Screen Africa May 2016

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| IN THIS ISSUE

8 NAB highlights

40

15

Demand escalates in an expanding industry

26

32

In the court of the Taarab queen

SPECIAL FEATURE POST-PRODUCTION A collaborative effort.............................. 32 Post-production toolbox: essential new plug-ins and collaborations................................... 33 Forget the cappuccinos, let’s talk about the craft.................................. 34

News

POST-PRODUCTION FEATURE

NAB REPORT

FILM

TRAINING

NAB highlights.................................... 8 – 9

The question of language

It’s in the doing......................................... 36

TECHNOLOGY News Sony unveils 4K 8x super motion camera system with replay server function............................. 10 Imagine Communications launches Epic management and orchestration platform........................... 10

The future of 4K at MultiChoice............ 3 New independent film puts

Fujifilm Fujinon UA107x8.4................... 10 LAWO V-Matrix virtualised

Limpopo in the limelight........................... 3 Jasco implements broadcast

broadcast ecosystem............................... 10 Datavideo introduces

learning studio at UFS................................ 4 Encounters introduces 2016 line-up...... 4

the KMU-100 4K processing unit........ 11 Cine Photo Tools offers new

SABC plans to launch new channels...... 6 Carte Blanche wins at

Samyang XEENs....................................... 11

the Genesis Awards in Hollywood......... 6 Crew Pencil creates online tool for the SA film industry.................... 6 Africanews TV channel launches............. 6 New Turner kids channel targets French speaking Africa................. 6

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Harmony hits Jozi

camera and lighting products ............... 11

ADCETERA In defence of dialogue............................. 12 Saving the earth by banking glass......... 14 Kiss and create a stir in Kenya............. 14 Harmony hits Jozi.................................... 15

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in filmmaking............................................. 16 The Nigerian film industry should follow the DIFF model.............. 17 Tradition vs. modernity in Nakom........ 18 Chioma Onyenwe – no-holds-barred storytelling.............. 19 Director Speak: Francois Verster.......... 20

Documentary In the court of the Taarab queen......... 26 Tackling questions of identity and culture in a globalised world......... 28

Peter Russell shares his secrets............ 38 Wits Film and Television division expands international networks........... 39

SATELLITE AND TRANSMISSION TECHNOLOGY Temporary respite in C-Band debate..................................... 39

NEW MEDIA Demand escalates in an expanding industry.................................. 40

Regulars

Television Salim Amin: telling untold stories......... 29 Just how far will two best friends go for R10 000?!....................................... 30

Production Updates.................... 41 – 43 Events.......................................................... 43 Social........................................................... 44

FESTIVALS & MARKETS African projects selected at the Cinefondation’s Atelier and La Fabrique des Cinémas du Monde 2005-2016.............................. 31

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From the editor This time of year is always an exciting one for the techies among us as all the news from NABShow circulates around the industry. We’ve dedicated four pages in this issue to a few of the highlights that came out of Las Vegas last month. It’s by no means exhaustive but we can, at the very least, offer a sampling of the cameras, drones, audio equipment, etc, that were released this year and are setting the tone for the gear talk throughout the next few months up to and including IBC in September. If your favourite new product doesn’t appear in these pages, don’t worry – it will probably show up over the next few issues.

Aside from a lot of new machines and solutions being launched to market, there was very little at NABShow that could be considered new in terms of overarching trends. We’re still talking 4K/UHD and HDR and the IP revolution. These technologies are reaching a pretty advanced stage and the transition to IP workflows, in particular, with and without legacy equipment, is being made ever easier.

As I write this, SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng is holding a workshop with South African producers about the creation of local content for the new language-based SABC channels. At the same time, the NFVF are announcing their funding decisions for the fourth quarter of 2015. We don’t have much to say about these yet but we will report on it in later issues. I mention it here because it brought to mind the fact that the public sector has been rather quiet – for better or for worse – since the beginning of this year. The SABC, the NFVF and the dti have all had little to say for themselves and yet there have been quiet rumblings from and about all of them in the form of industry rumours. Hopefully some clarity will come soon and (who knows?) this SABC workshop might be the start of something positive. We will let you know shortly.

In this issue, among other stories, we take a look at collaborative post-production workflows, spotlight two very different African documentaries and speak to Hollywood ‘story doctor’ Peter Russell about the basics of good screenwriting. We hope you enjoy.

