Screen Africa August 2014

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| IN THIS ISSUE

12 Africa at Annecy

16

39

Die Antwoord scores one million views in one day

IBC2014: Focus on innovation

26

22

Hovering around

Filmmaking for change

Special Features IBC PREVIEW

Africa

Television

Box Office

Africa mourns the loss of three filmmakers in one week....................... 8 Shaping the Future of

Building a case for court TV............. 24

It’s a man’s world at

IBC 2014: Focus on innovation........ 39 Inala Broadcast hosts audio workshops with Dolby and Lawo... 40 EVS celebrates two decades of

Film in South Sudan............................... 8 The future of broadcasting

Hovering around................................. 26 Sony’s new 4K XDCAM

innovation at IBC2014....................... 40 Blackmagic Design to

in Africa: the sky is the limit............. 10

put to the test..................................... 30 A game changer for

demonstrate its 4K workflows........ 41 Glensound to showcase

Africa at Annecy.................................. 12

ADCETERA

CINEMATOGRAPHY

the local box office............................. 50

WEB NEWS Crowdfunding campaign to save independent SA cinema............ 51 SA charity apologises

the lighting sector............................... 32

for controversial ad............................ 51 SES launches first free-to-air

SYSTEM INTEGRATION

new IP COOBEs................................. 42 AJA Video Systems to showcase

Perpetual Cannespiration.................. 14 The truth about the

Integrating Systems in

digital TV platform in West Africa... 51 Award winning films and a new

CION professional camera............... 44

connected you..................................... 14

a changing environment..................... 33

trophy statuette for DIFF 2014....... 51

Doubling the 3D experience............ 45

A Dion Wired life............................... 15 Creative Cape Town is

RADIO

The Datavideo family......................... 46

News One voice................................................ 2 IDC, NFVF and DTI announce new fund to promote black filmmakers.... 2 Zone 14 star inspires SA youth......... 3

putting YOU on the map................... 15 Watching alone is NOT an option. 16 Die Antwoord scores one million views in one day............ 16

Film

Berea bags the big one at IMSFF........ 3 Brought to you by

Cold Harbour and the case for

The Walt Disney Company................. 4

Rituals and secrets.............................. 20

Lifetime goes live and local.................. 4 Deepend Films launches emerging scriptwriters’ initiative in honour

DocumentarY

of Nelson Mandela................................. 6 DFM 2014 spotlights African co-production and distribution.......... 7

socially-engaged genre cinema......... 18

Filmmaking for change....................... 22 Outsider – the beginning of something bigger................................. 23

Pilot of the (low powered) Airwaves................................................ 34

IPTV Exterity sets up shop in South Africa..................................... 36

SERVICES A film crew runs on its stomach..... 48 Business as usual for Zimele at new offices......................... 48 Pro Sales moves to new premises.. 49 Film Finances announces airline discount programme............. 49

SABC settles on a new COO.......... 51

Regulars Production Updates................52 – 55 Events..................................................... 55 Social...................................................... 56

|

From the editor

News

One voice

IDC, NFVF and DTI announce new fund to promote black filmmakers

At the Durban Film Mart in July and particularly in the announcement of the new Emerging Black Filmmakers Transformation Fund (EBFTF) by the IDC, NFVF and DTI (read more in the news story on this page), there was a lot of talk about unifying the film and television industry and about the necessity of working together if we wish to take the industry forward. This kind of talk is not new and I must confess that my initial response to it is somewhat dubious. A number of questions occur to me. What form could such cooperation take? What are the goals and terms of this cooperation and who will set them?

‘Let’s work together’ has a terribly airy fairy sound to it. We all nod and applaud when such words are spoken and then those engaged in the business of filmmaking promptly put their heads down and carry on with their daily hustle. Not enough dialogue is taking place about how professionals in the industry ought to work together or even what the exact aims of such cooperation would be. The industry is not homogeneous and it is not the case that something that benefits one will benefit everyone else. There is one major exception to this – everyone, regardless of whether they make TV talk shows, feature films or wildlife documentaries, regardless of whether they are competing for the same audience, have one desire in common; every practitioner in the industry wants their industry and their market to grow. If this happens, the returns are greater, the possibilities of making a living are better and there is more room for everyone. Cooperation need not mean collaboration in a projectby-project sense, it may simply take the form of support. If one good film receives widespread acclaim, the entire industry benefits by association.

Since this is an industry that still depends to a large extent on state funding, there is one very important and specific form of cooperation in which all stakeholders should engage. If we are unhappy with the way the industry is represented in dialogue with government – and it appears that a great many people are – then surely we should be organising ourselves to speak to the state with one voice. As I have mentioned before, President Zuma has called upon the entire arts and culture sector to organise itself, the better to address our needs to the powers that be. We all know that we would benefit from doing so, yet we don’t seem to be able to do it.

If there were a body that spoke with the blessing and mandate of the entire industry, surely we would be in a better position to pressure government to address urgent issues affecting us, such as the current troubles with the national broadcaster. As we currently stand we don’t have the power or the credibility to effect relevant, lasting change in our industry. Only a fully organised lobby group can achieve that. Alternatively, maybe we should forget about the government and start developing ways to build a self-sufficient, independent industry, eliminating the need for state patronage.

Both of these roads are difficult but whichever one we decide to travel, we are better off going en convoy than as lone wanderers.

Warren Holden

FILM FUND: Basil Ford (IDC), Clarence Hamilton (NFVF) and Nelly Molokoane (DTI) At a press conference called at the Durban Film Mart (DFM) at the Tsogo Sun Elangeni Hotel on 21 July, Basil Ford, head of the Industrial Development Corporation’s (IDC) media and motion picture business units; Clarence Hamilton, head of production and development at the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) and Nelly Molokoane, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), jointly announced the launch of a new filmmaking finance mechanism called the Emerging Black Filmmakers Transformation Fund (EBFTF).

The fund will enable the production of at least six films per year (with the potential to go up to ten films annually) for the next three years. Each film will be allotted a budget of R4.5 million for production, as well as R500 000 for marketing.

Ford explained that the fund developed after the failure of the previous funding operation that the three organisations attempted – the Low Budget Pilot Project.

This project required the partnership of a broadcaster in order to work and since no broadcaster was willing or able to come on board, it stalled before it ever got moving.

So Ford, together with Zama Mkosi of the NFVF, Molokoane and their respective teams, sat down and tried to create a new solution.

“We sat down together and we thought – how do we do this? How do we get something innovative that will help to transform the industry? We also wanted to make sure that we promote the production of feature films by black filmmakers. We wanted to make sure that films that tell local stories were made for local consumption.

And ultimately we wanted to develop a sustainable funding model. So this is what we have. The important thing about this is that we want to promote the funding of films by black directors. And these black directors

are to be supported by black producers who hold at least 51 percent of the film rights,” Ford explained.

Ford went on to name three major benefits of the fund for emerging filmmakers. Firstly, filmmakers will not be required to raise a cent towards their budgets – the fund will finance the selected projects completely. Secondly, the legal structure will be set in place and templates will be created, saving applicants the trouble of drawing up contracts and paying for legal advice and so on. Thirdly, Ford said, “The three institutions combined have got expertise, particularly the NFVF. So what we will do is put a support system in place and that will go towards making sure that the script is ready for production. Then where the production needs supervision the NFVF will assist in making sure that there is supervision and mentorship.”

Ford concluded by saying that the three institutions are looking to set up a system where the filmmaker can simply “focus on making the film”.

Speaking to Screen Africa at a later stage, the IDC’s Trishana Thevnarain, who is charged with running the operation of the fund, summed up the ethos behind it when she referred to the current tendency toward segmentation in the industry and said: “The whole intention is to strengthen the local film industry and it’s not just looking at the local filmmakers, it is also for the local talent. We want to promote them too, giving them the opportunity to be promoted locally as well as the potential to actually get international roles. So we are looking at the entire industry in this country. We want to continue making a difference to the film industry and in particular now, the emerging black filmmakers, by helping them to turn their visions into reality. We can only make this happen if we all work together.”

– Warren Holden

SCREENAFRICA Publisher & Managing Editor: Simon Robinson: publisher@screenafrica.com Editor: Warren Holden: editor@screenafrica.com Journalists: Carly Barnes: carly@sun-circle.co.za Chanelle Ellaya: news@screenafrica.com Contributors: Ian Dormer, Andy Stead, Claire Diao, , Sam Charoz, Karabo Denalane, Laurelle Williams, Ibrahima Guimba-Saidou

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| News

Zone 14 star inspires SA youth Vusi Twala is a well-known South African actor who is using his prominence to educate and inspire the country’s youth by delivering motivational talks at high-schools in which he encourages learners to pass Matric and pursue positive future prospects. He is also conducting filmmaking workshops, in an initiative to inform learners about an art form he believes they know next to nothing about.

Twala once had his heart set on becoming a soccer star, but as fate would have it the small town boy, who grew up just outside of Newcastle in KwaZuluNatal, would instead find fame as a character on the SABC1 drama series Zone 14. Twala landed the role when he played an extra in one of the episodes and caught the attention of director

FRAMING A SHOT: Vusi Twala teaches a learner about camerawork Angus Gibson. However, despite his natural acting abilities he initially found himself overwhelmed and intimidated by a world he knew very little about.

“In my neighbourhood, people have very little knowledge about the film industry – as kids we even used to break open radios to see who was talking from inside. When I arrived on the set of Zone 14 I had no idea what terms like

‘dialogue’, ‘on set’ or ‘running lines’ meant. Being in a position like that can really knock your confidence, or prevent you from succeeding,” Twala remarks.

In his workshops Twala uses a short film Lost Innocence, which he shot with the support of friends in the film industry, to explain and demonstrate how different production disciplines and processes come together to produce the end result.

He has also launched the Behind the Blazer Film Project, an initiative aimed at getting learners to produce their own short films, for which he has big aspirations.

He explains: “The bigger idea is to get different communities to compete with their short films in order to win a blazer with a badge. The winners would go on to host film clubs in underprivileged areas where they can screen their films and create conversations around issues which South African youth are facing.”

Still in its infancy, the project needs funding for equipment, transport, food, location fees and security costs, in order to gain momentum and have meaningful impact.

Twala believes that there are many unique South African stories which aren’t being told and adds: “I would like to be able to showcase the creativity and untold stories of these kids, there’s a lot that they go through. It’s important for them to be heard, for them to find a passion and tell their stories.”

Keep up to date with progress on the Behind the Blazer Film Project by following the initiative on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. – Carly Barnes

Berea bags the big one at IMSFF Vincent Moloi’s short film Berea has received high acclaim both locally and internationally since its release in 2013.

Most recently it won the Mzansi Magic Choice Award at the Independent Mzansi Short Film Festival (IMSFF), which affords one short the opportunity to be developed into a full-length feature film.

After premiering at the Durban Film Festival in 2013, Berea featured at the Toronto Film Festival where it was met with equal interest and demand. It has screened in a number of international territories where it has generated on-going conversation about South African filmmaking and the issues which the film raises.

The African Metropolis collection of short films from Big World Cinema entered Berea into the IMSFF, one of the few platforms available for showcasing short films in South Africa, where it was nominated for awards in six categories including Best Director, Best Actor and Best Short Film. Mzansi Magic, a channel

which is always on the lookout for authentic, fresh and entertaining, local content felt that Berea was a film they could explore a production partnership with.

Sphumelele Sibeko, commissioning editor at Mzansi Magic says: “We were looking for people that could make the audience go through the characters’ emotional journeys in a short space of time, while understanding the story.

We looked for strong stories with strong performances and high production value.”

Sibeko believes Berea is a great product and adds: “In a short space of time we were lost in the characters’ worlds and understood their struggles, and went through their journey of resolve.

We were impressed by the fantastic and subtle performances of the actors in the movie who had really great direction, as well as beautiful picture quality.”

Of winning the award, Makgano Mamabolo, who produced and co-wrote Berea, says: “It really was an

unanticipated, pleasant surprise, with all the wonderful short films that had been showcased at the festival. Mzansi Magic is a fantastic channel that has really carved its mark in the broadcasting space, as one of the youngest channels we have. It feels wonderful to have them recognise our creative talent and put their money where their mouth is, by extending themselves to explore a production partnership with us in the future. We really do feel honoured.”

But Mamabolo explained that the team working on Berea felt they had said what they wanted to say about the film’s subject matter and are instead keen to use the opportunity to feature a different story. “Not all stories are feature length, and in this case, Berea was always meant to be short.”

Mzansi Magic has expressed that they are open to exploring this alternative and with a potential R300 000 in funding available, it is no surprise that Mamabolo is thrilled at the opportunity.

“It feels wonderful to know that they

UNANTICIPATED PLEASANT SURPRISE: Makgano Mamabolo are keen to walk this journey with us. We as Puo Pha Productions are really looking forward to having a new partner in Mzansi Magic,” she concludes. – Carly Barnes

News

|

Brought to you by The Walt Disney Company…

The Walt Disney Company Africa held their annual press showcase at the Montecasino Conference Centre in Johannesburg on 24 July 2014.

Attendees were treated to a sneak peak of their upcoming 2014/2015 slate, featuring content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Disney Channels, Disney Interactive and ABC Studios.

The Walt Disney Company is the number one distributor of family movies in South Africa. Recent major successes include Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Thor 2, grossing R14.6 million and R22 million respectively at the Box Office nationally. Disney’s Frozen – released in December 2013 – went on to become the biggest Walt Disney Studios box office success of all time in South Africa.

In addition to these highlights, the 2014 Sunday Times Generation NeXt Survey results – where Disney scooped up a couple of firsts including Coolest Kids TV Channel for Disney XD – are further proof that The Walt Disney Company has certainly cemented its place in the cinemas, TV rooms and hearts of South Africans.

At the movie theatre this year, Disney will release Marvel’s action/adventure Guardians of the Galaxy (1 Aug 2014), followed by the Disney animation/

adventure Planes 2: Fire & Rescue (26 Sept 2014). Disney ends off the year with the animated action/comedy Big Hero 6 (26 Dec 2014). In 2015, cinema-goers can watch Disney’s live action remake of Cinderella (3 April 2015), and the much anticipated Avengers: Age of Ultron (1 May 2015) with director Joss Whedon at the helm.

Disney’s Home Entertainment division is just as popular as its theatrical side, and with a much larger output. August sees the DVD/Blu-Ray release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier; the critically acclaimed Maleficent will be available on these formats in October, and in November the straight-to-DVD/Bluray movie Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy will be released.

For audiences in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent, DStv channels 303, 304 and 309 are home to the Disney Channel, Disney XD, and Disney Junior respectively. Screening reruns of classic Disney cartoons, as well as original content for kids and young adults, these three channels account for more than half of kids’ viewing on DStv. Something to look forward to on the Disney Channel this summer is the South African premiere of Zapped, based on the popular book Boys are Dogs by Leslie Margolis. Zapped follows Zoey Stevens

DISNEY SHOWCASE: Behind the scenes of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy

(Zendaya Coleman), a dancer and A-student who is having a hard time adjusting to her new life when her mom remarries. Disney Channel is also showing Girl Meets World this summer, a comedy series for kids and families from executive producer Michael Jacobs of Boy Meets World (1993-2000).

The animated series The Ultimate Spiderman premieres on Disney XD this spring, featuring a teenage Peter Parker juggling the challenges of high school with the extraordinary challenges of being a super hero.

Kelly Osbourne has joined the cast of Disney’s The 7D, an animated series that delivers a comedic new take on the Seven

Lifetime goes live and local On 22 July A+E Networks’ Lifetime channel went live on DStv channel 131, offering African audiences access to a diverse line-up of never-before-seen shows and entertainment.

The channel is exclusive to DStv premium subscribers and is described by Mark Reyner, COO of MultiChoice, as a “female-centric entertainment channel which will engage the hearts and minds of South African women.”

A+E Networks’ pitch to be part of the DStv platform started 18 months ago when the US-based media company made the decision to push Lifetime out internationally. Working incredibly closely with the content team at DStv, Tom Davidson, Managing Director of A+E Networks UK, along with Heather Jones, Vice President for programming, invested time in scrutinising the Lifetime viewing schedule, in order to identify and fill viewership gaps with content that 4 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014

FRESH AND UPLIFTING CONTENT: Tom Davidson and Heather Jones resonates with African viewers.

“What was great about being able to launch in the UK first was our ability to show DStv the full scope of the channel, and then strategise as to how to take that content and information and make it bespoke for the African market,” said Davidson who had mentioned that, of the wider territories managed by the A+E team overseas, Africa is considered “one of the crown jewels.”

With a focus on fresh and uplifting content, the channel will deliver shows from a winning three-pillared programming formula consisting of: original movies, addictive reality shows and compelling drama series. Jones added that shows from the channel’s multicultural content offering, which are similar in subject to those already faring well with African audiences, have been selected as part of Lifetime’s Africa

Dwarfs. Produced by Disney Television Animation, the series will be presented on Disney XD this summer.

The first ever Disney Junior Original Movie Lucky Duck premieres this August on Disney Junior. Lucky Duck is a rubber duck with a broken squeaker who, after failing an inspection at the toy factory, finds himself on a boat, inside a shipping crate, with two kindred spirits.

These are just a few highlights from the upcoming Disney slate. With so much behind them, Disney promises even more adventure, mystery, action, drama and of course even better animation, in the year to come. – Chanelle Ellaya

schedule. Live music shows, which have proven popular with the channel’s 25 to 54 year old female target audience in Africa, will also feature as part of the schedule and in 2015 it will produce a number of local shows.

Jones commented, “We’re looking at developing local documentaries and entertainment formats – which is probably where we will look for the first project. We’ll also look at localising US franchises, which is something we’ve done in the UK where we’ve just finished shooting a local version of Dance Moms, and there are loads of franchises that we have – like Preachers’ Daughters, that might well apply to localisation. But all local content will be in the reality space.”

She continued, “To do local content is always going to be expensive and therefore it will always be the minority of hours. But next year we’ll be looking to spend at least 20 per cent of our content budget on developing local shows.”

Some of the shows audiences in Africa can look forward to watching on the Lifetime channel are: reality shows such as Dance Moms, Shahs of Sunset, Bring it!, Preachers Daughters and Kim of Queens; dramas, including Orphan Black and Suits; as well as movies: Flowers in the Attic, A Day Late and A Dollar Short and Liz and Dick. – Carly Barnes

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News

|

Deepend Films launches emerging scriptwriters’ initiative in honour of Nelson Mandela Johannesburg-based production house Deepend Films has launched an initiative designed to mentor young scriptwriters and filmmakers, thus helping to develop the art of scriptwriting in South Africa and increase the country’s content capital.

The programme is called ‘67 films’ after

TO MAKE A FILM A Deepend Films Initiative

365 DAYS to make and screen a short film.

2014 Mandela Day 2015! the ‘67 minutesMandela for Mandela’Day concept put to work is scriptwriting and ‘67 films’ is one into practice byDeepend people all over the world means of aiding young creatives in Films is excited to announce their Nelson Mandela Day initiative to nurture and grow young South African talent. every year on 18 July, the late formerdeveloping and perfecting this vital This is a proactive initiative for young people who are interested in the industry and have president’s birthday.

The ‘67 Films’ foundation offilmmotion picture making. not had the resources or opportunities to realise their dream. initiative, says Deepend’s Paulene Abrey, From August to October 2014, Over the next 365 DAYS Deepend Films, together with a team of professionals, will search on a submission and selection process to be outlined our website.

Once provides a wayfor fora script thebased production house Deepend willonbegin receiving scripts from a selection has been made we will take the script through the production process - shooting, editing and finally producing a short film to be screened on Mandela Day 18are July 2015. to make a contribution to the country, entrants.

There no limitations in terms We the are inviting all of young wannabe filmmakers to submit their scripts. Visit our website for and thus honour spirit Mandela of demographics or subject matter. The all the details on this project and the relevant information you need to get started. Please subscribe to ourown mailingparticular list so we can send you news on thecan latest come developments andabsolutely inform Day, making use of their script from anyone you of launch dates and key events. skills and expertise. Abrey feels that one in South Africa and may be in any genre area where the industry needs a lot of and on any subject whatsoever. What

67 FILM Initiative Script Submissions open 1 August 2014 and close 1 November 2014

Deepend will be looking for is a good story that has been well written and possesses strong possibilities for a good film. Abrey says that, by December, they hope to have selected one script, which they will then put into production. There is also a possibility that the runner-up scripts (a total of three are to be chosen) will be workshopped and developed further with the writers but not put into production.

Deepend will then take the winning script into pre-production from January to April 2015 with the aim of shooting in April and May. The idea is for the film to be completed and ready to premiere on 18 July 2015. Although the film will be produced by film industry professionals, Deepend will also select interns in each production discipline to be on set and learn from the key crew during the course of the shoot.

When writing, scriptwriters should bear in mind that the film is expected to be between 40 and 60 minutes in length.

More information will be available on the website at www.67films.co.za, which will be launched during the course of August. Both aspirant screenwriters and crew interns wishing to be involved in the project will be able to apply through the website. Interested parties can also contact Deepend Films on 011 100 1806/ 1807/ 1817.

TEL: +27 (0)11 100 1806/1807/1817 / FAX: +27 (0)11 463 4955 / WWW.DEEPENDFILMS.CO.ZA

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6 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014

DFM 2014 spotlights African co-production and distribution Among the many themes that were discussed at this year’s Durban Film Mart (DFM), held from 18-21 July at the Tsogo Sun Elangeni Hotel, two emerged as most interesting and pressing: namely the drive towards greater cooperation among Africa’s national film industries and the changing nature of content distribution on the continent.

A

longside the numerous project pitches and finance forum meetings taking place over the four days of the Mart, several panel discussions and workshops were held, hosted by industry experts from several countries. There was a general focus on Africa and an attempt to grasp the rapidly evolving ways in which people consume content on our continent.

South Africa/ Kenya/ Nigeria co-production On Monday 21 July, Terence Khumalo, Manager of Special Projects at South Africa’s National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), chaired a panel discussion on pan-African co-production.

The talk investigated the possible synergies and mutual benefits that could be created by co-production projects between the continent’s three main film and television producing hubs – Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa – and attempted to find possible answers to the question of why such co-productions are not already taking place to any appreciable extent.

