratic elections and

“When I finished writing I sent it to a friend, Sir Anthony Sher at the Royal Shakespeare Company, because I had him in mind to play this character, Jack Morris. We opened the play at Stratford in April 2019. We transferred to the Fugard Theatre for a few performances, and then took the West End by storm. It gives me great pleasure to bring it back to South Africa, for the people I write for. Being at the Mandela Theatre is almost completing a journey I have been on for a long time. Kunene and the King asks, we fought for liberation, we fought for freedom, we ended up with democracy, what is democracy?” says Kani.

The play will be staged at The Mandela at Joburg Theatre from 27 May to 19 June, before jetting out to other theatres around the country. Persons under the age of 15 will not be allowed into the show.

For more visit www.joburgtheatre.com or call 0861 670 670.