Until next month…

– Warren Holden

SCREENAFRICA

Sub-Editor: Tina Heron

Publisher & Managing Editor: Simon Robinson: publisher@screenafrica.com

Design: Trevor Ou Tim: design@sun-circle.co.za

Editor: Warren Holden: editor@screenafrica.com

Website & Production Updates: Carina Vermooten: web@sun-circle.co.za

Journalists: Chanelle Ellaya: news@screenafrica.com Cera-Jane Catton: cera@screenafrica.com

Subscriptions: Tina Tserere: tina@sun-circle.co.za Delight Ngwenya: admin@sun-circle.co.za

Contributors: Ifeoma ‘Oma’ Areh, Sam Charo Claire Diao, Ian Dormer Andy Stead

Accounts: Helen Loots: accounts@sun-circle.co.za Advertisement Sales: Marianne Schafer: marianne@screenafrica.com Graham Grier: graham@sun-circle.co.za

The Team Editor

CONTRIBUTORS

Warren Holden is a writer and journalist whose lifelong love of film and television prompted him to study for his BA in Motion Picture Medium at AFDA Johannesburg, specialising in writing and directing. After graduating, he worked for three years in the television industry before following his aptitude for writing into the world of publishing. He then worked for five years as assistant editor on the arts and culture publication Classicfeel, before taking the helm of Screen Africa, where his experiences in the separate streams of motion picture and publishing have finally come together. In addition to his work on Screen Africa, he is also hard at work developing stories for film and television and studying for a second degree in economics and African politics.

Ifeoma ‘Oma’ Areh runs WildFlower PR and Company, a Nigerian based entertainment and digital PR company.

She has worked on some of the biggest campaigns in Africa.

She is also the convener of Africa’s first ever ‘Digital Entertainment Conference’ #DECAFRICA. She lives in Lagos with her husband and children.

JOURNALISTS Cera-Jane Catton is a writer and journalist with years of experience in community newspapers, blogging and freelance journalism. She has migrated to Jozi from Durban to join the team at Screen Africa in the hope of sampling lots of free popcorn.

Cera has worked in a cache of capacities, often finding herself behind or in front of the cameras, intentionally and less so. She has been a stunt double in two Bollywood movies, has worked in various capacities on a number of natural history documentaries, and other international productions shot in South Africa.

She studied journalism and photography and is always eager to learn something new. She speaks up for the voiceless, is a dedicated movie lover and a wannabe doccie maker.

Chanelle Ellaya is a writer and a journalist. She completed her BA Journalism degree at the University of Johannesburg in 2011. While writing is her passion, she has a keen interest in the media in various capacities: In 2012 she co-presented the entertainment and lifestyle show Top Entertainment on TopTV and later that year she was handpicked as part of a panel of five dynamic young Africans to interview Winnie MadikizelaMandela on a youth focused television show called MTV Meets. Chanelle is an avid social networker and a firm believer in the power of social and online networking. Between writing and tweeting, she finds time to feed her love for live music.

Sam Charo is an independent writer, producer and filmmaker based in Nairobi, Kenya. His passion is sharing great stories about the continent with rest of the world.

Claire Diao is a French and Burkinabe cinema journalist. She covers the African film industry for various international media and moderates the Afrikamera Festival in Berlin each year. In 2015, she co-founded Awotele, a digital magazine that focuses on African cinema.

Ian Dormer – Born in Zimbabwe, Ian has been in the TV business since the 1980s, having served in various positions at the SABC, M-Net and SuperSport. Ian currently works and resides in New Zealand.

Andy Stead is a broadcast industry professional with over 40 years’ experience in both South Africa and the UK, having worked at a number of leading industry organisations including the BBC and Chroma Television. Now retired, he is based in Cape Town.

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Editorial Disclaimer The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of Screen Africa or any employee thereof. Sun Circle Publishers makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. Sun Circle Publishers reserves the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner it sees fit comments that it, in its sole discretion, deems to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, or is otherwise unacceptable.

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South Africa

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The future of 4K at MultiChoice The question around the globe is whether to move to Ultra High Definition 4K now or wait until industry standards have been finalised, which might only happen in 2017 or later. Where does that leave Africa?

After reports that 4K was not on the cards for MultiChoice, Screen Africa spoke to their broadcast technology division that confirmed that they have not made a definite decision whether or not to broadcast in 4K. “We are simply not offering it at present,” says Nyiko Shiburi, group general manager. “4K is still very new on the market and there is still much development that needs to be done before it can become a broadcasting standard.”