Together with Khumalo, the panel included Kenyan filmmaker Tosh Gitonga; Nigeria’s Jane Maduegbuna, director of the online content platform Afrinolly; Kenyan producer and director Feisal Malik, who also serves as secretarygeneral of the East African Film Network; and South African producer Dumi Gumbi.

Khumalo mentioned that the NFVF already had a memorandum of understanding with the Kenyan Film Commission and was in the process of negotiating one with the Nigerian Film Corporation. “These two agreements, we hope, will be a gateway to greater collaboration within the continent.”

Gumbi expressed that he, as a South African filmmaker, was actively seeking ways to do more work with his African counterparts. “I’m looking for ways to see how we as South Africans can actually work in east Africa a bit more, as well as creating co-productions between South Africa and the east African countries, as

well as getting local South African content out to the rest of the continent,” he said Gitonga said that one of his driving passions was the desire to transcend national boundaries and create a pan-African cinema. “I am so keen on having Africa come as one instead of having South African films, Kenyan films, Nigerian films. I think it is what is blocking us from surpassing what we need to surpass in the industry.”

Maduegbuna talked about how the three countries, in addition to their unique stories and filmmaking traditions, had particular strengths that could work extremely well together if synergised properly. “Nigeria has the business models, South Africa has the technical knowledge and Kenya has topography and great history. We’ve always felt there should be a marriage of those three.”

And yet, collaborations are not taking place on any significant scale. Malik stated that, although he had worked in both Nigeria and South Africa in addition to his home country, on the whole it is difficult to collaborate because no platform is in place to facilitate it. “Yes we can have these MOUs on paper but we need some kind of platform on which we can realise them.”

Gumbi added that the realisation of the possibilities of co-production treaties also depended on the forming of personal relationships between producers of the three nations. He cited the example of a collaboration he is currently working on with Kenyan animator Ng’endo Mukii. It had taken five years of meetings and discussions before the two of them knew each other well enough to feel sufficiently comfortable to move forward on a collaboration. Just as collaborations within the borders of the respective countries require networking and the forming of relationships, so too will international collaborations. He also stated the need for the MOUs to develop into formal treaties, creating a legislative, business and diplomatic framework within which international collaborations could take place.

In contrast to South African and Kenyan viewpoints regarding formal frameworks, Maduegbuna made a very important observation that perhaps sets the attitudes of the west African nation apart from its southern and eastern neighbours – an observation that is very instructive for any filmmaker seeking a co-production opportunity. “I won’t say I know what the treaties are supposed to encompass but I would say this is all about personal relationships,” she said.

“We [Afrinolly] have set out to meet people on our own. I wasn’t aware that I even needed a treaty. We approach someone and we say we want to work together. If we like one another, if we reach an understanding then we work together. If we’re going to wait for governments to formalise these things, we’re going to wait a long time. We should start one-on-one first and the government will catch up.”

The Changing Face of Distribution Among the other matters discussed in the co-production panel were the challenges of distribution. Gitonga lamented the loss of cinematic culture in Africa. Cinemas are thinly spread across the continent and many end up closing due to poor attendance. He expressed a wish to find some way of reviving that culture.

Maduegbuna agreed regarding the shortage of cinemas. Her home city of Lagos, she said, had only a handful of operational cinemas. She noted though, in contrast to Gitonga’s observations, that these are showing an increase in attendance. People are willing to crowd in and sit on the floor if necessary. She stressed that her platform is not intended to compete with cinema but it does offer a cheaper, perhaps more efficient and easily accessible way of reaching an audience.

The nature of distribution in Africa was the subject of another discussion that took place a few days earlier, and in which

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Maduegbuna participated, together with Marie Lora-Mungai of Kenyan-based online streaming platform Buni TV. Afrinolly and Buni TV represent two examples of alternative digital distribution platforms on the continent that do not engage either cinema exhibition or traditional broadcasting methods.

Maduegbuna discussed how the Nigerian distribution model, which had previously centred on going direct to DVD, was moving more towards digital platforms – Afrinolly, for example, operates purely in the mobile space. This reflects the fact that the use of mobile as a point of access to content far outnumbers any other medium.

Television comes in second and cinema is a distant third. Afrinolly itself had over three million downloads in 2014.

According to Lora-Mungai, even in developed cinema markets, it is becoming increasingly difficult for filmmakers to secure theatrical distribution. The old model, which presupposed a specific order of distribution starting with theatres, then moving to home video and then later to online, no longer applies. The business as a whole now experiments with day-anddate releases, which puts content out to digital distribution at the same time as theatrical release so as to broaden access to audiences. Many filmmakers are in favour of this model, while theatre chain owners naturally oppose it. It tends to happen now, Lora-Mungai explained, on a case-by-case basis; according to the particularities of a film, the producers and distributors will decide whether it will benefit from going to theatre first or being put out on a day-and-date basis.

In Africa, Lora-Mungai continued, the situation is quite different because, with the exception of South Africa, cinemas are too few and far between to offer a profitable distribution platform. She estimated that there is approximately one cinema screen for every six million people across the continent, as opposed to 70 million people in possession of cellphones, about 60 per cent of which are smartphones. It therefore makes far more sense to utilise digital platforms.

She stressed that these are still in their early stages – the infrastructure and the culture are still being developed – but even so, they offer the potential to reach a lot more people than either television or cinema.

Buni TV and Afrinolly, as well as other platforms like them, operate on the basis that digital distribution is the future of the industry. This is a claim which, given the scarcity of cinema screens and the proliferation of mobile phones, is hard to dispute. – Warren Holden August 2014 | SCREENAFRICA | 7

Africa

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BURKINA FASO | MALI | CAMEROON | South Sudan

Africa mourns the loss of three filmmakers in one week In one week, Africa lost three talented filmmakers: Adama Salle from Burkina Faso, Bakary Diallo from Mali and Lorenzo Mbiahou from Cameroon. One died after an illness, while two happened to be on the ill-fated Air Algeria flight that crashed in Mali on 24 July. The African cinema family is in mourning.

The Burkinabe Hope SAD LOSS: Adama Salle, Bakary Diallo, Lorenzo Mbiahou Born in Zaongo, Burkina Faso in 1981, Adama Salle was one of the most promising among the current crop of emerging Burkinabe filmmakers. He studied Economic Sciences, Communication, Languages and Arts at Ouagadougou University. While discovering poetry through the University Agency, he published his first book, A Slanting Wedding in 2006. Selected in 2007 by the AfricaDoc program, he did a documentary writing residency in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso and in Saint-Louis, Senegal before entering the Marrakech Higher School of Visual Arts (ESAV) in Morocco and visiting the George Washington University (USA). His final movie, White Gold, won the Best Fiction Award in the School Films section of FESPACO 2011 (Burkina Faso). In 2012, he received a grant from Canal France International’s program Haraka! to produce his short film Tao Tao!, winner of

Shaping the Future of Film in South Sudan Is tragedy the mother of invention?

Probably not, although this does appear to be so in the case of a group of young South Sudanese returnees who have defied all the odds to tell stories that resonate with their experiences.

In the year 2000, a group of South Sudanese youth based in the dry stretch of Kakuma in northern Kenya were driven by their passion for acting and started performing on stage for fellow refugees.

Doing poetry and solo narratives on issues such as HIV and AIDS, peace or sensitising people to domestic violence, they caught the attention of the Lutheran World Federation, a non-governmental organisation based in the region, which opted to train them in their craft and give them a platform at its Youth and Culture Centre.

This was the beginning of their creative odyssey in film and Woyee Film and Theatre Company as they are now known, came into being.

“We were men and women who had 8 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014

2013 Clap Ivoire Film Festival (Ivory Coast). Selected at the 2012 Locarno Open Doors Programme with his feature Qui parle de vaincre?, he recently received funding from the ACP Programme (European Union) to produce it. While wrapping up the casting process, he caught malaria and died within four days on 21 July, leaving a wife and son.

The Malian Visionary Born in Kati, Mali in 1979, Bakary Diallo entered the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts in Bamako in 2007. He joined the Contemporary Visual Art School Le Fresnoy (France) in 2010 and directed various experimental movies such as The Light (2009), which won the Metropolis Prize at the 2010 Madatac Festival in Spain; Les feuilles d’un temps, winner of the French Lagardere

dreams, and we needed to make use of our time at the camp to change the image of refugees. As you know refugees are taken as hopeless and unworthy persons who have come to rip organisations off, and nobody treated us well, but that motivated us to become interested in becoming a voice of reason in the camp. That basically was our motivation,’ says Daniel, a 33-year-old founding member of the group.

In 2010 Film Aid Kenya saw the need of equipping these ambitious artists with the necessary tools to shape their craft by organising workshops in the camp. It was then that Daniel was selected to be trained in film and communication at a local college.

“They saw the passion in me, the drive, which challenged them and they organised for me to get a diploma course in film production and journalism at Zetech college and that really made me look at this industry from a very professional point of view and I am really grateful,” he says.

After the signing of the peace agreement in 2005, most war weary South Sudanese began to return to Juba – the capital of the now independent nation – and Woyee members were no exception. They took their dreams and passion with them.

With no money, equipment and stable jobs they started doing productions pro bono and soon people started to notice them, especially the NGOs that were moving back to Juba who needed a local

Foundation Prize (2011) and El Canto de los Mensajeros, co-directed with Maria Verdu (2010). His last movies, Tomo (Sesc_Videobrasil residency Prize in 2013) and Dankumba (winner of Les Amis du Fresnoy 2011 Award) travelled all around the world. As a visual artist, Bakary Diallo also used to exhibit his work in international galleries and took part in the 2012 Dak’Art Biennale (Senegal). Selected by the 2014 AfricaDoc programme, he was involved in a documentary writing residency in July 2014. When he took Air Algeria flight AH 5017, Diallo was preparing for a summer residency in Brazil.

The Dedicated Cameroonian Born in Douala, Cameroon in 1981, Lorenzo Mbiahou worked as a trainee in

Cameroonian director Bassek Ba Khobio’s production company Les Films Terre Africaine for three years, working as an assistant on the TV Film Le meilleur et le pire in 2005. His first short film Allerretour (2004) had great success on YouTube. Moving to Spain in 2005, he came back to cinema in 2011, while directing his first documentary Ngon Ju, Fille de Bazou with CineDoc, a French production company. The movie received a special mention at the 2014 CineSud Festival in France. Based close to Lyon, France, Mbiahou was in the process of completing a documentary, My Father’s Funeral, with VraiVrai Films, a production company based in Bordeaux. Selected by the 2014 AfricaDoc documentary writing residency, he was also developing a new documentary project. He died on board Air Algeria AH5017, leaving behind his wife and four children. – Claire Diao

CREATIVE ODYSSEY: The Woyee crew on set voice to do their campaigns.

‘We volunteered most of the time in doing productions for organisations after returning to Juba. There were no other options; because we were ambitious we wanted to make Juba the final frontier for our dreams,’ says Maker, a 23 year old actress with the group.

In 2012 the group released their first feature film Jamila, which received mixed reactions from the film industry both in their locality and beyond. It was South Sudan’s first locally produced feature film.

The movie’s reputation enabled them to secure a chance to attend the Sheffield Documentary Film Festival in 2013, an

all-expenses-paid trip for Daniel and Maker, where they were exposed to the fundamentals of documentary film making.

“This was the most amazing trip, which finally made me appreciate the power of film and photography. It was beyond my expectation, the things that people are doing out there, stories that are so poignant and relevant to shape the form of human existence in all dimensions – arts, politics, and all the ideals that surround us as humans. Attending was really an eye opener and I appreciate the Sheffield organisers for recognising us.’

Daniel concludes. – Sam Charoz

Our words are our actions that benefit your productions

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Africa

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The future of broadcasting in Africa: the sky is the limit

DIGITAL MIGRATION: Ibrahima Guimba-Saidou

Ibrahima Guimba-Saidou, Senior Vice President Africa for SES, examines the possibilities that digital migration can offer to African broadcasting.

A

frica is filled with creative people who excel at finding solutions.

Think of the stories you’ve read of people (often with little formal education) building windmills to electrify their village. Or, the teams who are building computers and tablets from scrap components.

The dawn of digitalisation (or digital migration) will provide more and better opportunities for Africans to excel. Digital migration has the potential to increase stability across the continent through an increase in access to information for the general population. And, as television is a visual medium – even the illiterate can access it.

It will also provide further opportunities for locally produced content and content developers. The film industry in Africa is bound to grow and migration will mean that more local ‘African’ content is created. Not only will these developers have access to wider audiences but at the same time this may lead to new job

10 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014

opportunities. Indeed a recent KPMG study suggests that digitalisation will also positively impact GDP growth, unemployment rates and literacy levels.

However a key challenge to this growth remains the slow transition by many countries and the concerns around the digital migration deadline of June 2015 being missed. I believe this deadline is unachievable at our current pace, unless extraordinary measures are taken soon.

What is needed is co-operation. If similar standards can be agreed upon by Africa countries, even regionally, this will help with the easy sharing of content. This in turn would translate into cost savings for both the countries and the end-users in terms of set-top boxes (STB).

There is a misconception that digital migration is expensive but we have a different take on this. For the past couple of years, SES has traversed the continent through our caravans or customer workshops to talk to stakeholders and government to demonstrate the power

of satellite and how we have successfully assisted other countries to digitally migrate.

SES is dedicated to the African continent. We have three regional offices with local teams in South Africa, Ghana and Ethiopia, as well as three teleport networks partners in Ghana, Nigeria and Djibouti. We also hold specialised training programmes for installers and broadcasters and bigger, knowledgesharing workshops, designed to build local expertise in the media and broadcasting industry across the continent.

Top broadcasters in Africa are already partnering with SES to grow their audiences in Africa. With nine satellites over Africa, and another to launch in 2014, our satellite capacity brings new opportunities to connect customers, employees and TV audiences, enabling operators to deliver thousands of hours of the latest TV content every day.

To achieve the digital migration deadline, it will be very important to ensure that there are sufficient STBs and points of distribution in country.

Countries should consider both formal and informal distribution channels and subsidisation of the STBs. I also think that non-urban areas need to be made a key focus for the roll out. People in these

areas will be limited in their ability to travel to main centres and (because of their remote locations) they are the perfect beneficiaries of satellite technology. Focusing on converting these constituents – and positioning them as early adopters – will be important in obtaining the buy-in of the wider population.

ICT is a blessing for the continent. One only has to look at the uptake of mobile – and how Africa has overtaken the rest of the world in terms of number of users (nearly one billion people and counting) – to see how easier access to television and radio will usher in a significant positive change.

Some of the best examples are taking place in Kenya and South Africa. There is significant growth in the number of bloggers – and those of them who are making this their career. Improved access to internet infrastructure has meant that they are able to share their content with a wider audience and in turn help to inform and educate a wider population. The mobile phone will also become an even more valuable tool as it is used increasingly for TV, internet access and connecting Africans to each other and the world.

The sky really is the limit for this beautiful continent.

Africa

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MADAGASCAR | EGYPT | SOUTH AFRICA

Africa at Annecy

AN ANIMATION REVOLUTION: A scene from Ahmed Nour’s Moug (Egypt)

One of the world’s leading platforms for animation film production, the Annecy International Film Festival celebrated its 38th anniversary from 9 to 14 June. Various African projects from South Africa to Madagascar were presented.

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he Annecy International Animation Film Festival took place in this city situated alongside a lake of the same name in the Alpine region of south-eastern France.

Over 500 films, including the 230 in competition, selected from 73 countries, were screened in various parts of the city and 115 000 tickets were sold. The general public enjoyed the impressive open-air screenings that took place every night on the lakeshore. The films ranged from 20th Fox’s How to Train Your Dragon 2 to Europacorp’s The Boy With the Cuckoo-Clock Heart. For five days, Annecy welcomed a great mix of mainstream and arthouse cinema in a relaxing atmosphere.

There were two African films in selection, 11 at the Film Market.

This 38th selection presented two African films: the Egyptian documentary feature Moug directed by Ahmed Nour, which recounts the revolution from the Suez inhabitants’ point-of-view (out of competition) and Wendy Morris’ Heir to the Evangelical Revival, a Belgian/South African short-film covering the director’s religious-historical heritage.

Launched in 1985, the Annecy International Animation Film Market (MIFA) is the place to be for any professional who wants to promote a project or find a grant. This was the reason why representatives of six African countries were in Annecy. Some came to present projects (South Africa,

12 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014

Madagascar, Ivory Coast, Tunisia), others to network (Egypt and Nigeria).

In the short film category, South Africa was in search of 30% of the R674 958 budget for My Child: Teenage Mutant Azanians (TheCar2n.TV) and R535 240 for The Christmas Gift (BugBox Animation).

Madagascar sought R874 728 for Ho A’Ni Dada (Lewak Productions and RoziFilms), more than R1,457 million for The Wall (produced by 25 Films, a French company) and R437 364 for Trad vs Mod (Homemade Studio).

In the feature film category, Madagascar also presented Zazarano’s Legend produced by RoziFilms (estimated length: 1h10m) while South Africa pitched Hillbrow, produced by Golden Planes Pictures (estimated length: 1h30m).

In the TV series category, South Africa proposed two projects: the 52 fiveminute episode series Spring Chicken and the 52 eleven-minute episode series The Queen of Doingland, both produced

by Zeropoint Studios.

In the MIFA development section, the Africa Toon studio from Ivory Coast presented its feature Soundiata Keïta, The Lion Waking (estimated length: 1h10m) while Algeria presented its mixed narrative and animated documentary Abd-El Kader (estimated length: 1h36m) produced by the Belgian company Squarefish.

South Africa Looking for new partners South Africa has been attending the Annecy International Animation Film Festival for years. But its 2014 participation drew attention thanks to the Territory Focus Conference ‘South Africa: Content Creators’ held during the MIFA. “Every little thing can help,” explains Thandeka Zwana from the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF).

“Filmmakers are working hard. They contribute so much in the industry. With the success of Zambezia and Khumba, people can earn money and investors can get their money back.”

In the Networking Lounge of the Imperial Palace, Michael Buckland, producer from Triggerfish Studios, Glenn Gillis from Sea Monster, Tim Argall from Bugbox Animation and Mike Scott from Mike Scott Animation presented their projects and companies. In terms of competences, achievements and facilities, all of them tried to convince film professionals to develop partnerships: “We have a great sense of value, a great business environment and the same time zone as Europe. Whatever you want, you’ll have it,” claimed Glenn Gillis during his presentation.

Madagascar, a great example Every year since 2006, the Rencontres du Film Court (RFC), a Malagasy film festival set up by filmmaker and producer Laza, gathers together aspiring filmmakers, especially in the animation field. “At the end of the 1970s, when our movie theatres closed down, people started to draw, recounted Laza during a MIFA pitch. Actually, 30 filmmakers are working together on their own projects, as well as those of other people, and international productions have started looking at them.”

Trained through online programs and trial software downloads, these

filmmakers won courses at the ILOI school in La Reunion thanks to the festival’s awards. One of them, Sitraka Randriamahaly was even selected in 2012 by the valuable international Abbaye de Fontevraud’s Residency (France) for his project The Wall, and took part to the MIFA pitch 2012.

Another filmmaker was in the spotlight: Ridha Andriantomanga, winner of the eight projects selected by the 2014 Mifa Workshop Madagascar, organised for the first time in Antananarivo by the RFC and Annecy.

Supported by Augusto Zanovello, winner of the 2013 Annecy Audience Award with Women’s Letters, the French scriptwriter Agnès Bidaud, and Corinne Destombes, French producer from Folimage Studios, Ridha Andriantomanga was invited to present his project Ho A’Ni Dada in Annecy. “People are always surprised by the quality of our projects,” recounts the RFC coordinator Stéphanie Launay. “But step-by-step, we try to promote Malagasy cinema from our festival to training, film funding and distribution.”

Through his attendance to Annecy, Ridha Andriantomanga had an unexpected opportunity: to take part in the 2014 International Summer Workshop organised by the famous French school, Les Gobelins, a great training in line with Annecy’s philosophy.

“It is natural to look at countries with strong economic potential as well as emerging countries,” says Annecy CEO, Patrick Eveno. “There are talents, aesthetics and stories from Africa that will lead to animated movies that will find a right place in the international arena. An important film festival like Annecy must gather people who put a lot of energy into developing their projects.”

Let’s hope that next year there will be more animated hits from Africa – and why not co-productions between neighbours like South Africa and Madagascar?

– Claire Diao

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ADCETERA

| Report on the South African commercials industry

Perpetual Cannespiration Speaking at the annual Cannespiration event hosted by Ogilvy and Mather, the agency which snagged SA’s first Grand Prix Lion award, chief creative officer Chris Gotz shared the top trends and innovations, as well as the ideas that shone with extra lustre, at the Cannes Lions festival.

Big names It might seem improbable to find controversy king and rap mogul Kanye West, Facebook COO and The Leap author Sheryl Sandberg, US filmmaker Spike Jonze, rocker and quintessential bad girl Courtney Love, 80s and 90s TV heartthrob The Hoff, Oscar winner Jared Leto and U2 frontman Bono in the same creative kinesphere but these celebrities were all in attendance at Cannes, offering their insights into the multifaceted realm of marketing and advertising.

A pertinent perception was shared by West, who weighed in on product endorsement, suggesting that celebrities might offer more value to brands by becoming part of their narrative. Leto was also able to offer audiences valuable insight by speaking on the pitfalls of globalising communications, drawing on his experience as an accomplished entertainer and media professional.

Technology Gotz points out that a major focus at Cannes was technology as a creative enabler, and even more so, the way in which society develops and engages with it. Phone technology, for example, is capable of offering far more than what the average person typically uses it for, yet a generation of three-year-olds are already able to navigate iPads and teenagers are familiar with social media platforms which the majority of adults haven’t even heard of yet.

“The utility of technology is becoming ubiquitous, media is evolving underneath us and we’re not even aware of it,” added Gotz.

Chief Business Officer at Google, delivered a speech on the company’s vision and foretold how the world would soon be moving out of an era which is focused on people to machine interaction and into one which favours machine to machine communication. Pizza delivery by drone anyone?

Gotz also raised the evolving success of Facebook, which has become an important access portal for information extending beyond users’ social circles. If you haven’t yet heard of a platform called Vice you’ll need to step up your social media savviness, because according to Gotz this digital media distributor, which caters specifically to 18- to 34-year-olds, is making major waves.