Shiburi confirmed that MultiChoice will keep an eye on international developments as standards for 4K

New independent film puts Limpopo in the limelight Shot over five days in Limpopo, Madimabe: The Phalaborwa Story is an unorthodox feature film produced using no script, and novice actors. Screen Africa caught up with fresh filmmaker and director Mofenyi Malepe to talk about the improvised Madimabe: The Phalaborwa Story and how it was shaped.

According to Malepe the film was shot on nearly no budget. “I took my last R4 000 and headed to Phalaborwa to meet up with the natural talent in the region. I explained to them that we do not even have budget for food, that’s how dedicated we were to make it happen.”

POST PRODUCTION

broadcasting begin to emerge. In July 2015 broadcaster FujiTV became the first commercial broadcaster to start streaming 4K in Japan, with a commitment of 19 channels on air by 2018. There are eight channels available in Europe in 4K, India is testing in 4K and Sky Europe will start transmitting in 4K at the end of 2016 with assurances in the US that 4K broadcasting will commence this year.

“4K is still a developing technology internationally. 4K content is just emerging so true 4K content is currently rare. 4K is not just about higher resolution but also a high dynamic range and better colour. The standards for 4K broadcasting have not been fully developed yet and relatively few TVs offer HDR and better colour,” says Shiburi.

Ultra-High Definition 4K is very much

SHAREHOLDERS OF THIS THING CALLED LIFE: Still from Madimabe: The Phalaborwa Story Shooting on Malepe’s Canon 5D Mark II, the crew used Rode NTG 2 microphone and Zoom 6 recorder for sound, which ended up being the biggest challenge they faced. “There was sound coming from every household, as we were shooting during the festive season and everyone was playing their home theatres up to planet Mars, but we managed to minimise the disturbance,” says Malepe.

It was shot between 29 December 2015 and 3 January 2016 in and around the Phalaborwa township called Namakgale, which Malepe says is Limpopo’s oldest township.

Why would a director choose to make a film with no script? Malepe explained,

the next step for broadcasters worldwide but when that step will be taken is still up in the air. In South Africa the scope of 4K television is still limited, so for now MultiChoice is focusing on expanding their HD offering. “We believe HD offers good quality viewing to our customers.

Many South Africans, and DStv customers, still don’t have HD viewing in their homes. This is why we now offer HD on all our packages and have a single view HD decoder on the market, which is manufactured here in South Africa,” adds Shiburi.

As with all new technology, it is about setting clear standards and also getting the right equipment into customers’ homes. “Even though some international operators offer 3D broadcast, not many customers have got equipment capable of receiving 3D broadcasts, which is why this has not taken off to the extent it was originally predicted,” says Shiburi.

MultiChoice continues to follow new technologies and advancements and says for now HD is quite enough for South Africa. The question remains: do consumers want 4K and will they pay more for it? – Cera-Jane Catton

“Scripts tend to limit the thespians and talent. I already had my arcs in my head, so, it came to me that if explained better to the cast, then we had a better chance of executing the moral of the story effortlessly. I must say they came to the party, we can only grow from there.”

Malepe noticed a uniformity in the cast’s love of the story and said: “It probably invigorated their relatability. The direction I gave them was that they must not act but portray the characters at hand. For talented people, that became an easily digestible task.”

Malepe wanted to begin the journey of unearthing untapped talent in his hometown. “I spent a decade in front of the camera as the only actor from my town and it felt lonely hoisting the flag alone, it is time my people get their shine and we are going to do that as a clique.”

Inspired by a lack of dialogue among traditional and religious leaders, Malepe said “We are all shareholders of this thing we call life, so we must cohabit harmoniously and meet each other halfway. Dialogue is very crucial, if we fail to talk, we will perish because of lack of knowledge. Every individual can

teach others.”

Moving back to Limpopo Malepe said: “I see myself bidding my goodbyes to ‘Johustleburg’ because we want to create a film hub in Phalaborwa and grow the Limpopo film industry. Limpopo has a plethora of talent. We have other films to shoot and we are working on a brilliant concept for a telenovela titled Tonakgolo.”

Malepe did post-production himself. “I did everything at my house with an iMac as a first time film editor with the guidance and midnight calls of Simon Makwela, a man known in the music video world as MacMak. I went to him at Undergrowth Capital Media to clean up the film.”

Malepe is planning on making this a drama series, “There is an awareness crying out for attention regarding the dictates of culture specifically on issues of manhood.”

The film was sent to Mzansi Magic for licensing on 8 April 2016 and Malepe hopes it will air soon. Funding and film planning is already in the pipeline for the film hub Malepe is hoping to create in Limpopo. – Cera-Jane Catton

KEEPING AN EYE ON 4K: Nyiko Shiburi

ANIMATION / DESIGN / VFX

WWW.BLADEWORKS.CO.ZA May 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 3

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Jasco implements broadcast learning studio at UFS Jasco Broadcast Solutions has implemented a broadcast learning studio at the University of the Free State (UFS) for its film and media students, rivalling any commercial operation.

The studio provides the UFS’ arts, media, drama and film students with access to the latest equipment and technology in a broadcast working environment that is rapidly changing.

Says Dr Pieter Venter of UFS’ film and visual media school: “This investment was driven by the need to provide a broader platform of opportunity to UFS students.

With the emergence of digital technology, industries are converging and the lines between theatre, film, television, media, marketing and agency outputs are blurred. Even though these sectors and disciplines are now more integrated, their roles are also more specialised.

“The 80m2 studio provides a ‘black box’ for our students to gain practical skills – from creating sitcoms to studio work or radio broadcasting. The studio will initially be tightly coupled with film and media honours studies, allowing students to produce a short film from start to finish, manage lighting, sound, editing and more. However, it will also be used by undergraduate students specialising in particular aspects of media production in their third year.”

The UFS Film and Media centre

comprises a stage, a studio, video and audio control rooms, as well as a ‘cine’ hall for screenings. The equipment supplied

by Jasco Broadcast Solutions includes four Sony PXW-X160 cameras for in-studio work; Shure audio equipment (microphones); Manfrotto tripods; a NewTek Tricaster Video Switcher for the control room; a Soundcraft Audio Mixer with JBL speakers for the audio control room; and a Panasonic Video Projector with a 7.1 Dolby surround processor with JBL speakers for the viewing room.

The UFS has also acquired four Sony HXR-NX3 Video cameras with accessories for field work.

“The studio was completed in August 2015 and as such, we are still in the development stage. Students are just getting to grips with the equipment yet we are already seeing much higher standards in terms of output,” says Dr Venter.

Jasco Broadcast Solutions played an important role in the specification of equipment. Adds Dr Venter: “The

co-operation of the Jasco team was outstanding. They brought all their working knowledge – expertise and experience gained with large and small commercial broadcasters in South Africa – to the project, helping us identify exactly what we require in terms of functionality while also gearing us to scale up or extend our capabilities in the future.

“Jasco’s commitment and willingness to go the extra mile ensured a smooth implementation. We now have a strong foundation in place to support the re-alignment of our media, drama and related courses to accommodate new developments in the industry,” says Paul Divall, Managing Director of Broadcast Solutions at the Jasco Group.

“It’s been a privilege to help the UFS design and set up its Film and Media Centre, assisting to nurture a new pool of broadcast skills for the industry. It will provide students with a practical head start in an industry that is becoming increasingly important as digital takes hold and more people consume visual media in every aspect of their daily lives.

“Jasco’s 20 years’ experience with leading brands and technologies stood us in good stead with the design and commissioning of the UFS centre. We look forward to a long relationship with the UFS as it helps to develop new talent for the local industry.”

Encounters introduces 2016 line-up The Encounters South African International Film Festival held a press launch recently in Cape Town and offered an opportunity to meet the festival’s new director Darryl Els. It also introduced the first six films selected for screening at the event, which takes place from 2 to 12 June at the Labia in Cape Town and the Bioscope in Johannesburg.

Portraits, human stories and activists are all part of the new-look Encounters and submissions include all kinds of topics from international arms dealing to the late great American poet /writer Maya Angelou.

“We showed excerpts of some of the films at the launch,” says Els. “These included: Action Kommandant, Alison and Walking in My Shoes – a film which takes us to the heart of the current educational crisis. There were also international entries including Maya Angelou – And Still I Rise, Requiem for an American Dream and Shadow World (based on the best-selling book by Andrew Feinstein, who will be at the festival). It was great to talk about the six films and the new additions for the 2016 programme – and also to give insight into 4 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2016

where the festival is going.