The future is now

Newness is the Zeitgeist

“The future has collapsed into the present,” remarked Gotz, highlighting how technology and possibilities which we may imagine materialising in many years to come, are already being developed and marketed. In the context of South Africa, Gotz warned that advertisers should be careful of falling into a false sense of security about the pace at which the country is catching up to international standards.

Chris Gotz

A new wave of media A group of hugely powerful social and online media platforms are fast claiming a majority stake in the advertising and marketing landscape, once dominated by traditional media houses. At Cannes Nikesh Arora, Senior Vice President and

The truth about the connected you

Karabo Denalane

14 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014

If it’s not on Facebook, Twitter or Insta, it did not happen.

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up? I reach for my phone and instantly I’m connected to my virtual shadow! After a quick email check, social media scan, I am left pondering if this electronic umbilical cord that connects me to others is benefitting or strangling me?

These days I live my life under so much scrutiny. My memories are no longer my own and my privacy is exposed for everyone’s daily dose of entertainment. If I don’t post about my adventurous holiday, the slick ride I’m driving, chowing down that expensive cuisine or sharing that breath-taking experience in real time, it may as well never have happened. How mad is that? Our need for recognition and endorsement is at the core of our cybernetic relationships, making most of us calculate every single step we take to receive that stamp of approval.

I hear some people even go to the extent of only taking pictures from their ‘best’ side, through selfies, groundsies and now I hear there are climbsies! Haha!

I find this outrageous illusion of perfectionism humorous and far greater than I ever imagined.

As I scan through ‘friends’ posts on my timeline, I can’t help but notice that only the good and attractive is shared publicly

while the bad and ugly is perfectly hidden behind the colourful profile pages.

Creating this idyllic world seems to mean that every time we ‘log on’ we are transported to a very polished, fantasy world where everything is rosy. Instantly, I am reminded of the movie, Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, where the lead tries to erase the memory of his ex-girlfriend after a bad break-up, protecting him from the distinctive emotions of sadness one would naturally feel.

I realise that the most interesting behavioural change social platforms bring is this intimate connectedness it affords me with thousands of strangers I have never met and will never meet; but they are easily influenced by little old me. I can post something right now, and because they opted to accept and trust me, they will immediately endorse and retweet to their followers. My opinion could be shared over and over, transcending cities and borders. Finally, I realise the power of my voice.

So therein lies our challenge: what type of messages should we communicate to consumers who are discovering this power day by day? They have now become attractive communication platforms or mouthpieces for our efforts, meaning messaging design should not only focus on the target but the

“In advertising we sometimes concentrate solely on making a campaign right for a client and ignore the fact that we also need to make stuff stand out,” said Gotz, who highlighted the value and growing interest in all things weird and wonderful.

“Being different differentiates, and our appetite for the unconventional has increased. If you do something crazy and it gets enough traction, it can really take off,” he concluded. – Carly Barnes

intermediary as well. I’m seeing this shift in the style of work that is produced to deliver on exactly this, and all the work that is loved has storytelling and entertainment at its core. A great example of this is McCann Melbourne’s 2013 Dumb Ways to Die campaign that sparked immediate YouTube popularity with over 80 million views and this for a small metropolis in Australia. Brands such as Dove, Coca-Cola and Nike get this right time and time again.

Amplified I’m no expert but I do listen and watch closely as our work is getting noticed, talked about and even torn apart in the public domain. Previously we were protected from customer views, but now those views are being amplified for the world to see and we can’t afford to get it wrong.

So let’s be mindful not to retrofit campaigns for the sake of it and start telling the truth about our brands and most importantly allow consumers to participate in the narrative. Consumers, through their connectedness, have become powerful community owners and brand stakeholders; ignore this truth at your peril. On a lighter note it’s probably the best time to be in ‘adland’ and I’m glad to be involved in this monumental shift. – Karabo Denalane, McCann Public Relations

| ADCETERA

A Dion Wired life Heart-warming, sincere and truly brilliant, the new Dion Wired ‘The Visitor’ commercial, conceptualised by advertising agency Ireland Davenport and shot by director Slim of Egg Films, is a welcome breath of fresh air in retail advertising.

The commercial, which was shot in Johannesburg in May this year, features an endearing little mother bird as the star of the spot. The little creature, perched on a windowsill, watches a happy family interacting with one another inside the house while participating in various household activities. The family’s interactions are always centred around an appliance: “I think that the client has really been quite brave but understands that telling an honest, memorable story is key to creating a brand tone,” comments Slim.

The ad draws to a close with the family enjoying quality time in front of the television; the bird brings its family nest to the window so that they too can enjoy the entertainment.

Slim says that Dion Wired wanted a departure from stereotypical retail advertising and to use the appliances in the ad to connect families in a more authentic way. “The ad focuses on the bird as the protagonist to reveal that a family life can be connected through the interaction of modern technology,” he says. “The task was to ensure that the bird’s story of longing and need was driven by the family being brought together and enjoying life as a unit due to the products within their home.”

“It was important that the narrative

Screen grab from Dion Wired’s “The Visitor” commercial

created the emotion needed to connect with the viewer,” Slim comments, “This was directed through the music and the window, which acted as a visual device that separates the bird, heightening its longing to be a part of the family. Slow purposeful camera movements and soft composition and lensing all lent themselves to creating the right atmosphere.”

The commercial was shot on the Red to ensure high-res images for post, as there was a fair amount of technical wizardry involved in the bird’s performance, says

Slim. “Having looked at every possible angle of executing the bird within the story and with my experience in dealing with animal performance, the most realistic way to portray the birds was to use live birds shot in studio with effects added in post. It was important that the technical side of what we needed to achieve should not affect the credibility and authenticity of the storytelling,” he explains.

“Basically we reshot the entire story twice – once on location with the cast and again in studio with our bird. Paying

careful attention to every detail, from the lighting to wind effects, was key and we shot references of a dummy bird (a bathtub rubber ducky) on location for every scene to ensure that the post composition of the bird plates matched the reality of the setting completely,” concludes Slim.

Along with Slim, the production team included DOP Willie Nel, producer Nicci Cox, executive producer Colin Howard, and editor Saki Bergh from Left and post production by Sinister Studios.

– Chanelle Ellaya

Creative Cape Town is putting YOU on the map Creative Cape Town, a programme of the Cape Town Partnership, launched the new free-to-download Creative Cape Town App on 25 June this year.

The app, developed in partnership with Cape Town agency Domino Digital, is the first ever dedicated mobile portal for the local creative industry. “The Creative Cape Town App was developed in response to an increased need for a centralised resource hub specific to the creative industries. It is also a research tool and by populating the directory, better understanding can be gained about the local creative sector,” explains Caroline Jordan, Creative Cape Town project manager.

The #CCTapp virtually maps the creative industries in Cape Town, giving users access to necessary information such as the geographical location of businesses and individual service providers in the local creative sector.

Creative businesses and individuals in Cape Town (and the Western Cape) are

able to upload their portfolios, services and events to the app, creating instant visibility and connectivity for creative businesses big and small.

One of the Cape Town Partnership’s nine official World Design Capital projects, the app also includes an event feed with map integration, featuring creative and cultural activities. Added functionality incorporates the option for users to add events directly to their own personal mobile device calendar.

“This feature helps the broader public access creative events and industries. The app is also an aid for cultural and business visitors to Cape Town to help navigate the city’s creative landscape,” says Jordan.

The app features a directory on which anyone in the creative sector, regardless of whether or not you have a smartphone, can sign up for free. The app itself, featuring the directory, events feed, and map integration is available for iOS now; and Android will

Screen grab of the Creative Cape Town App follow soon.

Launched in Cape Town at East City Studios, the app has been downloaded 216 times in two weeks since its inception.

To commemorate the occasion, Creative Cape Town hosted an event with live app demos and talks by local thought leaders that focus on digital technology and creativity. “The positive response from the community has been overwhelming!

Creative consumers and producers in the city are interested in having such a great

resource right at the tip of their fingers,” Jordan comments.

Unfortunately there won’t be a Johannesburg or Durban edition anytime soon, Jordan explains: “Creative Cape Town focuses on the city’s creative sector, which keeps us incredibly busy! Since our mandate is very specific, we’re not planning to expand the app at this time.

However, the technology is there for other organisations in any sector to drive similar initiatives.” – Chanelle Ellaya

August 2014 | SCREENAFRICA | 15

ADCETERA

|

Watching alone is NOT an option Imagine waking up from a coma to find yourself in a post-apocalyptic world dominated by flesh-eating zombies.

Scary stuff right? That’s the basis of Fox International Channels’ The Walking Dead television series. Not exactly the kind of thing you want to watch alone, at home, at night.

The latest DStv commercial for The Walking Dead season four features a hilarious Trevor Gumbi who, after hearing that his girlfriend has to work late that night, makes several failed attempts to acquire appropriate company to watch the show with him.

Executive Producer Liesl Karpinski and director Peter Heaney, both from Spitfire films, were given a simple brief from Johannesburg-based advertising agency Ireland Davenport – to make a comedic commercial on a small budget. “As always it was a collaboration between agency and production house. The client gave us major creative freedom and since we have a great relationship with the

creatives, we just had fun with it,” says Karpinski.

The ad, which effectively shows off Heaney’s ability as a performance director, was filmed in a single day in May this year at the old JSE building in Johannesburg and an apartment in the urban suburb of Brixton. Karpinski says the message they wanted to deliver is that The Walking Dead is a television series much too scary to watch alone.

The entertaining commercial shows Gumbi reaching out to everyone he can think of in an attempt to do just that – not have to watch The Walking Dead alone that night. He calls up old school mates, invites over his offbeat colleague, the office domestic helper, a startled kid, and even a bulky, bad-tempered stranger with whom he finds himself in a lift. The commercial closes with a visibly uncomfortable Gumbi sitting on his couch, watching the show with a cross-dressing street walker.

“Casting this job was a ton of fun. We had hilarious characters walking in and out of the production office. Casting director Anita Schonauer is really gifted at finding fantastic performers and even though the money wasn’t great we were still spoilt for choice,” comments Karpinski.

Karpinski believes South African audiences will love the ad – which is packed with quirky localisms – as: “It is

A still from Spitfire Films’ Walking Dead promo

incredibly funny and beautifully shot with great performances.”

Along with Heaney and Karpinski, key crew included assistant director Thobelani Faku, DOP Brendan Barnes who shot the ad on an Arri Alexa and Andre Hartzenberg who operated the

Steadicam from Media Film Service. Art director Gavin Scates, production manager Marcia Manning, post producer Cherice Whewell and editor Ryan Norwood Young made up the remainder of the production team.

– Chanelle Ellaya

Die Antwoord scores one million views in one day South African music rebels Die Antwoord are as well-known for their controversial, taboo-breaking music videos as they are for their interesting style of music, which they themselves describe as, ‘zef rap rave’.

The duo – made up of Ninja and Yolandi Visser – have been racking up millions of views for every eccentric and often disturbing video they have released since their inception in 2008. They recently released their new album, jam-packed with ludicrous song titles, paired with even more absurd but undoubtedly captivating music video concepts.

Their latest music video for the hit song ‘Pitbull Terrier’ was directed by Ninja himself and produced by Johannesburg production house Egg Films. This is the third music video Egg Films has shot with Die Antwoord. “As always it was a crazy, fun experience. Ninja and Yolandi are very hands-on and they know exactly what they want,” says producer Julia Schnurr of Egg Films.

Shot in early May this year, the video features Ninja as a canine, donning a disturbingly realistic, prosthetic pitbull mask. Schnurr comments: “Ninja’s pitbull mask was made and designed by Steve Johnson, one of the big Hollywood prosthetics creators who is also a huge fan of Die Antwoord. We had four masks in total, one test mask and one for every shoot day. It took four hours to apply the mask every day.”

16 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014

Ninja wearing the prosthetic pitbull mask

The music video follows pitbull/Ninja as he breaks free from his owner and runs through the streets, terrorising, mauling and even ‘humping’ unsuspecting victims he comes into contact with. The general

storyline is intercut with shots of Ninja in a dark room rapping the lyrics to ‘Pitbull Terrier’ with two women dressed as black and white cats.

After jumping off a building and being

hit by a bus, Ninja is saved by Yolandi, who rids him of his canine characteristics with her saliva. Not exactly your typical music video romance, but you get the point.

“Ninja is the director and the creative on all his jobs, so the idea is pretty clear from the beginning. He just adds to the concept as we go along in production,” Schnurr explains. “He also does all his stunts himself,” she says.

‘Pitbull Terrier’ was shot on an Arri Alexa and according to Schnurr most of the tracking shots were done from a golf cart.

The music video, which received a whopping one million plus views in its first day on YouTube, was shot in and around an unused building in the gritty urban landscape of Newtown in Johannesburg. Schnurr says that there were three weeks of pre-production, three days of actual shooting and two weekends of post. “We were working on a tight deadline and an even tighter budget,” she comments.

When asked about the controversial nature of the music video Schnurr exclaims: “Controversial?! We actually thought that this was one the general public could handle more than some of their old videos.”

“Die Antwoord have built up quite a large fan base in the past couple of years and their fans are always excited about their new videos,” she concludes.

– Chanelle Ellaya

FILM

|

Cold Harbour and the case for socially-engaged genre cinema On the third night of the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), one of the most eagerly anticipated South African films of 2014 was premiered in a packed theatre at Suncoast CineCentre – Carey McKenzie’s noir thriller Cold Harbour.

W

ord among the festival-goers in the hours before Cold Harbour was screened on Saturday 18 July was that more people had been invited to the premiere than the cinema could actually accommodate.

Indeed this proved to be the case. By the time the houselights went down, every seat was filled and people were sitting wherever they could – in the aisle, on the floor in front of the screen. This was the kind of scene that one simply never sees in South African cinemas – especially when the movie about to be screened is a local production.

Cold Harbour is the debut feature of Capetonian filmmaker Carey McKenzie. A graduate of New York University’s Film School with a couple of internationally acclaimed short films and documentaries under her belt, McKenzie is something of a cineaste with a strong knowledge and appreciation of cinema history. This knowledge appears to have informed her vision of the kind of films she wants to make. Cold Harbour is the opening move in her strategy of creating a unique South African form of socially-engaged genre cinema.

African cinema not necessarily art house “What’s frustrating for me is that there is an out-of-date expectation that African films need to be art house films and that’s because, historically, a lot of the cinema from the continent that has made an impact has been West African cinema with a strong Parisian influence,” McKenzie says. “Certainly the influence of French cinema is felt in those West 18 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014

A classic thriller hero

DEADLY ABALONE: A scene from Cold Harbour

African films of the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.

In South Africa we’re quite different. In terms of cinema culture we are evolving in a way that is more akin to Australian cinema – which is in a dialogue with American forms – or I really hope that, at our best, we’re even doing something as exciting as what happened in Mexico or Brazil, which is characterised by accessible, entertaining local stories, not necessarily always genre but definitely not art house.”

Cold Harbour melds the influence of two particular genres differentiated by time and stylistic nuances but sharing many thematic similarities – the film noir of 1940s and 1950s America (which itself was inspired by the German crime dramas of the early sound period) and the crime thrillers of the 1970s such as Bullitt or The Parallax View. The crime genres have earned a reputation among some critics as being somewhat low-brow. This was certainly not always the case. From Fritz Lang’s M (Germany 1931) to John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon (USA, 1941), through to Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (USA, 1975), the crime films received a considerable amount of critical and academic ink and proved themselves able vehicles for expressions of philosophical (particularly existential) thought. Even in its most lurid forms, such as the Italian giallo films of the 1960s and 1970s, the crime thriller was capable of being socially conscious and, when handled by the masters of the genre, such as Sergio Martino, Mario Bava or Umberto Lenzi, also demonstrated high levels of cinematic merit.

This is the kind of space in which McKenzie is endeavouring to work. With Cold Harbour, she and her collaborators – including producer Tendeka Matatu of Ten10 Films, stars Tony Kgoroge, Fana Mokoena, Zolani Mahola and Deon Lotz, and cinematographer Shane Daly – applied this ethos of socially-engaged

genre filmmaking to a story that explores the peculiar unwritten laws of loyalty and honour that govern the interactions of people who steal and kill for a living. The story begins with the discovery of an unidentified Chinese national on a beach in Cape Town. Young policeman Sizwe Mia (played by Kgoroge) grabs hold of the case in a bid to make his promotion to detective.

Another side of Cape Town The story revolves around the perlemoen (abalone) poaching syndicates that operate in Cape Town and their connection with the Chinese Triads.

Stories about perlemoen poaching break in the Cape Town newspapers all the time, McKenzie says. Additional inspiration came one day while she was out jogging. She recalls that she saw police officers gathering evidence on the beach, where a disembodied leg and other body parts had washed up on the shore. As McKenzie began to research the Cape Town criminal underworld, she discovered that the Triads had been active in the city and in the abalone trade since the harbour was opened in the mid-1990s. Behind the glamour and charm of the Mother City, rival gangs with connections to one of the world’s most sophisticated and brutal organised crime networks fought for control of the abalone supply. Police officers to whom McKenzie spoke told her how it became routine to find the bodies of unidentified Chinese men in the dunes of Atlantis.

Inspired by these events, the film presents Cape Town as it has never been seen before. This is not the tourist paradise sold in both the local and international media; this is a shady world of dingy docks and warehouses over which the famous mountain presides indifferently.

McKenzie always had Kgoroge in mind for the role of Sizwe. “I wanted to do a classic thriller hero. He had to be handsome and charismatic and have something about him that was suggestive that he might have a troubled past – a little bit of anti-hero. Maybe this would be a guy who could lose his temper in an ugly way.

Think of Takeshi Kitano’s Violent Cop or Michael Caine in Get Carter. Those are really inspirations for the character. We’re rooting for him but there’s something about him that makes us wonder what he has got up to in the dark. Sizwe has that.”

Kgoroge, who says that he closely studied Jack Nicholson’s performance in Chinatown before doing the role, was awarded the Golden Giraffe (DIFF’s new statuette) for Best Actor.

A cosmopolitan film Language presented an interesting challenge to McKenzie. The film includes five different languages. McKenzie says: “Tony and Fana’s relationship is in Sesotho, Tony and Zolani’s relationship is in isiXhosa, the Chinese characters speak Mandarin – even though one actor, Kenneth Fok, doesn’t speak Mandarin in real life, he speaks Cantonese, but he still did the part, which is amazing. There is a bit of Afrikaans, which I understand but, I’m not confident, having gone foreign for some years, to speak anymore. So yes, the language was a real adventure. It’s really about trusting the actors and ensuring that they have a good grasp of the scene so that when they change lines – which Tony and Fana did quite frequently – everything will still be in place, the plot points will still be there.

The thing that was great about it for me was that it enabled me to work on directing subtext above everything else.

The language element was also important to me because it authentically represents the cosmopolitan nature of the city.”

The finished film is not without its flaws – but what film is? It does feature some fine acting, It tells a story about our beloved Mother City that we have not heard before and shows a gritty side of her that mainstream perceptions are eager to ignore. It is also shot and designed beautifully. For those of us with a love for fine genre filmmaking and who advocate its place in South Africa’s cinematic output, Cold Harbour is a relatively strong opening argument. We wait impatiently for the next word in that dialogue. – Warren Holden

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Jane Fry

Managing Director jane@filmfinances.co.za

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Rituals and secrets

BEST SHORT FILM: A scene from John Trengove’s iBhokhwe

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traditional context. The initiation was very interesting to me because it deals with issues around masculinity and ideas of what it means to be a man. So I started doing research into experiences of gay boys who have gone through the initiation. Then I came across a novel by Thando Mgcolozana, called The Man Who is Not a Man, specifically about an

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initiate who goes through the process. I made contact with Thando and he came on board as a collaborator on the script for The Wound and I decided that there was one very strong chapter in the novel that I thought would make a great short film. I started adapting it and that became iBhokhwe,” Trengove explains.

Although occupying the same cultural and geographic space as The Wound, iBhokhwe stands apart from the feature film and, while the short film is sparse, character-driven and inclined towards portraiture, the feature is a high-stakes drama that deals with a relationship triangle spiraling out of control.

The subject of both films is not so much the cultural practice of circumcision – this is just a backdrop for the stories that unfold. Trengove has other things on his

John Trengove

Film

The winner of the Best Short Film award at the inaugural Independent Mzansi Short Film Festival (IMSFF), was John Trengove’s iBhokhwe (The Goat).

The film is a deceptively simple character study of a young Xhosa man who has just undergone ritual circumcision and waits in a hut in the middle of the Eastern Cape veld for his grandfather to come and counsel him through the last part of this important rite of passage. Mysteriously, days pass and his elder does not turn up, having either been waylaid somehow or abandoned the youngster (the latter is hinted at though never explicitly stated). Isolated and in pain, the initiate undergoes an inexplicable, Kafkaesque transformation.

The film had its origins in Trengove’s fascination with this rite of passage, which he had been researching for a feature film project, The Wound, currently in development and among the official project selection at the Durban Film Mart in July where it received the ARTE France International Prize of E6 000 towards its production budget. “I became interested in telling a story about – not so much the initiation as such – but really a gay coming-of-age story that is set inside a

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mind. “There is something of the outsider perspective that is always interesting to me, a kind of a familiar situation seen through the eyes of a marginal character.

What you have with the circumcision is a hyper masculine ritual, a secret ritual of men. In The Wound it’s depicted through the eyes of three characters who don’t conform to traditional ideals of masculinity. It’s seen from a very particular perspective. That’s the only way in which I am actually interested in making this film. I am not representing a culture, I am not Xhosa, I am telling a subjective, emotional story.

“It’s a very personal response to what I see happening in Africa, the disturbing trends towards homophobic attitudes across the continent and locally. One thing that I find particularly objectionable is that homosexuality is regarded as ‘un-African’ or threatens African culture.

The film thus begins from the premise that homoerotic desire is as ancient as African culture, and has always been there. The story looks at what happens when characters are forced or force themselves to hide their strongest feelings at all costs.” iBhokhwe is a co-production by Urucu Media and Cool Take Pictures, with Elias Ribeiro and Batana Vundla sharing producing duties. Willie Nel shot the film while the young actor, Thando Mhlontlo, who was approaching his own initiation at the time the film was made, played the lead role. – Warren Holden

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Director Speak

Who have your mentors been in the process of learning and developing your craft?