“I am very pleased with the quality of films we have been able to programme.

We will be locking down the line-ups, and also moving into other areas, taking a more expanded approach to non-fiction storytelling. I am interested in exploring how documentaries can operate across different disciplines – as an example this year we have live music, a virtual reality (VR) exhibition and a live podcast event.

“This year Encounters will be moving beyond the screen and will tap into different mediums. For me ‘the documentary’ is a malleable concept in a way, and the genre fits into different forms. I think this approach certainly makes for a more contemporary experience, and one that should attract a wide-ranging audience to the festival’s screenings and events.”

As an audience-centric festival, Encounters is about people having that unique festival experience. “I valued this highly when I was an audience member attending Encounters,” says Els. “The festival is also about brokering new opportunities for filmmakers. We’ve seen new growth areas, for example the

NEW DIRECTOR: Darryl Els rise on popularity of short online documentaries – and so I think there is an interesting opportunity around shorter content that can be shared more widely and offer greater visibility and impact for filmmakers.

“Similarly, we’ll be launching the Virtual Encounters exhibition at the festival and this will be a space dedicated to non-fiction VR and interactive documentaries. Ingrid Kopp (Tribeca) will be curating the programme and we’re really excited to have a dedicated space to new media at Encounters and we’re looking forward to growing and expanding this in the coming years,”

adds Els. Encounters will be bringing a VR producer to host a masterclass on producing VR content. “We’ll be screening a feature documentary that also has a VR aspect and will be premiering both at the festival this year.

These are made by different producers working together.”

He concludes: “I really like the idea of programming in this way as once again it offers up a range of new possibilities to both audiences and filmmakers in terms of watching and making documentaries.”

– Andy Stead

Introducing Blackmagic URSA Mini, the lightweight Super 35 4.6K digital film camera with 15 stops of dynamic range!

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Lightweight and Portable URSA Mini’s perfectly balanced body is made out of space aged magnesium alloys so it’s rugged, yet lightweight and comfortable enough to be used all day. You get a super bright 5” fold out touch screen for on-set monitoring, that can also display overlays for timecode, histograms, audio meters, focus peaking and more! URSA Mini features full size, professional connectors, even 12G-SDI, so you don’t need custom cables, plus high quality stereo microphones and a side grip mounted on a standard rosette.

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Completely Customizable Blackmagic URSA Mini is completely customizable so you can create a rig that’s built specifically for your production! Add accessories like the Blackmagic URSA Viewfinder and Blackmagic URSA Mini Shoulder Kit, or choose from hundreds of third party accessories. URSA Mini has 9 standard ¼” threaded mounting points on the top and bottom of the camera so you can mount it directly to a tripod as well as add accessories such as rails, matte boxes and more.

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SABC plans to launch new channels Africanews TV channel launches

The SABC is set to introduce languagebased channels to cater to the diversity of South African TV audiences, says the state broadcaster’s COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

Motsoeneng says these channels are being implemented because South Africans have been complaining about a lack of lingual and cultural representation on local TV channels. The channels will be grouped according to language groups.

“At this stage the envisaged channels will be grouped according to specific language compatibility, for example, Sesotho, Setswana, and Sepedi will be grouped as the Sotho channel; isiZulu, isiXhosa, Siswati, and isiNdebele will form another channel to be called the Nguni channel for the Nguni speaking viewership,” said Motsoeneng.

“The third channel will cater for xiTsonga and tshiVenda, while the fourth channel will cater for all Afrikaans speaking viewers inclusive of the Khoisan

Hlaudi Motsoeneng community among others. The new channels will be the melting pots of culture and traditions of all those languages,” he continued.

According to Motsoeneng, the new channels will only broadcast local content and will open the way for local creatives to create content in their own languages.

Africanews TV aired on television screens across the continent from 20 April 2016.

The launch of sub-Saharan Africa’s first multilingual and independent news channel, Africanews, will air in 33 African countries and some 7.3 million households.

Countries in which the new channel is broadcast include; South Africa, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo (host to the Africanewes TV head office, in Pointe Noire), Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, DRC, Equatorial Guinea,

Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda, Sao Tome, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo.

The channel launched with The Morning Call, a day-break news programme with two anchors moored in different languages; French-speaking Hannane Ferdjani and English-speaking Robert K’Odingo.

New Turner kids channel targets French speaking Africa

Carte Blanche wins at the Genesis Awards in Hollywood Carte Blanche was entered in the Brigitte Bardot International Award category where it won the award for Best International News Magazine for their multiple segments.

Carte Blanche won against the likes of National Geographic, Discovery Channels, and many others.

“We are absolutely thrilled to have won this award as it represents a win in some pretty illustrious company,” said Carte Blanche executive producer George Mazarakis. “Perhaps more importantly, it

sends a signal that we South Africans care for animals and take a stand against cruelty and abuse, no matter where it occurs. That this is recognised on an international platform is in itself most gratifying.”

Crew Pencil creates online tool for the SA film industry Cape Town start-up Crew Pencil (CP) is attempting to change the way the South African film industry operates. CP is a centralised online platform that connects production companies with qualified crew members. CP automates the process from sourcing, communicating, booking, to managing and invoicing.

Michael Bothma, operations manager at CP says it is the missing link that crew and production have been waiting for.

“Crew on CP have their own diary that production companies have access to 24/7. If available, production can pencil them, download CVs, see references, look 6 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2016

at showreels and even view their gear lists, all while the crew member is working on set or sleeping,” he explains. Crew Pencil gives a crew member all they need to easily and efficiently manage their own bookings all the time.

While CP is operational, and according to Bothma their numbers are growing, they are currently looking for a second round of investment. “This is needed for upscaling the development team, speeding up work on the mobile app and increased marketing and advertising strategies,” says Bothma.

Turner, a family entertainment channel provider, has launched a new animation channel to boost its current children’s entertainment offering. The introduction of Toonami reinforces the organisation’s portfolio of successful kids’ channels which includes Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Boing across various African markets.

Toonami was launched successfully in France, and is currently being rolled-out to other select European markets and French-speaking African countries.

During March the channel launched on the following pay-TV platforms: Maroc Telecom in Morocco, Blueline in Madagascar and on Parabole on the Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius,

Comores and Madagascar.

Turner is currently in discussions with various pay-TV operators across the continent to bring the new channel to all English-speaking territories in Africa too.

Pierre Branco, vice president and general manager of Turner Southern Europe and Africa, says: “We are pleased with the addition of Toonami to the bouquet of channels aimed at our younger audiences, as it further diversifies our robust entertainment experience and programme offering across age groups. The new channel promises to meet the growing demand for premium quality action – adventure and superhero content.”

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NAB | REPORT

NAB highlights The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show is over for another year with official attendance figures of 103 012 for the 2016 spectacle.

The exhibition featured 1 874 companies spanning 1 063 380 net square-feet of exhibit space. As usual there were many familiar faces, exhibitors and new products on show in what has undoubtably become the new product testing ground for the broadcast market.

On the camera front Craft Camera made headlines as the impressive modular camera that came out of nowhere. The company had leaked information teasing a production camera leading up to NAB 2016. Being modular, you can attach a 4K Video Element that has a Super 35mm CMOS Sensor with Global Shutter or you can attach an HD Video Element with a Super 16mm CMOS Sensor and Global Shutter. Beautifully crafted, this is one to look out for.

Another surprise was Chinese camera manufacturer Kinefinity who unveiled the new 5K and 6K Terra modular cameras. The cameras record ProRes 422HQ 10 bits. Clips can also be recorded in KineRAW, which can be transcoded into CinemaDNG and ProRres by the company’s own KineStation software.

8 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2016

Each year at NAB, Sony releases a product that pushes the limits of technology. Two years ago it was the a7S. Last year it was the a7R II. This year, it’s the HDC­-4800.This new monstrous high-end machine (I have no other words to describe it!) can record 4K images at up to 480fps when paired with the accompanying BPU-4800 processor. This new ENG camera was being described by many at the show as “the future of live production, a lot of everything – very high frame rate, very high resolution – a new era in modern sports production.”

Virtual Reality (VR) was a big part of NAB 2016. Nokia showed off the Ozo, the $60 000 360-degree camera. It’s the first VR camera designed for professional productions – and it has a price point to match. Also on the floor was the new GoPro Omni rig, designed to hold six Hero cameras. The Omni rig won the Best of NAB 2016 product award.

REPORT

| NAB

Sennheiser announced a new supercardioid microphone designed specifically for DSLR and mirrorless users. The MKE 440 is a stereo pair set up in a new arrangement developed by Sennheiser. The V shaped setup is said to represent the viewpoint of the camera. This allows the microphone to pick up dialogue and ambient noise, offering more sound mapping of the shooting environment.