Boris Frumin – a Russian director who emigrated to New York in the 90s and teaches directing at NYU grad film. His highest praise, applied to any onscreen element, is something I keep striving to earn: “strange, lyrical, never before seen on film”.

Marten Rabarts – former creative director of the Binger Film Lab. Marten has extraordinarily good taste, and the ability to be critical while still making you feel that he has faith in your talent.

He played an essential role in the development and editing of Cold Harbour.

Carey McKenzie

FIRST FEATURE: Carey McKenzie on the set of Cold Harbour

Carey McKenzie came to national prominence recently with the premiere of her noir thriller Cold Harbour at the Durban International Film Festival. Cold Harbour is her first feature but she already has a string of short films and documentaries behind her, including the acclaimed Original Child Bomb, an investigation of the aftermath of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

What is your background and how has this shaped you as a director?

I studied English Literature, then Film and directed a lot of theatre while I was a student. Theatre was a great way to get to grips with discovering the dramatic beats in a script and to get comfortable with actors. Though I’m primarily a visual person, I consider the most important part of the director’s job to be eliciting strong performances from the cast and collaborating with them to tell the story.

Which films and filmmakers first inspired you to work in this medium and why?

There were a handful of films in the early 80s which made an enormous impression on me as a young teen living under apartheid. In these films an emotionally affecting human story is set against social upheaval or repression.

Peter Weir (The Year of Living Dangerously), Roland Joffe (The Killing Fields), Hector Barbenco (Kiss of the Spiderwoman), Alan Parker (Midnight Express, Birdy). By the time Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing hit the screens I was already committed to being a filmmaker, but he showed me how to do something meaningful at a price.

Lasting inspiration has also come from: Francis Ford Coppola (Apocalypse Now, The Conversation, The Godfather), Alan Pakula (Parallax View), Martin Scorcese (Raging Bull, Goodfellas), Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs), Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire), Bernardo Bertolucci (The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris), Federico Fellini (La Dolce Vita), Michelangelo Antonioni (Blow Up, L’Aventura).

As a storyteller, where do you find you get most of your inspiration?

From people, from life, from the world.

Carey McKenzie

How would you describe your visual sense/ style?

I try to direct the camera in a way that serves the story and doesn’t call attention to itself. As a result I generally prefer motivated camera movement. Lighting-wise though I’m all about being bold. My cinematographic heroes are Gordon Willis, Vittorio Storaro and Chris Doyle.

Describe a defining moment in your career.

First day on set of my first feature film. We immediately embarked on an enormous into-the-kitchen, Goodfellas style developing shot and miraculously it worked. Thanks to the unshakeable skills of DP Shane Daly and AD Simon Damast. I was nervous but also really happy. It was a relief to discover, when I finally got there, that I really do love it.

What is your favourite South African film of the past ten years and why?

District 9 for style, sociopolitical subtext and inspired, cross-genre story telling.

What do you feel needs to change in the South African film industry?

In my very humble opinion.... we need a greater variety of development funding sources, independent script editors, a national broadcaster that encourages international sales on commissioned works (and can thus raise budgets) and a commitment from funders, crew agents and employers to tackle gender discrimination at all levels of the industry. We also need a conscious, constructive engagement with film critics in all media to help us attract local audiences for a greater variety of local films.

Further to this last idea – local films depend on press as a primary source of publicity. There’s an understandable resistance from critics and audiences to foreign names in South African roles, but not enough audience support for local names. Certainly we as filmmakers need to earn the trust of our audience by making better films, but we need the critics’ help to get them into cinemas.

As things stand it seems that art house films (Skoonheid, Of Good Report) are what get the best foreign festival play, while Afrikaans rom-coms and broad comedy are pretty much the only local fare the SA audience buys. Why spend your hard earned rands on seeing a low-budget South African thriller / action / period piece when you can enjoy an American one with a massive budget and matching production values? We need a compelling answer for that question.

If you were given a blank cheque to make the film of your dreams, what would it be?

Waiting for the Barbarians, based on the novel by JM Coetzee. Someone has the option, I’m sure. If not I’ve just reminded them to go after it. At one point it was held

by Sean Penn.

What are you currently working on?

Cash – a thriller about a woman executive who turns whistleblower to expose human trafficking in the food industry – currently at screenplay stage.

August 2014 | SCREENAFRICA | 21

Documentary

|

Filmmaking for change The award-winning South African documentary on fracking, Unearthed, is in many ways a film by the people for the people, from initial crowd-funding to citizens across three continents opening their homes to share the story. But, at its core, it is the product of one filmmaker’s tenacious search for the truth.

T

he Karoo is a thirsty stretch of desert in the Western Cape which is dotted with low-income farming communities and outlined by expansive horizons and mauve mountain ranges. For those who call it home, like director Jolynn Minnaar, it is a place of simple beauty and down-to-earth people, now threatened by the health and environmental dangers associated with shale gas extraction.

On the surface, hydraulic fracturing could benefit the country’s economy and create many much needed jobs in the area. But in 2011, when a multinational oil and gas company expressed interest in fracking in the Karoo, Minnaar began to dig a little deeper and embarked on an intercontinental quest for in-depth information.

What the frack?

After reaching a research stalemate in South Africa, Minnaar travelled extensively in the US trying to properly understand the method and implications behind the strange word ‘fracking’. In the film, this is explained clearly and in detail, but gathering accurate information was not an easy undertaking, especially considering that Minaar shot all the footage entirely on her own.

She recalls, “It wasn’t a comfortable journey by any means and there are moments when I look back and think, 22 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014

SEARCH FOR TRUTH: Jolynn Minnaar ‘that was a little mad’. Because I was doing it on my own, it was relatively cheap and not glamourous at all. I was bumming lifts and sleeping on people’s couches or airport floors.”

The film was mainly shot using Minnaar’s personal camera, a Canon 5D, which suited the nature of her filming. “It was perfect in terms of security, the guise of taking photos and having to be quick on my feet. I couldn’t lug equipment around – all I had was a backpack, a tripod and a basic sound kit. The 5D is really compact and chick-friendly, which is perfect for someone shooting eight hours a day for five months.”

Aside from having to operate alone in rural areas where there were large numbers of intimidating male gas workers, Minnaar was probing at a controversial subject that had, in one way or another, silenced many potential whistle-blowers. She remarks, “I wasn’t made welcome.” But rather than incorporate her personal experiences in the film, Minaar chose to keep the focus where she had always intended it to be; on setting the record straight on fracking and providing the people of the Karoo with the accurate information they so desperately needed.

Striking middle ground Unearthed, unlike previous documentaries on the subject, presents an unbiased and informative conversation about a topic that is becoming more internationally relevant each day. Minnaar has even presented the film to sectors of South African government, at their request, as a tool to frame discussions on the issue.

“I believe the film has been well received because of my approach of trying to show both sides of the story. I’m not naïve to the fact that it’s not the best PR for oil and gas companies but I think it has brought me more grace compared to other films on the topic because of the

approach I’ve taken and I’m happy about that, not because I’m worried about my own well-being or the people I make mad. I care because I want the film to last, to make sense, to be valid and accurate, and mean something in a time when so many countries are desperately trying to understand what fracking is before they sign off on it.”

An unconventional course Before being developed as a featurelength documentary, communicating the message behind Unearthed was the driving force which catapulted Minnaar into 18 months of relentless research.

Initially, there was no intention of creating a film, but after establishing a strong online following and examining countless hours of valuable footage, she felt it was the best way to deliver the message.

Following her stint in the US, Minnaar began looking for additional finance in order to transform hours of video research into a film. Up until that point the project had been backed by crowdfunded campaigns as well as her own finances, and supported by Zootee Studios, which had been involved in the project from the beginning of its journey, and Stage 5 films, which came on board in 2013.

After being submitted to all available platforms, the project was selected to be part of the 2013 Durban FilmMart where it won a development grant from WorldView, a UK-based funding arm. It also featured at Wild Talk Africa where Minnaar, along with Dylan Voogt and Saskia Schiel from Stage 5 Films entered a co-production deal with Chris Nicklin and Zanele Mthembu from Sabido Productions, who provided a sizeable portion of the funding for post-production.

“Unearthed isn’t necessarily like a typical doccie which traditionally would go to festivals for a year and then go to

TV. We argued our festival time down, which is quite unusual, but we felt it was more about getting our message out there in the best way we can,” said Minnaar, who has also helmed an online campaign containing all of her research and interview footage.

She continued, “The roadshow is the other part, where we’ll be screening the film in the Karoo, to universities across South Africa and to other government departments.”

Internationally there has also been a lot of interest, with screening requests flooding in from Tasmania to Canada and from the Netherlands to Botswana.

Stories that matter “I’m really inspired that the response to the film has been what it has been. It means that stories that matter still count.

It’s really hard to make documentaries in South Africa,” commented Minaar who believes there are still so many South African stories which need to be told. To those who feel strongly about a story they want to tell, she concludes with the following advice: “Always back yourself. Believe that you know the story and that it found you for a reason. It’s your responsibility to present it accurately and make sure that it resonates appropriately. Respect the story and the people you use to tell it. If you don’t do that, the investment in that story falls apart.

“Don’t be afraid of different ways of telling stories. There are many burgeoning documentary filmmakers out there who think that making a film is the only way to tell a story. Stories that matter don’t have to be documentaries, they can be in the form of a short film, a series of photographs, graffiti on a wall, a rap song or an art installation. It’s really important that South Africans start realising that by having that mentality, they are limiting stories that matter to a very small part of our population.” – Carly Barnes

| Documentary

Outsider – the beginning of something bigger

CONTROVERSY IN ART: Beezy Bailey at work

Outsider is the third in a series of documentaries

by Deepend Films showcasing the lives and work of South African visual artists. The first two films, Chickens can Fly and Light and Dark, won SAFTAs this year.

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his 45-minute documentary premiered in May; it featured at the Encounters Film Festival and there are already talks of a feature film in the pipeline. It tells the story of one of South Africa’s most colourful and controversial artists, Beezy Bailey, and his 30-year career.

Bailey received a death threat in 1999 after he dressed the statue of Boer General Louis Botha, outside parliament in Cape Town, in traditional Xhosa clothing for a public sculpture festival commemorating Heritage Day. He also offended Christians with his controversial Dancing Jesus piece, which had Christ dancing in high heels.

Bailey found himself at the centre of yet another scandal when he set out to prove that the colour of an artist’s skin played an imperative part in the art world. He submitted two artworks for a triennial exhibition; one featuring his own signature, and the other signed Joyce Ntobe, a female alter-ego of Bailey. The first was rejected while the other was accepted and now hangs in the Iziko South African National Gallery.

In Outsider, Bailey shares his thought process and reasoning on these pieces but whether they are plausible is for the audience to decide.

Paulene Abrey, co-producer and co-director of Outsider, explains that one of Bailey’s beneficiaries is the driving force behind the idea of a feature film on Bailey’s life. Abrey says: “The beneficiary wants to make the movie about his (Bailey’s) whole life relating to his art; because he is descended from a Randlord there are a lot of misperceptions of his lifestyle, Drum magazine is a whole story on its own and even his mom has a story of her own.”

Abrey explains that this documentary serves as a feeler to determine whether the feature film will be profitable.

Celebrating SA artists The series will comprise 12 documentaries. Abrey explains that the first three documentaries have a similar style, however the documentaries thereafter will be handled differently and will focus on the artist alone. Deborah Bell is set to be the subject of the next film.

Chickens Can Fly tells the story of Pieter van der Westhuizen and his career in the pre-apartheid era. Van der Westhuizen passed away during filming, which only makes his message in the film more impactful: “If you wait for inspiration

before you get up in the morning you would possibly spend a lot more time in bed.”

Light and Dark focuses on Norman Catherine’s protest art and political reference during apartheid while Outsider shows Bailey’s struggles as an artist in the post-apartheid era. “The films show where we were and how far we have come,” Abrey explains.

The documentaries so far have been well received. Chickens Can Fly won the 2014 Best Documentary Director SAFTA (Paulene Abrey) and Light and Dark won Best Cinematography of a Documentary Feature SAFTA (Paul Kruger). However both films were nominated for more SAFTAs, the former three and the latter four.

Abrey explains that these artists were chosen as they are vastly different to each other. The series serves not only to celebrate South African artists but to understand where the creative source comes from – giving insight into what happens between an artist and his canvas. “One true expression of art that cannot be touched or altered visually is a painting. It comes straight from a source – from up there or down there whatever you want to call it. It is a clean line of artistic expression,” she says, adding: “People are scared of the creative process.

“It is not what we (Deepend Films) are trying to tell the audience but what the artists are telling the audience and how they see things through their eyes,” Abrey explains.

Inside Outsider Outsider was shot on Red One cameras

on three locations: Cape Town, where Bailey is based, Johannesburg and London – where a scene, showing Bailey’s collaboration with British musician and record producer Brian Eno, was shot. Abrey wanted to shoot in the US as well, but budget did not allow for this.

Sean Drummond, writer and co-director, started off the two-year process in Cape Town, while Abrey did most of the Joburg leg. Abrey and the third co-director, Luaan Hong, collaborated closely in overseeing the edit. Abrey says all three directors were working towards common goals, which helped to make the process easier.

Shaun Harley Lee was the cinematographer on Outsider and Abrey believes the film “is beautifully shot.” A scene in which Bailey paints in his studio, with the David Bowie song ‘Sunday’ playing in the background, is something to talk about. Due to Bailey’s relationships with Bowie, as well as Dave Matthews, no rights had to be purchased to use their music.

Archive footage of Bailey and Bowie collaborating, as well as Drum archive footage from Bailey’s younger years, are intercut into the documentary.

Abrey explains that Ed Harris’ biopic on controversial American artist Jackson Pollock was the inspiration for this.

Abrey says that Sky Arts channel has expressed interest in the documentaries and she sincerely hopes that DStv will one day launch an arts channel, which would make an ideal platform for the Outsider and the other films in the series. – Laurelle Williams August 2014 | SCREENAFRICA | 23

Television

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Building a case for court TV

COURT IN REALITY: Behind the scenes of The Oscar Pistorius Trial, DStv channel 199

In a ground-breaking move on 25 February 2014, the High Court in Pretoria granted permission for segments of the high-profile Oscar Pistorius trial to be broadcast live on television in South Africa.

The ruling meant that Multichoice, the operator for DStv, would be able to add live footage to their first 24-hour pop-up channel: The Oscar Pistorius Trial: A Carte Blanche Channel, which features on DStv channel 199.

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here is no doubt that a subject creating such international talk-ability would make for riveting TV but, as is the case with many pilot projects, a number of unknowns hung in the air as to how receptive audiences would be to the new offering: what kind of sustainability a pop-up channel could offer; and how social media platforms could be leveraged to offer audiences a fully integrated and interactive experience.

Despite the channel accumulating impressive ratings and a high number of viewers in what is considered to be a tricky timeslot, a lack of participation from advertisers makes measuring the success of the Oscar Pistorius channel, difficult to judge on first appearances.

Reasonable doubt Ilsa Grabe, Business Unit Head and Media Manager for full service media agency Carat SA, says that advertising on televised trials can be quite a moral conversation for brands, “Because it’s real-life drama where someone actually lost a life, you put your brand at risk. A lot of advertisers are still very nervous about positioning themselves on this platform 24 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014

because the content is sensitive.

Sometimes for an advertiser, it may come across as supporting media sensationalism, or facilitating the fact that that this kind of content can be on air.”

This sentiment is shared by Aletta Alberts, Head of Content at pay-TV operator Multichoice, who believes many brands feel that advertising on the channel might be in bad taste. She adds that DStv’s business model does not run on advertising alone and that the pop-up channel has brought a huge amount of value to subscribers.

Besides driving local premium subscriptions and featuring on DStv’s mobile platform, the channel was streamed online which resulted in hundreds of thousands of international paid-for subscriptions. It has also garnered a considerable amount of press and international exposure for Multichoice.

Alberts explains: “If you look at the publicity Multichoice has had in connection with the Oscar Pistorius trial, it’s something like 5 billion rands worth of exposure. The amount of coverage has been amazing, we’ve had over 50 international interviews with some articles calling it ‘ground-breaking’. Based on this,

the UK may start allowing cameras into court… at the time when we presented the idea there was only a 50/50 chance we would get it.”

Grabe adds that a channel aligned with content as unpredictable as that of a trial, could add to advertisers’ hesitation.

“What we saw was viewership dipping in and out, for example when Oscar was on the stand it was at an absolute peak. But advertisers like to use historical data to forecast what’s happening, and with court TV it’s very unpredictable. It will be interesting to see what opportunities present themselves when we begin to trade programmatically on television platforms.”

Ruling in favour of integration The relationship between social media engagement and ratings is an aspect which Alberts is keen to explore with the Oscar Pistorius channel, and is something that will be looked at closely when the trial commences and the channel ‘pops down’ permanently.

“I’m fascinated by how social media plays to ratings. We wanted to engage with viewers across all the available social media platforms, not just on Facebook (Oscar Trial 199) and Twitter (@ OscarTrial199) but on WeChat (OscarTrial199) and Instagram (@ OscarTrial199) as well. The result has been a complete phenomenon – we were standing at 90 000 tweets in the first week the channel popped up and we are now at over 250 000 engagements on Twitter alone,” says Alberts.

According to Alberts, a big part of this interaction revolves around education. A number of polls feature on the Oscar Pistorius Channel Facebook page and there is a big initiative to help followers learn and understand the justice system better. Emma Sadlier, a media law consultant who features on the channel, often responds to and weighs in on

questions tweeted in by viewers.

Cross-examining the future of content Grabe says that it has become increasingly difficult to provide content that draws eyeballs in. “Everybody has ADD when it comes to content nowadays, it’s not like we rush home to watch our favourite soapies or a programme that starts at a certain time.

If I want to watch Big Bang Theory I can record it on my DStv Explorer or download it online. It’s really up to broadcasters to keep their fingers on the pulse as to what’s hot or as to how they can keep people watching because that’s what advertisers need ultimately.

What’s happening now is audience fragmentation. Previously there were a handful of channels that got all the eyeballs you needed, now especially with the choice offered to DStv premium subscribers, it’s like Christmas. Audiences are even more fragmented and advertisers need to be even more targeted.”

Alberts believes that this is exactly why it is important for a broadcaster like MultiChoice to explore pop-up channels and content that requires a live engagement. “Audiences will fragment and in the future, linear TV will predominantly consist of sport and reality entertainment channels because they offer a live element that people want to be part of. Because it’s live, they can’t be part of that conversation unless they are watching.

“Looking forward, these types of events will keep our audiences subscribing because in ten years content will be available everywhere. Even if people can’t watch, social media will be able to give people minute-by-minute information and if they aren’t informed they won’t be able to take part in the conversation.” – Carly Barnes

CINEMATOGRAPHY

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Hovering around

TAGLINE: Caption

EYE IN THE SKY: NAC helipcopters in action

The banning of camera-carrying drones by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) a few months ago caused quite a stir in the industry. There are many options still available to the camera crew looking to create amazing aerial footage – but at a cost.

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hen we talk aerial cinematography we are basically talking about aerial camera platforms which in turn translate to one form of hovering device or another.

Fixed wing platforms, while still used for certain applications, have all but succumbed to helicopters and more recently to the ubiquitous drone/ multi-rotor or UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) as is the preferred term. This phenomenon is worldwide and as is usual with technological advancements, South Africa is right up there and even has a local company producing extremely high tech UAVs primarily for the export market.

Options large and small So where does this leave the full-sized helicopter which, not so long ago, was the default platform, together with its smaller cousin the highly maneuverable radio-controlled professional model helicopter – some boasting twin turbo turbine engines and capable of carrying loads of unbelievable size and weight?

Let’s examine the options. The UAV, which started out as basically a toy, has rapidly developed into an extremely useful and capable platform for aerial 26 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014

photography. With the latest multi-rotor devices the main disadvantage of low weight capacity has been overcome and the latest octocoptor UAVs can carry a Red Epic or even heavier cameras!

You can also take off from anywhere at short notice, be extremely cost effective and relatively quiet. You are however somewhat limited in terms of the flight time as more flight time equals more batteries, which equals more weight, which, in turn, equals less ability to carry that load. There is little doubt however that even in spite of the SACAA ‘ban’ on the flying of UAVs, these devices have opened up an era of aerial cinematography which existed previously only in the imagination.

This does not spell the end of model helicopters however, and locally they continue to ply their trade, offering the advantage of high weight lifting capabilities and long endurance. Typically able to carry 12 kilograms and more, they remain in the air for an hour and a half and are also able to cope with strong winds.

Disadvantages? Well unless electrically driven, they can be noisy, and somewhat heavy. Local companies such as Visual Air in Johannesburg and Big Bird in Cape Town have a string of recent credits for

their model helicopters. Generally they are covered by third party insurance and a big advantage is that they use only highly qualified pilots – some of whom have over ten years flying experience. In spite of this the recent SACAA ban includes this kind of aerial cinematography.

The ‘big boys’ Now on to the big boys; the full-sized jobs that seem to offer it all – but at a price. There are several companies in this category, notably Henley Air, Helimedia and Helios Air Charter. Operating from both Cape Town and Johannesburg full-sized helicopters for aerial cinematography would appear to be unfazed by the UAV invasion.

Henley Air’s Andre Coetzee observes: “We have been operating for 16 years and provide numerous helicopters to the industry. Commercials are popular at the moment and we recently completed shots for a Hennessy advertisement in Johannesburg using a Bell 222 with a Tyler side mount.”

“Helios has been in operation since 1998,” says owner Mike Bissict. “I have done aerial photography for many years, for news stations, movies and documentaries both local and foreign, corporate shoots, motor sport aerial shots, sports games, motor rallies, motorcycle grand prix and TV series.

“We have used gyro-stabilised cameras in the back of the helicopter, cameras fitted on the skids and suspended from below the helicopter.

We have primarily used the Bell 407, Eurocopter AS350 B3, Bell 206 L Long Ranger, Bell 206 Jet Ranger and a Bell 222.”

Helimedia has been in operation since 2007 and the company is owned

by Skip Margetts and Chris Bohnenn.

“We shoot live TV for SuperSport and SABC,” says Margetts, “and we provided all the filming helicopters (six in total) for the FIFA World Cup in 2010 (the biggest combined aerial filming requirement ever; four helicopters in different parts of the country at the same time). Our crew has won Emmys for their work on wildlife documentaries and has worked on many feature films like District 9, Chappie, Survivor, Fear Factor, the Argus Pick ‘n Pay Cycle tour and the Comrades Marathon.

“We work in close collaboration with NAC and use full-size helicopters throughout the continent. NAC have a huge footprint in Africa and as such are able to deal with the very strange requests the film industry often has.

Recently NAC provided three helicopters for an up-coming Hollywood film that required police helicopters.

“Helimedia has two Cineflex camera systems, one of which has a Red Epic camera system installed, the first in the world, and one Stab C Compact that was used during the 2012 London Olympic games. We are the only full-time aerial filming company on the continent.”

These professional helicopters must surely provide the ultimate camera platform, but at a price and with certain limitations in terms of proximity to buildings and noise issues, so the SACAA ban notwithstanding, there is ample choice when considering aerial cinematography but the interesting question will be – what will the future offer? – Andy Stead

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Cinematography

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Sony’s new 4K XDCAM put to the test

4K WITH UNIQUE FEATURES: The Sony PXW-Z100 in action at the Mr Price Pro in Durban

To sum up •

Sony recently loaned a new PXW-Z100 camera to production company WHMTV for use on its coverage of the Mr Price Pro surfing event in Durban in July. WHMTV’s Greg Kitto reports back to Screen Africa on his experience with this 4K XDCAM camcorder.

What was your first impression of the camera?

My first impression as I took it out of the box for the first time, was its solid build quality and its similarity to the NX5 model design. At face value it looks like an NX5, but with a few major differences, such as the extended recorder unit and an additional cooling fan, clearly indicating that this camera is designed to put massive data bundles onto the card in real time, in 4K without any delays. This made me realise that the system would definitely work overtime and heat could possibly be an issue.

new additions to the menu function, like a ‘cinematone’ style preset and the option to pull the RGB settings on the fly with a new ‘paint’ function. This is a very unique option for any camera to date, so one of the first things I did was look at what it could do. I proceeded to activate cinematone to enhance colours, enrich the blacks and give the picture a deeper contrast. Another feature I looked at right away was the recording options for 4K and full HD, to see what bitrates and frame rates were available. It was very pleasing to see that it could shoot 4096, 3840, 1080 at both 25p and 50p.

What features does the camera have that really stands out for you?

At face value and from previous research, I knew that the main enhancements were

what are the pros and cons of your experience with the PXW-Z100?

The overriding concern for me was always going to be workflow. Would I be able to

30 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014

preview all the content off camera easily on my computer and would my edit software see it? I was pleasantly surprised to see that VLC and, in fact, any MP4 player,s could play the footage without a problem, as well as Adobe Premier ProCC having the Sony XAVC codec to be able to edit it seamlessly.

On the con side, unfortunately for me I didn’t have a card reader and only one 32GB memory card to work with. This meant that I only had 15 minutes of recording time on 4K/25p or seven minutes on 4K/50p. This led to the only limitation I experienced during the shoot.

I had to capture footage directly via the USB. For a 32GB card it takes exactly 32 minutes and with only one card I had to factor that in when planning what heats to shoot next. When shooting and previewing clips in the field, the ability to choose and delete unwanted clips quickly is a lengthy process, slowing down the ability to leave the set with just the best selects. The function to tag or mark your best shots on the fly would go a long way as an addition.

Also, the camera generates a lot of heat. This is compensated for to a certain extent with the cooling fan but I can’t help but think that this could be a potential problem under certain conditions.

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The camera is very user friendly as most Sony cameras are. Even with limited time using the camera, I felt it was possible to start shooting content almost immediately.

It has a very solid build, with most of it being alloy, and has a professional look to it.

Menu items are easy to access and self-explanatory. Although the menu is vast, you can view all items quickly by simply scrolling down no matter what you are looking at, as it cycles through everything from top to bottom.

Great battery life.

Great zoom lens at 20x, the same as the AX2000 and NX5 and perfect for sports.

Improved light sensor, indicating required ND filters. This feature can be found on other models but this one seemed to respond quicker.

Back focus and infinity focus seemed true and clear from full zoom to full wide.

Support from Premiere ProCC and the ability to use existing systems already in place, made workflow seamless.

After just five days with the camera, although I realise there is a lot to learn about its full capabilities, I would buy this model and never look back.

Sony PXW-X180 and PXW-X160.

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• Newly developed 25x optical zoom Sony G lens with 26mm wide angle.

• Compatible with XAVC (422, 10bit, max 112Mbps) and a wide range of other recording format including MPEGHD 422, AVCHD and DV. • Rich interface, including 3GSDI output, TCin/out, Composite Output/GENLOCKIN. • Wireless functions (PXW-X180 only) that allow you to monitor recording and operate the camcorder remotely from your smartphone or tablet*.

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• Two SxS memory card slots with highspeed read/write capability.

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CINEMATOGRAPHY

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A game changer for the lighting sector

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ere is a scenario to which every production company out there can surely relate. A director and cinematographer, after returning from a location recce, discuss their lighting needs. The location is perfect for their purposes except for the fact that the lighting they will require is extensive – and expensive. They bemoan the costs of lights and the corresponding shortage of their budget and search for a location with less demanding light requirements.

This is where it would end for most crews and the experience would most likely be repeated on the next shoot. But this particular story only begins there. In this case the director and cinematographer in question were Manqoba Shongwe and TK Madini respectively. And a display of entrepreneurial chutzpah that is relatively rare even in an industry in which the ability to improvise and hustle is a minimum requirement, took the scenario in a very unusual direction. If they can’t afford to buy or rent the lights they need, Madini wondered out loud, why don’t they just make them themselves?

Madini and Shongwe went ahead and did exactly that, researching and developing self-made lights that suited their needs. As they built up their knowledge and expertise, they decided that this was a service that they could offer to the industry at large. This was the birth of DreamLights (Pty) Ltd, a start-up company dedicated to the design, manufacture and supply of quality lighting to the television and film industries.

Madini is a businessman by disposition and education and a photographer at heart. Having completed his degree in accounting and being well on his way to qualifying as a chartered accountant, he decided to do an about-face and make a career of the hobby that had been his passion for years.

As he honed his craft as a photographer, he also wandered into the arena of film, television and advert production, where his path crossed with that of Shongwe, who had been working as a freelance director and soundman since graduating from AFDA Johannesburg. The two of them formed a production company and began working on corporates and commercials, leading to the ‘aha’ moment from which DreamLights arose.

Madini explains how it all started: “We got really frustrated with not being able to afford our own gear and having to pay so much to rent them. My thinking was that there could be no way that it costs as much to make lights as the cost of buying or renting them would seem to indicate.

Sure – we couldn’t make our own cameras or lenses – but I was convinced that we

32 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014

BrightSpark

DREAM TEAM: TK Madini, Manqoba Shongwe and Siba Sesmani could make lights. I already knew exactly what we wanted and I started researching how people go about making lights on a budget. We tried some of things that other people have done, and threw in some of our own ideas and eventually we had our first light. It was big and cumbersome but the light quality was great. So we started working on how to pack that quality into a smaller and more manageable package.

“We made more lights and tweaked them for our own use and then started showing them to other people. They made their contributions and we tinkered with out designs accordingly, until eventually we had lights that we knew we could sell to the industry.”

Madini and Shongwe added Siba Sesmani to their team to head up marketing and admin and they are now open for business in Johannesburg’s Maboneng precinct, with the goal of providing affordable, high quality lighting to South Africa’s film and television industries – and then looking beyond our borders to other production centres on the continent.

“Our long-term aim is to make it possible for people to own their own lights. We are offering a product that is desirable, that can perform as well the leading brands, but is affordable,” Madini says.

Among the product range the team has developed are a number of

fluorescent and LED lights to suit a wide range of needs. They can be run off house mains, battery packs or generators and are designed to be compact and energy efficient.

DreamLights also offers full after-sales service. Every light it sells can be brought back to the service team once a quarter for a full check-up, report-back and necessary repairs.

Madini concludes: “It is our hope that one day most people in the industry can actually own their own gear. We are starting that process with lights but hopefully it will extend to other equipment as well. It’s really nice to, not only change the game, but improve it for everyone.” – Warren Holden

| SYSTEM INTEGRATION

Integrating Systems in a changing environment

The field of broadcasting is changing and its landscape throughout the world is undergoing rapid technological and structural changes, with broadcasting content increasingly available via the Internet and wireless devices. As a consequence, people now spend more time on the Internet than watching television and as a result broadcasters are being forced to move with the times and in some cases restructure their businesses to suit the public’s changing viewing habits.

This in turn is providing new opportunities for System Integrators (SI) in designing additional multipurpose facilities to handle new workflows.

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014 has been a busy year and the World Cup in Brazil, undoubtedly the largest broadcast event so far, with multi-faceted SI projects all contributing to the success of the games.

In fact, sport seems to be holding the traditional broadcast business together with a number of huge projects on the go at the moment. It has been a busy year for UK-based international broadcast systems integrators Gearhouse Broadcast, market leaders in the field of broadcast services that specialise in broadcast project solutions, systems integration, equipment rental and equipment sales. They operate globally and for the 2014 World Cup, their Solutions division oversaw delivery and installation of additional facilities in the International Broadcast Centre (IBC), including production office, master control room and transmission gallery.

ITV also commissioned a studio located on the iconic Copacabana beach and full talkback capability between the two sites.

To support ITV’s production requirements, Gearhouse Broadcast supplied and installed a range of equipment, including EVS XT3 servers and IPDirector production asset management suite for ingest and logging, Avid MediaComposer, Interplay and ISIS shared media storage system, Snell routers, Harris glue, Sony cameras and Riedel talkback systems.

The Asian arena is fuelling revived market enthusiasm with a number of large corporates moving to, or opening offices in, the east. Professional video and audio systems integration firm Advanced Broadcast Solutions (ABS) recently announced the opening of Advanced Broadcast Solutions – Asia Pte. Ltd. in Singapore. The new company will provide consulting and design services and systems integration in the Asia-Pacific

region. Manufacturers and integrators see big business on the Chinese horizon too. Avid, for example, have teamed up with Chinese SI company NDT in a strategic partnership that should see more of the award-winning platforms they supply, rolled out into the lucrative market. The NDT group is a renowned distributor and system solution provider in broadcast, telecommunication and other professional industries in China with a customer base that includes TV stations and network companies. The Chinese broadcast market amalgamates 1 600 enterprises, employing about a 116 000 workers with a total payroll of US$1.2 billion.

China also has it fingers in the integration business globally. In Africa for example, Chinese company Star Software Technology, has been commissioned by the Zambian Government with a US$ 9,5m contract to integrate and commission Phase I of the National Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting System in the country. Elsewhere in Africa, UK company C2S Nigeria has recently integrated a new virtual-set studio and graphics system for 24-hour News TV Channel, African Independent Television (AIT) News. The contract included a graphics package, virtual-set studio design, equipment upgrade and operator-training. AIT approached C2S Nigeria to upgrade their existing news studio in Abuja to HD. More than just an upgrade, a sophisticated graphics system was conceived to provide four ‘corners’ for the studio, which would be dedicated to news, finance, sports and weather coverage. The system was designed to run on templates driven by a central database, enabling operators to air current news, as it happens, in a more automated, immediate and visually sophisticated way.

System Integration in the traditional sense has an ever-expanding market outside the broadcast field. The world is becoming increasingly visual, as shown by the explosion of visual content in our everyday lives. Every minute, 100 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube and more than 6 billion hours of video are watched each month. On Facebook, 300 million photos are posted each day. Quite simply, people are drawn to visual content, and the implications are reaching the corporate world. In a tight economic environment businesses are finding more ways to leverage appealing imagery to market products and services on the Internet, sell on the showroom floor, and educate and influence customers. If recent history is any indication, people will continue to be drawn to the most realistic images they can get. Just as the market has moved from standard definition to HD content and it now stands on the cusp of the move into ultra HD or 4K content.

In the cinema world Sony has installed over 17,000 4K digital projectors worldwide in cinemas of every size this year. The true value of this technology is the sheer volume and quality of information being made available by its high resolution. By harnessing this information, businesses can use 4K content to create new values and better experiences for their customers, as well as benefit business users in various visual fields where viewing, sharing, and interpreting information helps drive innovation. This includes fields where complex visual data is essential, such as video production, architecture, design, and healthcare. The move to 4K in the business world has started and will continue to expand this year and surely brighten system integration opportunities across all platforms. – Ian Dormer August 2014 | SCREENAFRICA | 33

RADIO

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Pilot of the (low powered) Airwaves

Everyone is familiar with FM radio; it is ubiquitous. Most of us, however, know next to nothing of LPFM – low-power FM, a noncommercial radio service restricted by regulating authorities in various countries around the world. Operating with transmitters ranging from one watt to 100 watts, the stations are more commonly called micro-broadcasting stations and, like small-batch craft brewers, these stations are pumping out an intensely local product.

34 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014

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he origins of low-powered FM radio are probably better recognised as ‘pirate radio’. It was popularised in such movies as American Graffiti, featuring the real-life Wolfman Jack, who bypassed US federal broadcast regulations to push out rock ‘n’ roll songs from a transmitter in Mexico during the ‘60s. In the USA, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began distributing low-power licences for community radio stations in 2000.

Congress passed a law requiring that the licences be more than three clicks (the jump from 96.1 to 96.3 is one click) away from an existing full-power station.

Congress made this stipulation because existing stations were worried their low-powered neighbours on the dial might cause interference. That largely excluded groups in urban areas, where the radio dial tends to be crowded, from getting licenses. Lobby group Prometheus fought to change that and prevailed in 2010 when Congress passed the Local Community Radio Act. It granted the FCC the authority to allow community broadcasters to be located three clicks away from other stations, and to issue waivers to stations two clicks away, provided they don’t cause interference. Big incumbent broadcasters, represented by the National Association of Broadcasters, opposed the waivers. But in November that year, the FCC sided with Prometheus and others, announcing the process by which organisations could apply for new licences.

This was a big step to empower community voices, promote media diversity, and enhance local programming

creating opportunities for thousands of new FM radio stations throughout the US. On the other side of the planet, New Zealanders have been able to create their own low-power FM radio stations since 1999 and freely broadcast on a narrow range of frequencies. Commonly called the ‘guardband’, these frequencies are at the top and bottom ends of the standard FM dial. The power is very low (usually 1 watt) and coverage is usually 5-10km from the transmitter location. The stations are completely unregulated, as they’re automatically entitled to a GURL (General Users Radio Licence) so long as they meet three basic technical regulations. The first being that within a 25km radius of any broadcast transmitter there must be no more than one low-power FM transmitter broadcasting and the second stating that low power FM transmitter operators must broadcast the contact details of the person responsible for the transmissions at least once every hour and lastly adhere to the Broadcast Act. That’s it! Power to the people. New Zealand has the most LPFM radio stations per capita in the world with Auckland itself boasting 82 listed stations and 1053 country wide.

In South Africa LPFM stations are technically issued with low power sound broadcasting service licences. The Broadcasting Act, 1999 (Act 4 of 1999), defines a low power sound broadcasting service as a community, private or public sound broadcasting service that radiates power not exceeding one watt. For example commercial low power sound broadcasting services – services operating from and broadcasting to shopping malls/centres, sports grounds, show grounds and drive-in movie

theatres, or any other like service the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (ICASA) may deem appropriate. Both community and commercial low power sound broadcasting licences are valid for three years, and special event low power sound broadcasting licences are valid for 30 days.

Wherever they are in the world and although LPFM stations have a limited broadcast range of just a few kilometres, their impact on communities can be immense. These non-commercial stations inject vibrancy into a radio dial that has suffered from years of media consolidation. LPFM stations offer a platform for content and viewpoints that traditional media overlook. These stations foster community identity and serve as hubs for vital safety information during emergencies. The key here is for governments to deregulate the airwaves.

Allowing LPFM stations on the air empowers local broadcasters to serve their communities with a variety of new voices and services. LPFM stations can address the interests of specific groups – underserved musical genres, minority, religious and linguistic communities – and provide a forum for debate about important local issues, strengthen community identity in urban neighbourhoods, rural towns and other communities that are currently too small to win much attention from ‘mainstream’, ratings-driven media.

Don’t touch that dial! Low-Power Radio is about to make FM hot again.

– Ian Dormer

IPTV

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Exterity sets up shop in South Africa

NEW BRANCH: Gary Davies, sub-Saharan Africa Sales Manager for Exterity

Exterity, a provider of video-over-IP solutions, recently set up a sales office in Johannesburg as part of its long-term strategy to develop its footprint in sub-Saharan Africa. The company, headquartered in Scotland, already has branches in America, UK, Europe, Middle East and Asia, its products have penetrated markets in over 40 countries.

The new South African branch is a result of the business development plan drawn up Gary Davies, Exterity Sub-Saharan Africa Sales Manager, who heads up operations across the region.

Exterity offers end-to-end solutions in the field of IP (internet protocol) TV and digital signage. Its products have been extensively applied in the corporate, hospitality, healthcare, energy, oil & gas and educational sectors around the world. Here in South Africa and in neighboring countries, its solutions have been installed in some major corporate institutions, among others. The packages offered by Exterity cover the entire value chain of an end to end IPTV platform designed for ongoing scalability. At the heart of its solutions is AvediaServer, a highly scalable and customizable multi-service platform. Other key

components in the solution include TVgateways, designed to capture and distribute multiple DSTV channels per device. The platform is sufficiently adaptable to allow for outside products that partners may specify or which Exterity may find to be suitable for the particular application in question e.g.

SecureMedia for re-encryption purposes.

Exterity also prides itself on providing a strong post-sales support system for its clients.

British national Gary Davies began his career in business development, working with various financial institutions. He first came to South Africa in 2003 on what was supposed to be an 18-month sabbatical.

Twelve years on, he finds himself well settled in the country and working in a sector that he had barely touched in his home country. “I ended up working for a small IT business here with a focus on the hospitality sector,” he recalls. “That was my first introduction to this particular sector. I was empowered by them to market a niche product. The key protocol about this particular product was that it had to be managed via IP, which links directly into where I am today.”

Having used and successfully sold

Exterity products in his previous role, Davies was invited into discussions to start a Sub Saharan Africa operation. On reviewing Davies’ business plan, Exterity asked him to come on board and start building up their Sub-Saharan Africa operation. The plan, Davies says, was to move into Africa as a whole in the long term, beginning with the more immediate goal of establishing a strong client and partner base in South Africa. Although he had the support of the head office, working from home he spent the next year building his network, securing deals and sourcing partners to secure Exterity expansions in the region. “Now we’re gathering momentum,” Davies says. “So finally, we’ve got to the point where we have established ourselves in our own office.”

While Exterity has its sights set on expanding the partner network to all parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, Davies says that its priority is to first establish a stable base within South Africa from which to expand from. The Johannesburg office, along with key partner acquisitions, is the first major step in that direction.

Exterity South African base is situated at Unit 4, Erinys House, Mulberry Hill Office Park, Broadacres Drive, Dainfern, Fourways, Johannesburg. For more information, visit www.exterity.com or call +2711 460 0440.

Leading IPTV Exterity IPTV solutions are used by leading organizations around the world to deliver uniied communications and video content to any screen around a building using an existing IP network.

• • • •

Deliver broadcast quality TV and vdeo over IP Reduce costs using existing IP network and Power over Ethernet Reach an unlimited number of end points Use trusted products manufactured in EU

Visit Exterity at IBC 2014, Booth 14.H13 Customizable User Interfaces

Digital Signage

www.exterity.com

36 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014

Network Video

HD Streaming

Live & Scheduled Play

Video on Demand

e: info@exterity.com t: +27 82 944 7310

RAI Amsterdam Conference 11-15 September | Exhibition 12-16 September

Experience IBC

Your essential guide to the current and future direction of the electronic media and entertainment industry.

IBC Conference The only peer-reviewed non-commercial conference for the global electronic media and entertainment industry.

Over 300 of the highest calibre international speakers and industry thought-leaders provide visionary keynote sessions, panel discussions and master classes.

IBC Content Everywhere Europe A unique event that covers rich media production, devices, apps, digital marketing, social media, content personalisation, big data, cloud services, second screens, investment and much more. Features include the Hub in Hall 14, IBC Cloud Solutions and IBC Workflow Solutions.

IBC Awards A high-profile ceremony that celebrates excellence throughout the industry. Awards include the International Honour for Excellence, the Innovation Awards, the Exhibition Design Awards and the Best Conference Paper Award.

www.ibc.org IBC, Third Floor, 10 Fetter Lane, London, EC4A 1BR, UK t. +44 (0) 20 7832 4100 f. +44 (0) 20 7832 4130 e. info@ibc.org

IBC Rising Stars An innovative programme of curated special events and mentoring aimed at young professionals taking their first steps in the industry.

IBC Leaders’ Summit An exclusive, invitation-only event providing top-level discussion of strategic issues and powerful networking opportunities for the industry’s most influential and visionary people.

Future Zone Featuring the very latest developments from corporate and academic R&D labs around the world, the Future Zone is one of the first places to explore the new technologies that could go on to shape the industry in forthcoming years.

IBC Big Screen Experience A 1,700-seat cinema equipped with the very latest in state-of-the-art projection and audio technology, hosting free to attend conference sessions, Big Screen movies and exhibitor product demonstrations.

| IBC PREVIEW

IBC 2014: Focus on innovation

HIGH-POWERED TECHNOLOGY FOR HIGH-POWERED AUDIENCE: IBC 2014

The IBC Conference is a touchstone for the industry: a place where the roadmap for the forthcoming evolution of the world’s electronic entertainment and media industry is dissected, analysed, debated and discussed by a global selection of influential leaders in front of an equally diverse and high-powered audience.

E

ach day of the up-coming IBC2014 a different facet of the innovation story of the industry will be examined in detail.

Starting with one of IBC’s justifiably famous keynote sessions – which see some of the most visionary speakers from across the industry share their insights – a succession of panel discussions, masterclasses and case studies detail the challenges ahead and the solutions that are being developed to meet them.

Day One of the conference asks the question: Where does broadcast fit in an IP-centric world? It will examine such subjects as spectrum allocation, the soaring costs of sports rights and the genre’s role in driving innovation, and the impact of data analytics. It will also offer an excellent opportunity for the industry to assess innovations stemming from the Winter Olympics and this summer’s FIFA World Cup, before heading on to Day Two and an examination of technological change and the growing list of technologies – from tapeless through the cloud and on to Ultra HD – which are having such an

influence on the industry.

Day Three looks at the challenges to the established order and the changing roles of content producers, aggregators, service providers and the potential for disruption to established business models and plans as new entrants make their presence felt. Day Four examines those potential disruptors in detail in a series of future-facing sessions that seek to guide delegates through the newly blended, multiplatform and transmedia world, where TV becomes even more social and reality is augmented.

Finally, Day Five will examine all that has been learnt over the previous days, building up a meta-narrative of change and the course it is likely to take over the next few years to give delegates the insights they will need to navigate the turbulence ahead.

The IBC Conference runs from 11 to 15 September 2014. Details of the individual conference sessions and the range of passes available, including the IBC Gold Pass, are available on the IBC website.

Register today at www.ibc.org/register.

Another important facet of the conference is the IBC Big Screen

Experience, which leverages the state-of-the-art auditorium in the middle of the RAI Exhibition centre to provide the perfect place to see and hear the latest technical advances in digital cinema and explore the new business models that underpin it.

Accommodating up to 1 700 people, the IBC2014 Big Screen Experience will be equipped with the very latest cinema technology, including Christie 6P 2D and 3D laser projection and Dolby Atmos immersive audio.

The overarching theme for this year’s Big Screen conference sessions is ‘Disruptive Cinema’. These free to attend sessions will look at the evolving future of this business sector, covering subjects as diverse as digital networked cinema and second screens, the growth in event cinema and the new battle over immersive audio standards.

The Big Screen will also play host to numerous presentations, the traditional and always popular exclusive movie screenings, and the dynamic IBC Awards Ceremony on the evening of Sunday 14 September.

August 2014 | SCREENAFRICA | 39

IBC PREVIEW

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Inala Broadcast hosts audio workshops with Dolby and Lawo From 24-26 June, Inala Broadcast, in conjunction with Lawo and Dolby, held an operational training course focusing on the basic idea of surround sound in sports production and dealing with stereo production, at SuperSport Outside Broadcast training facilities.

The Johannesburg-based broadcast solutions provider had the privilege of hosting two specialists from Dolby and Lawo, as well as a BBC technical engineer present to a wide audience of audio operators, covering all aspects of the audio industry of South Africa.

Five sessions were held over the three days in which every session was oversubscribed.

Shahbaz Hassan – Technical Systems Engineer from the Dolby office in Dubai covering the Middle East and Africa – presented the fundamentals of Dolby and how Dolby from an operator’s perspective, should be implemented into the workflow, covering Stereo, 5.1 surround mixing and Audio Level Control.

Bill Whiston, an ex-BBC technical audio engineer, presented papers on how Wimbledon tennis was set up for the very first 5.1 surround sound installation, which is still used today to provide the audio richness of the transmission and how different microphone types are used and

SPORTING SURROUND SOUND: Vineet Somakumar (Dolby Sales Director for Sub Saharan Africa), Tobias ‘Toby’ Kronenwett (Lawo International Sales & Project Manager), Marios Stavrou (Dolby Sales Manager Africa), Shahbaz Hassan (Dolby Technical Systems Engineer Middle East and Africa) and Bill Whiston (Independent Audio Engineer – ex BBC) set up in sport, theatre and studio production.

Tobias Kronenwett, International Sales & Project Manager from Lawo, demonstrated with the use of a mc²56 console, stereo, 5.1 surround sound mixing and audio level control using the

unique Lawo metering system.

Colin Wainer of Inala Broadcast expresses his gratitude to SuperSport Outside Broadcast for allowing Inala the use of their training facilities.

Lawo can be found at IBC at Stand 8.

B50, while Dolby will be at Stands 2.A11

and G.110x.

Inala Broadcast has been appointed as the Lawo TV Broadcast distributor for southern Africa.

For more information on Dolby and Lawo kindly contact Inala Broadcast on (011) 206 8340.

statistics information linked to the live event timecode.

Viewers now demand better, immediate and targeted content, meaning broadcasters and content producers must streamline and connect their broadcast operations to deliver enriched content faster.

EVS’ new range of live production tools based on the new XT3 platform empowers live production teams with on-the fly media control capabilities based on its series of live control panels: MultiReview, LSMConnect and Epsio zoom for intuitive and instant action during live operations.

EVS’ new web-browsing interface

C-Cast Xplore provides immediate access to live multi-camera recording feeds and clips on XT3 servers, giving production teams unprecedented capability to work remotely and enhance content on the fly – regardless of location. Production teams can create and deliver better content faster in connected and collaborative environments, enabling the right balance between onsite coverage and offsite collaboration.

At a recent large sporting event spread across multiple locations, C-Cast Xplore enabled offsite production teams – located at the home studio or IBC – access to all live feeds and clips created by on-site crews. This has dramatically

EVS celebrates two decades of innovation at IBC2014 At IBC2014, EVS, provider of live video production systems, will build on its 20 years as a pioneer in live TV production and demonstrate how it will help customers meet the challenges and tremendous opportunities of a new media landscape over the next 20 years.

EVS will underscore four key technology and business priorities supported by new and improved solutions across sports, entertainment, news and media markets.

Multisource file-based ingest server, OpenCube SD/HD offers advanced media workflow solutions with an extended range of MXF file generation, advanced MXF file interoperability including AS-02, AS-03 and AS-11, IMF support, and unequalled management of ancillary data (closed caption, subtitling) throughout the entire production and archive chain, enabling media specialists 40 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014

C-CAST TECHNOLOGY: EVS’ XT3 and XS servers. to manage, deliver and manage content efficiently, seamlessly and consistency.

EVS will present the latest IPDirector tools for automated archive and production workflow operations. The new melt feature offers automated playlist creation of all key actions (clips) created during live operations and transfers to archive, post or offsite production along with the log sheet and original metadata – providing significant clip retrieval advantages.

IPDirector also features new AutoClipping capabilities for automatic clip creation based on associated keywords added using the IPDirector logging tool or by importing external

| IBC PREVIEW speeded up highlights package creation and significantly reduced production cycles.

EVS will demonstrate how its C-Cast technology can be used to extend the content experience beyond the television screen, enabling broadcasters, content owners and content distributors to reach, and engage with, more diverse audiences with high-quality and targeted content.

Visitors will learn how C-Cast has been deployed at major sporting events this year, allowing broadcasters to combine live production infrastructure with a flexible central cloud-based platform.

This integration enables instant distribution of multimedia content to connected devices, anytime and anywhere.

Using this approach, a host broadcasting organisation used C-Cast to aggregate live streams, multi-angle clips, statistics and social network feeds and provide a packaged media service to affiliate broadcasters. These rights

holders were able to deliver exclusive, compelling and enriched content to their own second-screen apps. In fact, more than 25 million unique users consumed 15 million hours of video through the event’s multimedia services solutions.

Broadcasters, content owners and production companies need the peace of mind of knowing that their workflows are flexible, cost-efficient, scalable and future-proof, allowing them to easily transition to future standards and formats. With the introduction of its new range of XT3 and XS servers primarily aimed at live studio operations, EVS has again delivered the greatest flexibility possible in one box. Both new servers offer extended format support and capabilities, including 4K, 1080p and proxy, as well as new 10 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity – allowing customers to transition to tomorrow’s industry standards and workflows as needed.

EVS can be found in Hall 8 at Stand B90.

Blackmagic Design to demonstrate its 4K workflows

ULTRA HD: Blackmagic Design’s Studio HD camera in action At IBC 2014 Blackmagic Design will be demonstrating the latest in Ultra HD 4K workflows and content production for the broadcast and live production markets.

Following its significant product announcements at NAB, Blackmagic Design now offers products for every stage of SD, HD and UltraHD 4K content delivery; from acquisition, to production to post-production.

Visitors to the booth (Hall 7, H20) will be able to view the full range of ATEM production switchers, including the ATEM 2 M/E Production Studio 4K, the world’s most advanced live production switcher with 20 6G-SDI inputs.

Blackmagic Design’s technical team

will be demonstrating their Smart Videohubs and the routers’ innovative ‘visual routing’ feature, which enables technicians to view router connections as video. The Teranex Express, the world’s first 12G-SDI SD, HD and Ultra HD up and down converter for live events, post and broadcast environments will also be displayed.

The full range of Blackmagic Design cameras, including the Studio Camera, specifically designed for live production and the user upgradeable, 4K digital film camera URSA, will also be showcased, together with demonstrations of DaVinci Resolve 11, which has more than 70 new editing features.

IBC PREVIEW

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Glensound to showcase new IP COOBEs Glensound (IBC Stand 8.E72) have supplied around 10 000 ISDN (integrated services digital network) units to broadcasters around the world.

Although ISDN is still the most reliable and trusted option for audio links, it is in decline, as broadcasters look towards IP and HD Voice mobile options. We are in a transitional period however, as the post ISDN options do not offer the ease of use and huge compatibility that the long established ISDN connections do.

As Glensound has been the established favourite in remote broadcast units, or COOBEs (commentator operated outside broadcasting equipment), it has been expected for many years that they would produce an IP COOBE. Glensound has resisted, citing a lack of reliable compatibility between manufacturers and no means of simple

USB functions The USB audio interface on each unit is very similar. It is a 24 bit 48kHz interface to the device, with 2 input channels and 2 output channels. For maximum compatibility and easy to use, the device is plug and play class 1 USB. Further drivers are available for Class 2 USB or ASIO.

Configurable routing

REMOTE BROADCAST: Glensound Cub iPhone/ Smartphone interface unit setup in the IP world, as the key reasons.

However, Glensound has now introduced a range of products that are simple to use, and are flexible, for broadcasters to use with whatever IP solution they prefer.

The one problem with software though is interfacing. Many broadcasters may well ask: low-cost, simple-to-update software is great, but where do I plug my XLR? Interfaces do exist, but at best these are semi-pro, studio-based devices and certainly do not contain the facilities required by broadcasters, that they have come to expect in the use of Glensound ISDN COOBEs. So this is where the new Glensound USB interface range fits in.

The Glensound USB interface units bridge the gap between the appealing IP software applications and the broadcast engineers hardware expectations. They are familiar units, with XLR inputs,

compressor/limiters, jack sockets for headphones and a digital USB interface to the PC, notepad or phone. They have real on-air buttons, normal pots for adjusting volume levels, and are in sturdy cases designed for the rigours of outside broadcast use.

What’s more, it is accepted that a Glensound unit will have a 15-year plus life span. Apps update every few months, software and favourite codecs will come and go, but your familiar Glensound front end unit can remain unchanged.

There are three models in the Glensound USB range: • The Cub iPhone/Smart Phone Interface • The GS-GC5/USB Commentary Mixer with USB Interface For PCs • The GS-GC5T/USB Commentary Mixer with USB Interface For Tablets

XPLORE THE UNEXPECTED

C-Cast Xplore is the key to access live production content from anywhere around the world. www.evs.com/XPLORE

IBC

BOOTH #8.B90

42 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014 111-155_STAMP_EN.indd 1

25/07/14 15:09

All units provide 2 local XLR outputs. As they are digital mixers, you can connect a PC via USB and change the routing/ mixing of these outputs. They could be straight loops of the inputs, you could have a mix of local input 1 and 2 on XLR output 1, and a mix of the iPhone USB audio inputs 1 and 2 on XLR output 2.

This is a very powerful feature that is normally only present on much larger digital mixers.

Pricing

Cub Reporters Interface £895 (approx.

R16 378) GS-GC5T/USB & GS-GC5/USB Four Commentators Mixer With USB Audio Interface £1795 (approx. R32 848) Glensound products and solutions are distributed and serviced in South Africa

by Concilium Technologies. Visit www.concilium.co.za or call 012 678 9200 for more information.

IBC PREVIEW

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AJA Video Systems to showcase CION professional camera AJA Video Systems will be exhibiting at the IBC 2014 conference in Amsterdam at Stand 7.F11. The manufacturer of digital video acquisition, interface, conversion and desktop solutions for professional broadcast, production and postproduction will be highlighting the latest in its line of capture cards, digital recording devices, video routers, frame synchronisers, scalers and converters, in addition to the groundbreaking new CION professional camera. AJA’s IBC

NEW CAMERA: AJA’s CION professional camera products will be showcased in end-toend affordable and practical HD, 2K, 4K and HFR 4K workflow demonstrations applicable to content creators in film,

broadcast, streaming and AV markets.

Along with CION, AJA’s new 4K/ UHD/2K/HD professional camera, new products showcased at IBC will include

LUT-box, the Mini-Converter enabling monitors to display accurate colour space for precise colour and look management, and the top-of-the-line KONA 4 professional desktop video and audio I/O card supporting SD, HD, 2K, 4K and HFR 4K up to 60p for ultimate workflow flexibility.

The FS1-X single rack-mount frame synchroniser designed to match up disparate audio and video formats in broadcast, mobile and post environments will also be on display with additional new features introduced at IBC along with demos of AJA’s powerful real-time broadcast scaling technology, delivering pristine HD streams from 4K source.

AJA will also make new product and partner announcements, as well as providing up-to-date details on the entire product lineup.

Production and Post Unified CION is the new 4K/UHD and 2K/HD production camera from AJA. Unite production and post by shooting directly to edit ready Apple ProRes 4444 at up to 4K 30fps, ProRes 422 at up to 4K 60fps, or output AJA Raw at up to 4K 120fps.

4K sensor with 12 stops of dynamic range Ergonomic and Lightweight, only 6.4 lbs Open Connectivity PL Mount

Touchvision

Tel: + 27 11 886 8572 • www.touchvision.co.za

44 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014

Find out more at www.aja.com/cion and visit us at Stand 7. F11

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IBC PREVIEW

Doubling the 3D experience At IBC (12 to 15 September), Christie (Stand 9.D15) will demonstrate, among other products, its 6P laser cinema projector system, which is designed to perfect and enhance the exhibition of 3D films. Richard Nye, Cinema Sales Director at Christie spoke to Screen Africa about the new solution and its possibilities.

DIGITAL 3D: Christie’s Duo alignment projector system Canada alone would seem a little churlish,” Nye says.

‘An investment in cinema’

N

ot long ago, after the resurgence of 3D cinema – a technology originating from the 1950s and revived at various intervals since then – it seemed as though the novelty of the form had run its course.

Particularly after the failure of 3D in the home viewing environment and recurring complaints from cinema viewers and makers about the problems experienced with 3D exhibition (annoying glasses, eye strain, not enough light, etc), it seemed as though the technology, which had already begun to develop to a point previously undreamt of and had captured the imagination of several high-profile filmmakers, was dead in the water.

3D is alive and well Not so, says Christie’s Richard Nye. “Media promoted digital 3D as a format that would replace 2D. I don’t think system manufacturers, studios or exhibitors ever set such high expectations for 3D digital. When cinema moved from film to digital, the immediate benefits were to the quality of the product and the benefits for work flow / production of a digital print for a 2D movie. Other benefits highlighted by technology providers included the possibility for exhibitors to screen digital 3D content

Richard Nye, cinema sales director, Christie EMEA

(with an upgrade to the projector), alongside other new in-theatre products like alternative content and streaming live events.

“For studios it presented an opportunity to return to their back catalogue of content to recreate box office successes in 3D, but much more importantly it offered directors and producers another way to bring their vision to the screen and engage an audience in ways that 2D cannot.

“So digital 3D is really a story of freedom of choice. And to call 3D digital a failure when the top five 3D grossing movies alone have generated revenues of over US$2.5 billion in the USA and

Nye continues: “The reason why Christie and other providers of Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI) approved systems invest so heavily in 3D, I think, is that we see it more as investing in cinema. We all want to provide the best cinema experience we can and, through it, continued demand for our products.

“We know we can improve the digital 3D experience, after all we’ve been at it for a little less than 10 years by comparison to our 85-year heritage of developing 2D movie screening technology. And in that short time we’ve also introduced 4K DLP cinema, high frame rate, ribbon driver technology for cinema sound and are developing laser technology now.

These advances don’t just benefit the digital 3D experience, but everyone’s cinema experience.”

Christie’s solution Christie identified a number of challenges faced in the development of 3D cinema projector systems and set out to address them with their 6P laser projector solution. What it comes down to is a large increase in the brightness of light hitting the screen and then the viewer’s eye, and a system that doubles up the image being projected, using a dual-head projector that puts out a 6-primary (6P) colour range, rather than the usual three (3P).

Nye explains: “Irrespective of whether we address digital 3D with a laser or conventional short-arc xenon illumination,

the challenges remain the same. Firstly when we put on our 3D glasses, passive or active, we filter out a large percentage of light on screen. There are varying opinions and statistics on this point, but cinema-goers would typically experience three to four-foot-lamberts (the measure of luminance) brightness for digital 3D. “We believe that for digital 3D to match a 2D experience for light levels, we should be screening at 14-foot lamberts.

We can achieve that for smaller screens using xenon illumination, but for larger screens and premium large format, laser illumination is required.

“Additionally, we believe that the best 3D is achieved by offering a dedicated image for both left and right eye, rather than a single system projecting both, which lowers perceived resolution. We achieve this using a dual projection system like Christie Duo (either with xenon or laser illumination).

“For laser systems utilising this dual head configuration, we also eliminate laser speckle. This is not achieved with a 3P laser system.”

The 6P 3D projector solution consists of the following components: two Christie 3P RGB lasers mounted in the Duo alignment system that enables the projectors to offer simultaneous left – and right-eye images, rather than switching from one to the other as more conventional systems do. A pure white screen – offering the best image with minimal crosstalk is required, along with Dolby 3D glasses – the only ones on the market with 3D colour separation built in, which help to deliver the highest possible brightness with 6P laser.

At IBC, Christie will be in Hall 9 at Stand 9.D15 and will also be showcasing their 6P laser projector system at IBC’s Big Screen Experience at the RAI Auditorium.

August 2014 | SCREENAFRICA | 45

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The Datavideo family Datavideo, based in Taipei, Taiwan, is a leading manufacturer of professional broadcast and AV products for live video production. It focuses on innovative portable solutions as well as costeffective modular systems that enable customers to create integrated solutions, tailored to their needs Datavideo brings high-end product features to customers that require cost-effective solutions, broadcastquality performance, and reliability. In a fast-changing market with ever-increasing demands, Datavideo researches, develops, designs and manufactures a wide range of innovative products both in Taiwan and at a facility in Silicon Valley USA, and is an ISO-9001 quality certified manufacturer.

Clients can therefore invest in the latest technology at affordable prices. With a global network of distributors, Datavideo delivers full support to resellers, end-users and integrators.

Datavideo in South Africa Macro Video Pty Ltd has been the official distributor in southern Africa for more than 15 years and has intimate knowledge of the product family. Macro Video’s stand at the biannual MediaTech Africa show is always well-supported with dealers in attendance to meet clients and show off new equipment. The distributor often has foreign representation from Datavideo head office as well.

Meet the family In southern Africa the most loved family member is the ‘little sister’, Datavideo SE-500. It is an easy-to-use analogue 4 channel video mixer that is well-liked by churches throughout Africa due to its ruggedness and ease of use. The SE-500’s bigger sister is the SE-600, which has six analogue inputs and two PC inputs. SE-600 is the logical upgrade from SE-500 and is popular with larger churches, auditoriums, and facilities using

composite, which has sufficient quality to produce DVDs as an end product.

Datavideo has bucked the trend to go all-out digital and its SD family remains firmly rooted in Africa, India, Pakistan, the Middle East, China, Eastern Europe and Russia.

At the end of the year the Datavideo stork will deliver the SE-500’s HD brother, called the SE-700. This will be an easy-to-use 4 channel HD mixer in a traditional stand-alone desktop design with a T bar for wipes and effects with HDMI and SDI in and outputs.

Capable of

lumakeying titles and graphics – a feature the SE-500 does not have, this baby promises to be fat and healthy – feature-wise!

The popular big brother in the family is the MS-2800. It is a complete 8U 19’’ rack aluminium case complete with mixer/ switcher 8 channel upgradeable to 12, Comms and Tally, SDI recorder, vector scope multipreview screen and integrated power distribution centre. OBV-2800 has even more muscles than ouboet! The two smaller brothers are the HS-2800, being a briefcase styled HD mobile kit comprising of mixer / switcher, Comms and Tally and integrated multipreview screen. The HS-600 is an SD briefcase styled version. Both HS’s are toned to the extreme with their sleek design.

New family members A new branch in the family tree will be the 2200 range. The SE-2200 will be a sixchannel HD mixer / switcher where the HS-2200 will be the briefcase styled mixer / switcher with Comms and Tally and integrated multipreview screen.

INNOVATIVE PORTABLE SOLUTIONS: Datavideo TC-200 Overlay box with CG-200 character generator

Other siblings will be a portable harddrive recorder with integrated flip up screen called HRS-30, and MCU100, the new Sony Camera control unit. Almost without fanfare, the revolutionary TC-200 has proved popular. Until now CG on the run was difficult and clumsy requiring a PC with an SDI CARD. TC-200 requires no PCI card and offers full CG on a laptop with HDMI. This baby includes free CG-200 (Character Generator Software) that can grow up and use other CG software packages in the Datavideo family! Compatible with Windows 7 / 8, it

supports DSK function (via HDMI) or SDI overlay function in 1080i 50/59.94/60; 720p 50/59.94/60 and SD video: 576i/480i. See it in action and fall in love with the simplicity and ease of use.

NVS-20 with H.264 is a one box solution for streaming via a network and works famously with the rest of the family, whether they be HD or SD, as the unit has SD/HD-SDI, HDMI and composite as well as analogue audio inputs. Go and see and be welcomed by the Datavideo family, old and young at IBC 2014: Hall 7, Stand D.39.

Meet our new family members!

4 channel HD switcher

The Datavideo SE-700 is an all new, 4 channel, all-in-one HD switcher. With 2 HDMI and 2 HD-SDI inputs, this switcher is capable of working with 4x 1080i withouth even breaking a sweat.

This simple switcher is very easy to set up and use. With only a couple buttons and a T-bar fader, anybody can make a nice production!

SE-700

Features: • • • • • •

Broadcast quality HD switcher Inputs: 2x HD-SDI, 2x HDMI 2x XLR audio Quick and easy setup Picture-in-picture Down stream keying* Luma keying

*Specifications are preliminary, subject to change!

Portable 6 channel HD studio HS-2200

The Datavideo HS-2200 is a truly portable solution for on-the-go mixing. The HS-2200 switcher comes with great features such as a 6x6 SDI genlocked matrix, dual PIP and a built-in title overlay system that works with a range of Datavideo CG software. Like all Datavideo hand-carried studios, the HS-2200 also includes a 17.3” multiviewer and a talkback system. The HS-2200 weighs only 9 kilograms and is very low on power consumption

Full HD PTZ Camera PTC-150

The PTC-150 has been designed with many indoor applications in mind such as live theatre events, concerts, conferencing, worship, talk shows and news.

The Datavideo PTC-150 combines outstanding image quality with super smooth and quiet pan/tilt/zoom operation. When combined with the Datavideo RMC-180 a network of up to 4 PTC-150 cameras can be easily controlled by one user.

SE-2200

HRS-30

TC-200

Audio mixer/audio delay

6 channel HD switcher

Portable recorder/ lookback monitor

HDMI title overlay

PTZ Camera

Camera control for Sony

See all new products and more at IBC 2014!

Booth: 7.D39 Datavideo Technologies Europe B.V.

2014

Other new family members: AD-200 PTC-120 MCU-100

info@datavideo.nl www.datavideo.info

SERVICES

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A film crew runs on its stomach In 2006, AFDA graduate Gregg Abell, having found his professional interests shifting from film production to food service, founded his catering company, 5% Green and began offering its services to corporates.

Recently, Abell and his team were called upon to cater for the production office of the Johannesburg unit of the British television series Strike Back. A crew member on that production then moved on to Neill Blomkamp’s Chappie, recommended 5% Green and the company found itself immersed in the business of on-set catering.

A short while after that, they received a major feather in their cap when they were hired to feed the mammoth production crew on Joss Whedon’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, as it was shot in Johannesburg in February 2014.

No one could have been more surprised by this development than Abell, who must have been quite gratified to find his profession as a chef and caterer crossing over with his earlier studies in filmmaking. Having seen sufficient potential for growth in the onset catering business, 5% Green set up a sister

FOOD FOR SHOOT: 5% Green’s mobile food catering unit company, called Game Set Match, dedicated to this particular area of its business.

Based in Melville, Johannesburg, the company is now thriving, with regular work in the television and advertising industry, as well as the occasional feature film. With the unexpected success of the business in this sector, Abell has now decided to grow the company even further by setting up a Cape Town branch, which will service the international feature film and television productions to which the Mother City plays host.

Having already built up considerable experience in catering, Abell and his crew soon found that the task of feeding film crews came with its own set of challenges.

“Time is always an issue on any job but it’s really heightened on a film set,” Abell says. The hours are long, we often work on short notice and you have to remember the first golden rule: never be late! The second rule is: never run out of food. So we have to over-cater. If ten extra people turn up on set we have to be prepared for that. Another thing is that

the logistics have to be carefully coordinated. We have to be in one place to set up breakfast and then be ready to pack up and move on to another location for lunch.”

The Avengers job was a real trial by fire for Game Set Match. Catering to scores of cast and crew, Abell had a total of 42 staff members operating under highly pressurised conditions. “We had 15 chefs because we had to dish up each meal individually and all meals had to be on time. We had four runners going to and fro across the location to get meals to each department.

“The biggest issue was getting everyone’s order in the morning. We had one person dedicated to that. We had a kitchen truck set up so we could cook on location, we had a refrigerator truck and another eight-ton truck. When we put these three together we could do a full kitchen set-up anywhere. In addition to that we had five craft stations in various places across the set,” Abell explains.

Game Set Match prides itself on the quality of its food, which is always made with the freshest ingredients from local suppliers. It also offers a wide range of foods to cater to the many different tastes and dietary requirements that are likely to

turn up on a film set.

“We have a choice of ten menus which we rotate on a seasonal basis – summer menus and winter menus,” Abell says. “In each of these menus, we make sure that we cater to three basic groups on set.

First you have the grips and camera crew, who are lugging around heavy equipment all day and they want hearty, filling meals.

Then you will often have people who are vegetarian or vegan or who may be gluten or lactose intolerant, for example, and you have to cater to all those needs.

“Then there are bound to be people who are looking after their weight and need lean, low-carb food. On advert shoots, you also have to take the production company’s client into account.

We provide special platters for them as well.”

As the saying goes, an army marches on its stomach. This is equally true for a film crew. One of the most important things producers can do for their production once shooting starts, is to ensure that their cast and crew are well fed. Game Set Match understands this and promises a complete, healthy and satisfying culinary experience to help ensure that the cameras keep rolling on those long shoot days.

Business as usual for Zimele at new offices

COMITTED TO THE INDUSTRY: slomo.tv Simple R slomo replay server Zimele Broadcasting Services, the Johannesburg-based solutions provider for broadcasting, television and live events production, recently completed their move to their new offices. After being based in the suburb of Linden for what seemed to be forever they have finally bowed to the traffic and commuting pressures and have relocated to Northgate Office Park on Aureole Avenue in Northriding, cutting down on the travel pressures for all of their staff.

Zimele is the South African distributor of brands such as slomo.tv, Amberfin, HME Eletronics, Beachtek and AXEL 48 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014

Technology. Regardless of where they may be based, they remain committed to supplying outstanding products and providing quality service.

Apart from their new physical address all of their contact details have remained the same.

Telephone number: +27 (0)11 770 9760 or Leon on +27 (0)82 920 6767 alternatively Andre on +27 (0)83 2903401.

Fax number: +27 (0)86 514 9949 Building 1B, Unit 8, Northgate Office Park, Aureole Avenue, Northriding 2194 e-mail: sales01@zimele.com

| SERVICES

Pro Sales moves to new premises Pro Sales, a well-established name in sales, repair, service and installations in the fields of broadcast, audio, video and lighting, have begun operations at their new base in Ferndale, Randburg, only a few kilometres away from their previous home at Ormonde Street, Bryanston, where they operated for two years.

At the Bryanston premises, Pro Sales shared space with Timbre Broadcast Systems. “We’ve had a close relationship with Timbre for a long time,” says Pro Sales CEO Arne Sack, “and it made sense then for us to be under one roof. It was an ideal situation for both of us. But we did not anticipate that both companies would grow to the extent that we have.

Ultimately we just ran out of space.”

Sack and his team decided to begin the search for a property they could call home and they hit upon one in the neighbouring suburb of Ferndale – known for its large stands, leafy aesthetic and quiet atmosphere – which came with a few added opportunities that Sack could not have foreseen. The property is large enough to build more office space in addition to Pro Sales’ headquarters.

This can then be rented out to other companies. Plus, as it happens, the property stands directly adjacent to the location of a set of new television studios that are currently being built by a major production house.

“We purchased a property that will

DOORS OPEN: The new Pro Sales premises at Fleet Street, Ferndale

allow us, not just to get new offices for ourselves but to build a further four offices on the property. One of the things that excites us is that we are placed right next to the new studios. They have just purchased here and they are building two 200sqm studios. They will automatically

attract a certain amount of related businesses that want to work with them. It will hopefully draw a whole lot of video/ television related companies into the area. As well as being able to offer gear to these companies, we will be able to provide excellent office space right next

to the studios.”

Sack, a veteran of Tedelex, founded Pro Sales in 1986 for the purpose of trading high-quality, secondhand gear to the film, television and broadcasting industries. The company’s operations evolved over the years to include new product, which now accounts for the majority of its business as, with the fast pace of technological development today, the secondhand market is no longer strong.

Aside from sales, Sack and his team, which includes Jason Sproat and Jonathan Sack, have begun offering their services in designing, building and outfitting new studios, ENG facilities and OB vehicles. “The supply and installation of equipment in these facilities is not new for us. We’ve been doing that for years,” Sack explains.

“But now we are offering our clients a complete solution, right from the planning phase, through building and on to service and repairs afterwards.”

Sack is convinced that Pro Sales’ new base of operations is in an ideal location.

“We’re situated right between M-Net and SuperSport. There are quite a number of production companies in the area that have located themselves around M-Net. This is where the future of television is.”

Pro Sales can be found at 75 Fleet Street, Ferndale, Randburg. Telephone: +2711 462 0000.

Film Finances announces airline discount programme Film Finances encourages film production companies to take advantage of its fare deal with Delta Airlines, which is affiliated to KLM and Air France. Any production in South Africa that makes use of cast or crew from the United States can fly them over at a discounted rate as long as the journey originates in the US. Interested parties can apply to Film Finances South Africa who will refer them to the local travel facilitator.

With offices in eight countries and having been running since the 1950s, Film Finances is the world’s most established and recognised provider of completion bonds to world’s film industries. The South African branch, based in Johannesburg, has been running since the 1990s and, since April 2013, is forging ahead under the management of Jane Fry, a well-established figure in the industry and a veteran of Endemol.

So what exactly does Film Finances do?

This might be obvious to many in the industry, but a lot of filmmakers, particularly new entrants to the industry, may not be au fait with Film Finances’ services and their significance. Film Finances is a provider of completion

guarantees, which basically assure the investors in a project that the film will be delivered on time and within budget.

A completion bond such as those that Film Finances offers is a prerequisite when applying for a Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) rebate. In addition to furnishing a guarantee, Film Finances can also cash-flow up to 60% of the rebate if required.

Film Finances South Africa works closely with its sister branches around the world and its guarantees are underwritten

by Lloyd’s of London, with a complex reinsurance network with several other insurance providers.

Aside from its work as an insurer, Film Finances puts back into the industry by supporting emerging filmmakers. Last year, the company sponsored AFDA Johannesburg 4th Year student Reinhard Delport as South Africa’s representative at the Telluride Film Festival Student Symposium. They will be sending another student in August this year.

To find out more about Film Finances South Africa’s services and rates, visit www.filmfinances.com or call +27 82 411 4088.

ENTERTAINMENT GUARANTEED: Jane Fry August 2014 | SCREENAFRICA | 49

Box Office

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It’s a man’s world at the local box office Heroes and hunks, fathers and fearless enforcers, Casanovas and curators of the human race – these are the protagonists pulling top spots at the box office. In July, South African audiences took to cinemas for a dose of all things macho…

Transformers: Age of Extinction

Think like a Man Too

Paramount’s latest installation in the Transformers movie series is smashing box office records around the world, bringing in global earnings of US$966 352 475 after five weeks of release. Directed by Michael Bay, who has shrugged off cringe-worthy reviews from international critics, the film continues to feed action-hungry viewers and has earned R25 630 760 to date locally.

While this sequel, based on the humourously insightful ideology in Steve Harvey’s book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, reunites a talented cast including Romany Malco and Gabrielle Union, critics have faulted the film for lacking new and fresh character direction.

Locally it earned R 3 472 767 in its opening weekend, with 67 prints.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Step Up: All In International box office figures suggest it may be time for the Step Up series to step back from, or out of, the big screen.

Now in its fifth chapter and with the captivating Channing Tatum again amiss, what was once a body-rocking blockbuster seems to have waned to a mediocre serving of the same-old. That being said, the dance flick garnered R4 447 356 nationally in its opening weekend with 107 prints and will no doubt appeal to dance-floor devotees.

In its third week at SA cinemas the latest film in the reinvented Planet of the Apes franchise garnered R1 118 656, bringing total local gross earnings to R7 498 506. Distributed internationally by 20th Century Fox, and locally by Times Media Films, the film is predicted to reign ratings after a strong opening which resulted in US$30 400 00 global earnings. The film has been praised for beautifully conveying humanity’s propensity to self-destruct.

Bad Neighbours

Blended

Seth Rogen and Zac Efron play pranksters in a feud which is anything but neighbourly in Bad Neighbours. The film is directed by Nicholas Stoller, the comedic genius behind Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Knocked Up and Get Him to the Greek, who seems to have once again delivered a hilarious take on progressing through life’s milestones.

The movie has earned Universal Studios a total of US$256 800 000 worldwide, while it hasn’t quite had the same impact locally, earning United International Pictures R3 326 891 in the two weeks since its release.

On-screen couple Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler won audiences over with two previous successful comedies, but have disappointed fans with their latest rom-com offering set in Africa. Directed by Frank Coraci and written by Ivan Menchell and Clare Sera the film earned a bleak US$14 284 031 in its opening weekend, compared to the 50 First Dates’ US$39 800 000 opening in 2004 and The Wedding Singer’s $18 000 000 opening in 2008. Taking inflation into consideration, the film is faring to be Sandlers biggest flop.

Blended has captured R9 392 693 after featuring on the local circuit for four weeks.

Compiled by Carly Barnes

50 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014

Photo credit: www.thelabia.co.za

Crowdfunding campaign to save independent SA cinema industry no longer releases movies on film. For the Labia, this will mean raising R150 000 funding for renovations and technological upgrades.

The crowd-funding campaign is featured on Thundafund, a South African platform for the collective funding of creative and innovative projects by the public. By contributing towards the initial goal amount of R150 000, funders can help save the small family owned cinema.

“There’s no place like the Labia,” says owner Ludi Kraus. “It still has the magic of the old world, so hopefully we can combine that with the equipment of the new.”

For more information or to make a pledge towards the campaign, visit the Thundafund website at www.thundafund.com.

The Labia Theatre The Labia Theatre in Cape Town, the oldest independent art-house cinema in South Africa, has launched a crowdfunding campaign in order to fund well-needed cinema upgrades and a migration to digital projection.

Converting to digital has become an urgent and necessary action as the items needed to maintain screening equipment are no longer available and the film

SA charity apologises for controversial ad

SES, a satellite operator which provides satellite communications services to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators and business and governmental organisations worldwide, has announced the launch of a new digital TV platform for

Award winning films and a new trophy statuette for DIFF 2014 The Durban International Film Festival concluded on 27 July with the unveiling of a new statuette, the Golden Giraffe, and the announcement of winning South African and African films which featured at the festival.

• Timbuktu, by Malian director Abderrahmane Sissako, won the Best Feature Film award. Ibrahim Ahmed shared the award for Best Actor for his role in Timbuktu with Tony Kgoroge, who was given the award for his role in Cold Harbour.

• Love the One You Love, directed by Jenna Bass, won the award for Best South African Feature Film, which carries a prize of R25,000. Chi Mhende was also presented with the Best Actress award for her role

•

• • • •

• • •

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| WEB NEWS

in the film.

Rehad Desai’s Miners Shot Down won the award for Best South African Documentary.

The following awards were also featured: Best First Feature Film: Salvation Army by Abdellah Taia Best Direction: Noaz Deshe for White Shadow Best Screenplay: Love is Strange written by Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias Best Cinematography: Sofian el Fani for Timbuktu DIFF Award for Artistic Bravery: Petter Brunner for My Blind Heart Best Direction in a South African Documentary: I, Afrikaner by Annalet Steenkamp and Special Mention: Fatherlandby Tarryn Crossman Best Short Film: Out of Place by Ozan Mermer Best South African Short Film: Keys, Money, Phone by Roger Young

Screen grab from Feed a Child

(Photo credit: SES

highlight the issue of child hunger in South Africa.

Nonetheless the organisation has released a statement in which it apologises to those who might have been insulted or upset by the commercial and recognises that it could have been seen as inconsiderate or in bad taste.

West Africa on SES’s ASTRA 2F satellite at 28.2 degrees East.

The service will begin in September 2014.

The platform will be the first Ferdinand Kayser free-to-air (FTA) DTH digital TV platform in Nigeria and is expected to provide growth opportunities to local and international broadcasters as well as

Photo credit: www.ewn.co.za

SABC settles on a new COO

An advert by Ogilvy and Mather for South African charity Save A Child, which presented a wealthy white woman feeding a black child like a dog, has been withdrawn from all media following accusations that the commercial was offensive and racist.

According to Alza Rautenbach, Chief Executive of Save a Child, the Feed a Child advert was not meant to cause any offense and was in fact, intended to

SES launches first free-to-air digital TV platform in West Africa

www.screenafrica.com

Following recommendations from for the 2016 local government the South African Broadcasting elections.

Corporation (SABC) board, “I believe the appointment Communications Minister Faith shall bring the necessary Muthambi has announced that certainty and operational Hlaudi Motsoeneng, who has been efficiency to the SABC board serving as the national and management viewed Hlaudi broadcaster’s acting chief collectively,” said Muthambi.

Motsoeneng operations officer for several Public Protector Thuli years, will be appointed to the Madonsela had previously position permanently. recommended that Motsoeneng be Despite Motsoeneng’s matric removed from his position and accused certification coming under recent scrutiny him of many inconsistencies. He has also along with his salary, which seems to be been accused of suppressing increasing exponentially with each year, programming which he considered Muthambi believes he will be a positive offensive to Jacob Zuma and recently force in driving Digital Terrestrial proposed that journalists should only be Television (DTT) migration and preparing allowed to practice with a licence.

accelerate digital migration in the region.

TV broadcasters across West Africa will be provided with end-to-end contribution as well as ground and space services. SES will be delivering on the space aspect and providing specific ground services, while ICT service provider Computer Warehouse Group will be managing the teleport services as an SES partner

teleport operator.

Ferdinand Kayser, Chief Commercial Officer of SES, says, “The long-term partnership with CWG will open up new possibilities for local and international broadcasters and allow them to drive digitalisation and reach their audiences across West Africa quickly and cost-effectively.”

Caption

August 2014 | SCREENAFRICA | 51

PR ODU CT IO N

UPDATES FOR FURTHER DETAILS VISIT www.screenafrica.com

Those productions in red are newly listed this month

OUR OB FLEET

Production Updates Order of Information 1. Title 2. Production Company 3. Director 4. Genre

IN DEVELOPMENT 69 BODIES/SHARPEVILLE Tamol Media Prod: Thabang Molibeli Feature You can reach us at: Tel: +27 (0) 11 431 3053 Fax: +27 (0) 86 689 9233 Cell: +27 (0) 83 426 6634 Email: mojapelepe@gmail.com www.mojapeleproductions.co.za

A Bank in Krugersdorp (Working Title) Panda Broadcast Prod: Sam Groenewald Feature Film

HEAVEN – AFRICA 2 Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature

A LION IN THE BEDROOM Two Oceans Production Prod: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature

HHOLA HHOLA Vuleka Productions Prod: Julie Frederikse Feature

Camping Two Oceans Productions Prod: Giselher Venzke/Bertha Spieker Feature

CHILDREN OF FAMOUS ACTIVISTS Current Affairs Films Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Feature

52 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014

EX PATS Current Affrairs Films / French Connection Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Series

Izinyembezi Zami Inhlakanipho Films Dir: Vusi Nhlapo Feature Film

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE Two Oceans Production Prod: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature

www.generalpost.co.za

PALACE OF THE FAITHLESS White Heron Pictures Dir: Themba Sibeko Feature

Are Aganeng/Asakhaneni Michics Global Communications Exec Prod: Mishack Motshweni Talk Show

BIG FRIEND LITTLE FRIEND Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker TV movie

editors, animators compositors, digitisers researchers, storyboard supplying the finest artists & illustrators freelance post-production writers, directors & creative crew to the post production film and television industry supervisors, workflow consultants, broadcast designers’ producers location producers cameramen office: 0860 111 553 technical directors after hrs: 076 225 9173 content directors & bookings@generalpost.co.za production managers

ESCAPE Current Affairs Films Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman / Beata Lipman Feature

80 MINUTES Periphery Films Dir: Simon Taylor / Julia Taal Feature

BREAD AND WATER Periphery Films Dir: Simon Taylor / Julia Taal Feature Documentary

general post

Oscar Pistorius Synergy Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Documentary

Future Legends Phoenix Entertainment and Productions Prod: Koketso Sefanyetso TV Magazine

AT THE CREEK WITHOUT A PADDLE Zen Crew Prod: Laura Tarling Documentary

Unit C5 RobeRtville Mini FaCtoRies 255 nadine stReet RobeRtville RoodepooRt 1709

ENTREPRENEURS Footprint Media TV Prod: Cheryl Delport Magazine

CINDERELLA Two Oceans Productions Prod: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature Cybervisions Writer:Tawanda Murimirwa Completed Sci-Fi Screenplay DIE VERHAAL VAN RACHELTJIE DE BEER Nostalgia Productions Prod: Brett Michael Innes Feature Die Vervoerder Grey Cloud Productions Dir: Jacques Brand Prod: Jarrod de Jong Feature

High School Modeling Michics Global Communications Exec Prod: Mishack Motshweni Feature HOEHLENMENSCH Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker TV movie HOTEL SONGOLOLO The Media Workshop Dir: Benito Carelsen Series JIVA Tamol Media Prod: Thabang Molibeli Feature KING SEKHUKHUNE / EVERYONE’S LAND Sukuma Media Prod: Leonard Sekhukhune / Bonginhlanhla Ncube Feature Film LEKKERKAMPPLEKKE Grey Cloud Productions Dir: Jacques Brand Prod: Jarrod de Jong Variety MANCHE, THE AFRICAN SAINT Get the Picture Prod/Dir: Jacky Lourens / Fiona Summers Documentary NIXEN ALARM Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker TV movie NONGOLOZA/ THE BLOOD KING AND THE RED DRAGON Current Affairs Films Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman / Mtutuzeli Matshoba Feature On the spot Karabo Shaun Productions Dir: Gugu Mbatha Film

PARADISE Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker TV movie PASSARES (BIRDISH) White Heron Pictures / Casa De Criacao Cinema Prod: Themba Sibeko Feature Pippie se Towerkombuis Grey Cloud Productions Dir: Jacques Brand Prod: Jarrod de Jong Variety Ponte Nostalgia Productions/ Black Irish Productions Prod: Jamie Ramsay/Brett Michael Innes Feature Rachel Weeping Nostalgia Productions Prod: Johan Kruger/ Brett Michael Innes Feature Rockville Season 3 Ferguson Films Prod: Bobby Heaney TV Series SARAH GRAHAM: BITTEN 2 Okuhle Media Dir: Chris Lotz Series Sea Monster Triggerfish Animation Studios Dir: Anthony Silverston Animated Feature SEBOKENG MPA (Motswako) Dir: Charls Khuele / Zuko Nodada Feature Sin Bin Diamond Hill / Engage Entertainment / Coco TV Prod: Sisanda Henna / Stephen Lorenzo Documentary The Dandelion ShootAway Production Prod: Patrick Walton Drama THE DREADED EVIL EYE FROM PAST TO PRESENT AND ACROSS CULTURES Blue Marble Entertainment Dir: Eugene Botha Documentary The Exchange Engage Entertainment PROD: Stephen Lorenzo Feature THE GIFT Ferguson Films Prod: Shona and Connie Ferguson, Bobby Heaney TV Feature Film THE GREAT KAROO Current Affairs Films/ White Pine Pictures Prod: Jane Lipman Series

PRODUCTION THE HITCHERS: A GHOST STORY Blue Marble Entertainment Dir: Eugene Botha Short Film

Domestic Bliss 2 Blonds and a Redhead Filming Prod: Anne Myers Advertising Funder Project

The Mountain of the Night Nostalgia Productions Prod: Herman Mabizela/Brett Michael Innes Feature

EL ELJON PROJECTS FC Hamman Films Director: FC Hamman Marketing Video

The Norwegian Brothers (Working Title) Panda Broadcast Prod: Sam Groenewald Feature Film The Reggies Rush Nostalgia Productions Prod: Brett Michael Innes Feature The Sales Lab Time Frame TV Prod: Vanessa Yelseth, Jasmyn Asvat Series TIENERWERELD Grey Cloud Productions Dir: Jacques Brand Prod: Jarrod de Jong Variety WAY TWO ROLL Way To Roll Pictures Dir: Freddie Strauss Feature Welcome To Art Michics Global Communications Exec Prod: Mishack Motshweni TV Series Westgate Shopping Mall attack (Working Title) Media Village Productions Prod: Diane Vermooten Documentary Zakouma Two Oceans Productions Prod: Giselher Venzke/ Bertha Spieker Feature ZEN FILM CREW MANAGEMENT ZEN Film Crew Management Prod / Dir: Laura Tarling Commercial

IN PRE-PRODUCTION ABLAND PROPERTY DEVELOPERS FC Hamman Films Dir: FC Hamman Marketing Video Alex on 7th Xcut Studios Dir: Engelbert Phiri Documentary ATTACHMENT PARENTING Blue Marble Entertainment Dir: Eugene Botha Insert BIG BROTHER ANGOLA Endemol South Africa Prod: Terja Beney, Llonka Geudes Reality CASE Tamol Media Thabang Molibeli Short Film De Brazzaville a Johannesburg Site et sons media productions Dir: Elvis Nkosi Feature Film Die Laaste Ure: Inconnu French Film Festival Grey Cloud Productions Dir: Jacques Brand Producer: Jarrod de Jong Short film DISHONEST Inhlakanipho Films Dir: Vusi Nhlapo Feature Film

ESPAFRIKA PRESENTS THE CAPE TOWN INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL 2014 ESPafrika Prod/Dir: Rashid Lombard / Yana Lombard / John Bright Documentary GENERATION FREE Okuhle Media Dir: Jemima Spring Series GENiAS Khinc Studios Dir: Khalid EL – Jelailati Feature Film GRIZMEK Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker TV Movie HIDDEN HOLOCAUST IN THE DUNES: GENOCIDE IN NAMIBIA Blue Marble Entertainment Dir: Eugene Botha Series IHAWU LE SISWE Black Drop Prods Prod/ Dir: Sechaba Morojele TV Series LOVE MORE: POLYAMORY IN SOUTH AFRICA Blue Marble Entertainment Dir: Eugene Botha Series KNYSNA West Five Films Prod/ Dir: Maynard Kraak; Andre Velts Feature Film MARRY ME IN MZANZI Blue Marble Entertainment Dir: Eugene Botha Series PHOENIX RISING...THE BUSINESS OF STYLE SEASON 2 Phoenix Entertainment and Production Prod/Dir: Koketso Sefanyetso Reality SEATBELT MEDIC FC Hamman Films Dir: FC Hamman Commercial SLENDER WONDER INFORMATION VIDEO Grey Cloud Productions Dir: Jacques Brand Information Video SOCIAL WORKER Tamol Media Thabang Molibeli Short film STICKS+STONES (Working Title) Fireworx Media/ Tunc Prodcutions Prod: Bridget Pickering Telenovela THE MESSENGER Footprint Media TV Prod: Annalise Van Rensburg Series Unashamedly Ethical Media Village Productions Prod: Diane Vermooten Awards and Gala Evening

U PDAT ES

WHIPLASH Get the Picture Prod/Dir: Jacky Lourens / Meg Rickards Feature WORKERSLIFE NETWORK MARKETING FC Hamman Films Director: FC Hamman Marketing Video

IN PRODUCTION A MAN OF HIS OWN PRINCIPALS Sekgopha Productions Prod: Buhle Mofulatsi / Thapelo Hlagala TV movie 3 TALK Urban Brew Talk Show 20 and Free X CON Films Dir: Munier Parker Documentary 50/50 Clive Morris Productions Current Affairs 53 EXTRA M-Net Inhouse Productions Dir: Navan Chetty Magazine AFRICA 360 eNews News Head: Patrick Conroy Current affairs AFRO CAFÉ SEASON 7 Bonngoe Productions Prod: Pepsi Pokane Music ArtsCulturex Talent 1000 Championships Michics Global Communications Exec Prod: Mishack Motshweni Series Auditor General Global Access Creative Agency Dir: Brad Montgomery/Natalie Varoy Corporate

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BIG BROTHER MZANSI Endemol South Africa Prod: Terja Beney, Liza Kleitman Reality BINNELAND Stark Films Prod/Dir: Friedrich / Elsje Stark Series BODA BODA THIEVES Switch Films Prod: James Tayler Feature BRAVO! Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Magazine BONISANANI Grounded Media Talk Show Bugatti Together Lucky Fish Productions Dir: Raphaël Crombez Commercial CARTE BLANCHE (INSERTS) Modern Times Prod: Sophia Phirippides News Carte Blanche shorts TIA productions Prod / Dir: Tarryn Lee Crossman News CLASH OF THE CHOIRS Endemol South Africa Prod: Josh Feldman Talent / Reality

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COOL CATS Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Cecil Berry Children’s Show CORTEX MINING FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video COME DINE WITH ME SOUTH AFRICA Rapid Blue Prod: Kee-Leen Irvine Reality CUTTING EDGE SABC News Current Affairs

Debra Deel Khaki Productions Prod/Dir: Christelle Parrott, Wynand Dreyer Series DINNER DIVAS 2 Blonds and a Redhead Filming Prod: Anne Myers Series Ditokelo tsa Medupi LMOL Production Dir: Lizzy Moloto Feature DIY MET RIAAN Prod: Riaan Venter-Garforth Magazine EASTERN MOSAIC Red Carpet Productions Prod: Saira Essa / Mark Corlett Magazine August 2014 | SCREENAFRICA | 53

PR ODU CT IO N

UPDATES HITACHI POWER AFRICA MEDUPI AND KUSILE Betta Beta Communications Prod/Dir: Tommy Doig Documentary

MASHELENG1 LMOL Production Dir: Lizzy Moloto Feature

Rands with Sense 2 Blonds and a Redhead Filming Prod: Anne Myers Education

MASHELENG 2 LMOL Production Dir: Jonny Muteba Feature

RHYTHM CITY Quizzical Pictures Prod: Yula Quinn Soapie

IGNITE Footprint Media TV Prod: Cheryl Delport Reality

MASSMART CSI REPORT SummerTime Productions Prod/Dir: Roxanne Rolando / Sean Gardiner Corporate Video

RHYTHM CITY INTERACTIVE Quizzical Pictures / e.tv Prod: Viva Liles-Wilkin Interactive Platform Media

IHAWU LE SISWE Provoke Entertainment Dir: Sechaba Morojele TV Series

MassTalk Global Access Creative Agency Prod: Brad Montgomery Corporate

iParent training clips Global Access Creative Agency Dir: Guy Sclanders Corporate

MATRICS UPLOADED Educational Improvement and Study Help (EISH) Prod: Lisa Blakeway Educational

HOUSE CALL Izwe Multimedia / Urban Brew Prod: Annalie Potgieter Talk Show

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IMIZWILILI Ukhamba Productions Prod: Alfred Mpofu Music INKABA Urban Brew Studios Prod: John Kani Telenovela In search of our own Open Window school of film arts Prod: Adriaan De la Rey Documentary ISIDINGO Endemol South Africa Prod: Pumla Hoppa, Leo Phiri Soap

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Please call Reggy on +27 (0)78 977 7965 or e-mail: newtechservtrust@gmail.com END GAME Fireworx Media/ Tunc Productions Prod: Bridget Pickering Dir: Akin Omotoso/ Thandie Brewer/ Thabang Moleya Feature EXPRESSO (Season 2) Cardova Prod: Paul van Deventer Series FACE OF GEMINI Footprint Media TV Prod: Cheryl Delport Series Facility Management Lectures (A4FM) Panache Video Productions Dir/ Prod: Liesel Eiselen Educational Faith Today Impact Christian Media Prod: Carl Schultz TV Series FOX NEWS CHANNEL Betta Beta Communications Prod/Dir: Tommy Doig News Free State Toursim Indaba Our Time Productions Dir: Jaun de Meillon Corporate

54 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014

FRENZY Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Morena Sefatsa Variety

JOU SHOW Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Talkshow comedy KOKKEDOOR 2 Homebrew films Prod: Jaco Loubser and Paul Venter Cooking reality series KOLLIG Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Magazine KONA The Directors Team (Pty) Ltd Prod/Dir: Laurence Lurie / Cathy Sykes Series KOOLCON CORPORATE VIDEO FiX Post Production/ Marketing AV Marketing Video

GENERATIONS Morula Pictures Prod: Mfundi Vundla Series

KWELA Pieter Cilliers Productions Prod/Dir: Pieter Cilliers Magazine

GOOD MORNING AFRICA Planet Image Productions SA Prod/Dir: Wale Akinlabi Magazine

LATE NITE NEWS ON E.TV Diprente Productions Prod: Tamsin Andersson Series

GOSPEL GOLD Engage Entertainment Prod: Sthembile Mhlongu Music

Light Girls South African Unit White Heron Pictures Prod: Themba Sibeko Documentary

Got It Global Access Creative Agency Dir: Guy Sclanders Corporate GROEN Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Wildlife Had Better Days Uniquely Novel Productions Prod/Dir: Deon VD Merwe Feature Film HECTIC 99 Okuhle Media Prod: Wilna van Schalkwyk Magazine

LIVE Urban Brew Music LIVE LOTTO SHOW Urban Brew Game Show Mandela’s Gun DV8 films Dir: John Irvin Feature Marang Estate: Mixed Used Development Nov/ Dec Our Time Productions Dir: Jaun de Meillon Documentary

MILLIONAIRES Two Oceans Production Prod: Giselher Venzke/Bertha Spieker Feature MOTSWAKO Carol Bouwer Productions Prod: Grant Paul Roy Talk Show MCA Training Global Access Creative Agency Dir: Guy Sclanders Corporate MUVHANGO Word of Mouth Prod: Pieter Grobbelaar Feature

RIVONINGO Asi-B Films Prod: Asivhanzi ‘Asi’ Mathaba Children’s Show ROCKING FUTURE SummerTime Productions Prod: Sean Gardiner / Tanya Vandenberg Educational Video ROLLING WITH KELLY KHUMALO Red Pepper Prod: Cecil Barry Reality ROOTS Ukhamba Communications Prod: Alfred Mpofu Music SAINT AND FREEDOM FIGHTER Blue Marble Entertainment Dir: Eugene Botha Documentary SA Top Model for a Day Michics Global Communications Exec Prod: Mishack Motshweni TV Series

MY GENERATION Current Affairs Films Dir: Jane Lipman TV Series

SAKEGESPREK MET THEO VORSTER SEASON 5 Dirk Mostert Camera Production Prod/ Dir: Dirk Mostert Series

My name is Funeka Sabido Productions Dir/Prod: Catherine Rice Documentary

Shreds and Dreams Penguin Films Prod: Roberta Durrant TV Series

MZANSI INSIDER Bonngoe Productions Prod: Pepsi Pokane Magazine

SOUTH AFRICAN TOURISM Rapid Blue Prod: Kee-Leen Irvine Global TV Commercial

NET1 – SASSA Betta Beta Communications Prod: Tommy Doig Corporate

SA’S GOT TALENT Rapid Blue Prod/Dir: Kee-Leen Irvine Talent show

NEWS NIGHT eNews Prod: Nikiwe Bikitsha Current Affairs

SCANDAL Ochre Moving Pictures Prod: Romano Gorlei Soapie

Oscar Pistorius Documentary Inserts TIA Productions Dir/ Prod: Tarryn Crossman Documentary

SCHOEMAN BOERDERY – MOOSRIVIER Khaki Productions Prod/Dir: Christelle Parrott / Wynand Dreyer Documentary

PASELLA Tswelopele Productions Dir: Liani Maasdorp / Werner Hefer Magazine PAWN STARS SOUTH AFRICA Rapid Blue Prod: Kee-Leen Irvine, Ed Worster, Johan Naude and Kat Weatherall Reality M-NET SHORT FILMS Current Affairs Films Prod/ Dir: Jane Thandi Lipman Film POWER COMBAT ZONE Mixed Motion Entertainment Dir: Dieter Gottert Sport PROJECT MV Zen Crew Prod: Laura Tarling Music

SELIMATHUNZI Sikhoyana Productions Prod: Baby Joe Correira Variety SHIZ NIZ Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Allen Makhubele Variety SHIFT Urban Brew Talk show SISTERHOOD Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Andy Leze Variety SIYAKHOLWA – WE BELIEVE X CON Films Dir: Munier Parker Edutainment

PRODUCTION Slender Wonder Doctors Conference Grey Cloud Productions Dir: Jacques Brand Prod: Slender Wonder Corporate Video Slender Wonder Patient Testimonial Videos Grey Cloud Productions Dir: Jacques Brand Corporate Videos SOCCER ZONE SABC Sports Head: Sizwe Nzimande Magazine SODA AND Mayoral Awards Global Access Creative Agency Guy Sclanders Corporate STUDY MATE Educational Improvement and Study Help (EISH) Exec Prod: Lisa Blakeway Educational THE CHAT ROOM Eclipse Prod: Thokozani Nkosi Talk Show THE COMMUNIST REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA Jam TV, Creative South Africa, Nkhanyeti Production Prod: Barthelemy Ngwessam Documentary THE JUSTICE FACTOR eNews Prod: Debbie Meyer Current Affairs THE REAL GOBOZA 7 Urban Brew Entertainment The Revolution Betrayed Shadow Films Prod/Dir: David Forbes Documentary THE RUDIMENTALS Periphery Films Prod: Simon Taylor Feature THE TECH REPORT Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Technology Magazine TOP BILLING Tswelopele Productions Prod: Patience Stevens Magazine TOP TRAVEL (Season 3) Cardova Prod: Bradley van den Berg Series Transnet Financial Results Global Access Creative Agency Dir: Brad Montgomery Corporate Troopship Tragedy (Working Title) Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Marion Edmunds Documentary TSHIPE BORWA MANGANESE MINE Betta Beta Communications Prod / Dir: Tommy Doig Documentary Vaseline Experience Xcut Studios Dir: Lee Anne Theron 4D AV production VILLA ROSA Spectro Productions Dir: Luhann Jansen / Andries van der Merwe/ Leroux Botha/ Isabel Smit Series

Volkspele South Africa Grey Cloud Productions Dir:Jacques Brand Prod: Bertie Brink Documentary

JULIUS HAS A DREAM Creative South Africa, Nkanyethi Productions, Jam TV Prod: Bathelemy Ngwessam Documentary

WARD 22 TIA Productions Prod/Dir: Tarryn Crossman Documentary

KADARA Media Navigation Prod: Dan Akinlolu/ Biola Karonwi TV Drama

WEEKEND AM LIVE SABC News Current Affairs

Kerels wat Kook Penguin Films Prod: Roberta Durrant Reality TV Series

YILENGELO LAKHO Prod: Nndanganeni Mudau Current Affairs ZOOM IN Footprint Media TV Prod: Cheryl Delport Talk show

IN POST-PRODUCTION A BUSHMAN ODYSSEY Onetime Films Prod: Richard Wicksteed Documentary A DIFFERENT COUNTRY Sabido Productions Dir: Lisa Henry Documentary series A Love Letter to Luxor Shadow Films Prod/Dir: David Forbes Short Film AFROX CO2 PLANT FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video AFROX FINANCIAL RESULTS FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video AFROX RAU INSIGHT FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video AFROX SHEQ INDUCTION FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Commercial Challenge SOS 2 Blonds and a Redhead Filming Prod: Anne Myers Reality Collide Media Village Productions Prod: Ardeen Munnik TV Series FORMIDABELE VROUE: CISSY GOOL Khaki Productions Prod/Dir: Christelle Parrott/ Wynand Dreyer Documentary HOPE NHU Africa Prod: Vyv Simson / Donfrey Meyer Documentary IQILI Impucuzeko Prod: Sharon Kakora Feature THE FLAWED GENIUS OF JAN SMUTS Tekweni TV production Prod/Dir: Sandra Herrington / Neville Herrington Documentary Joyous 18 RM Recording Prod: Lindelani Mkhize Other

NEW LAND Plexus Films/ Four Corners Media Dir: Kyle O’ Donoghue TV Series NORTHMEN Two Oceans Productions Prod: Giselher Venzke/Bertha Spieker Feature Nyaope Gangsters LMOL Production Dir: Lizzy Moloto Feature PERFECT SHISHEBO Quizzical Pictures Prod: Nthabiseng Mokoena Series PLAY MORE GOLF FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Commercials Pushi- Passion LMOL Production Dir: Lizzy Moloto Series SAFE BET Sukuma Media Producer: Nokuthula Sakhile Mguni / Bonginhlanhla Ncube Feature Film SLENDER WONDER FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video SLENDER WONDER MJ LABS FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video Solo Flight Two Oceans Production Prod: Giselher Venzke/ Bertha Spieker Feature

U PDAT ES |

UPCOMING EVENTS AUGUST

29 – 1 Sep Telluride Film Festival

Telluride, Colorado www.telluridefilmfestival.org

13 – 14 IT Infrastructure and

Broadband Africa Summit

Cape Town www.itinfrastructure.co.za

27 – 29 Digital Broadcasting Summit Africa

Swaziland www.bspmediagroup.com

27 – 30 Silwerskermfees

Cape Town www.kyknet.dstv.com

28 – 31 Gariep Kunstefees

Kimberley www. gariepfees.co.za

SEPTEMBER 11 – 16 The International

Broadcasting Convention

Amsterdam www.ibc.org

12 – 20 Commffest Global

Community Film Festival

Toronto www.commffest.com

12 – 16 Content Everywhere Europe

Amsterdam www.ibc.org

13 Nollywood and African Film

Critics’ Awards

Beverly Hills www.africanoscar.com

15 – 21 Loeries Creative Week

23 – 26

Cape Town www.loeries.com Abuja International Film Festival

Abuja, Nigeria www.abujafilmfestival.org

24 – 5 Oct The Raindance Film Festival

London www.raindancefestival.org

26 – 3 Oct The Lusaka International

Film and Music Festival

Zambia www.lifmf.com

Spud 3: Learning to Fly Rogue Star Films Dir: John Barker Feature

The Message Reel Edge Studios Dir: David Golden TV Drama Series

VKB LANDBOU BEPERK FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video

SWARTWATER Quizzical Pictures Prod: Bianca Isaac Dir: John Trengove/ Jozua Malherbe/ Denny Y Miller Series

THE SHORE BREAK Marie -Verite Films and Frank Films Prod: Ryley Grunenwald, Odette Geldenhuys Documentary

When I Was Water Shadow Films Dir: David Forbes Documentary

SURVIVOR Endemol South Africa Prod: Anton Burggraaf, Josh Feldman Reality

THE STORY OF LITTLE FOOT Paul Myburgh Film Prod: Paul Myburgh Documentary

The calling LMOL Production Dir: Lizzy Moloto Feature

THE TRANSPORTERS Sukuma Media/ Reality Motion Pictures Dir: Bonginhlanhla Ncube Documentary

THE CODE BREAKER NHU Africa Prod: Vyv Simson / Donfrey Meyer Documentary

Traffic Penguin Films Prod: Roberta Durrant TV Series

THE LAST GREAT TUSKERS NHU Africa Prod: Vyv Simson / Donfrey Meyer Documentary

UNDER THE MOUNTAIN Plexus Films Prod: Miki Redelinghuys,/ Lauren Groenewald Short film

The Lighthouse Run SummerTime Productions Dir: Tanya Vandenberg Documentary

Unfriend Two Oceans Production Prod: Giselher Venzke/Bertha Spieker Feature

XJ-1 Eternal Film Productions Prod: Marius Swanepoel/ Dana Pretorius Feature You Deserve It Penguin Films Prod: Roberta Durrant TV Game Show

Screen Africa relies on the accuracy of information received and cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions which may occur.

E-mail production updates to: online@screenafrica.com

August 2014 | SCREENAFRICA | 55

Social

|

Durban International Film Festival 2014

Lifetime launch party

Cold Harbour premiere

3 Tons of Fun performing

Chika Anadu and OZ

Brian Baugh, Bongani Ngwenya, Nhlanhla Ngwenya, Sibongile Mahlangu, Mdu Mzizi and Sipho Ngwenya

Learners attending a school screening

Teri Pheto

Carly Barnes

Rolene Strauss and Tom Davidson

Lalela Music 5th Birthday

Benjamin Oelf and Adriana Bevilacqua (e.tv)

Monde Twala (e.tv), Pierre Rochat (DARO Film Distribution)

Nick Matzukis (CAPASSO) and Bronwen Harty (SAMRO)

Tanya Douman and Alan Lazar of Lalela Music

56 | SCREENAFRICA | August 2014

Tom Davidson, Anna Priest and Dean Possenniskie

Tim Kraft (Academy of Sound Engineering)

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