There was no sign of the GoPro Solo drone but competitors DJI featured heavily in the Drone zone and perhaps one of the most impressive drone accessories was their Ronin MX gimbal. At $1 599, this new gimbal from DJI allows for cameras up to 4.5kgs! The gimbal itself is lightweight, and DJI is promoting the ability to easily switch between flight and ground modes, allowing any Ronin MX to get hooked into a drone and fly with relative ease.

Shaking the storage scene was Lacie which is no stranger to Mac workflows big and small as they revealed their 12big Thunderbolt 3 12-Bay Desktop RAID storage solution. Loaded with 12 7200rpm enterprise-class Seagate drives for a record-setting 96TB of desktop storage!

On the audio front some of the more popular new gadgets were accessories for DSLRs. Tascam debuted the DR-10SG, a $199 recorder with built-in microphone that attaches directly to your camera. The DR-10SG also uses a Dual Recording mode with records a secondary track at a lower level, in case you experience any popping or loud bursts of sound from your subject.

On the software side, Blackmagic keeps consistent with releasing great new stuff at NAB as they have in years past, and the release of Resolve 12.5 seems to be in line with a great update. Featuring over 1 000 enhancements and 250 new features that give editors and colourists dozens of new editing and trimming tools, incredible new media management and organisation functions. There are new HDR grading tools, vastly improved noise reduction, lens distortion correction, a completely redesigned Deliver page for outputting projects amongst many more!

Adobe wasn’t going to let anyone down on the software side. Premiere users will be delighted to learn about additions to last year’s popular Lumetri Color Panel and Scopes features, support for more native formats (including 6K and 8K files), and even VR workflows. New features in both Premiere Pro and Media Encoder will give more control over the handling of files during the ingest process along with more flexibility when working with very large media. Premiere Pro will also now support 6k and 8k files from RED WEAPON cameras. For those working on more lightweight platforms, you’ll now be able to generate proxies on ingest, automatically associating them with the native full-resolution media. A single click will let you toggle between the two. Pretty neat.

NAB continues to surprise all who visit and I am already looking forward to next year!

– Ian Dormer May 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 9

NEWS

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TECHNOLOGY

Sony unveils 4K 8x super motion camera system with replay server function

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Fujifilm Fujinon UA107x8.4 Fujifilm launched this 4K-compatible broadcast lens as part of its 4K Premier series.

This lens covers a range from a wide angle of 8.4mm to super-telephoto 900mm and supports 4K shooting needs for a variety of applications.

Sony’s newest camera system combines 4K resolution with enhanced high frame rate capabilities – 8x at 4K, and up to 16x in full HD. This power is combined with dynamic center cut-out and zoom capabilities for live sports and event production.

The camera, model number HDC-4800 works with the BPU-4800, a combined baseband processor unit and replay server, to create a fully networked, live 4K, high-speed workflow.

Features: • HDC-4800

Features: • Achieves the world’s highest zoom ratio – 107x • Perfect for 4K sport production • A wide range of focal lengths from extreme wide angle to super-telephoto • Floating focus system controls multiple lens groups according to the shooting distance • Makes use of Fujifilm’s High Transmittance Electron Beam Coating for enhanced transmittance and colour reproduction • Equipped with 16-bit encoders • Natural bokeh achieved through an aperture design that features nine blades.

LAWO V-Matrix virtualised broadcast ecosystem

. Super 35mm CMOS sensor . Wide colour space (BT.2020 and BT.709) . Supports PL mount lenses . Forms companion system for the HDC-4300 4K/HD camera with 2/3 inch sensor • BPU-4800 . Enables up to four hours of continuous 4K capture at 8x super motion without transmitting data from the camera to a live server . Connects to HDC-4800 with SMPTE optical fibre.

Imagine Communications launches Epic management and orchestration platform

Powered by Imagine Communications’ Zenium platform, Epic is a new multiviewer that is UHD ready and designed to facilitate the seamless assimilation of IT-based environments into the broadcasting realm.

The software-based and UHD-ready IP multiviewer is optimized for hybrid and high-powered production, acquisition, origination and distribution requirements, providing broadcasters and other media companies a single solution for SDI, IP and hybrid environments.

Features and capabilities • Runs on Hewlett Packard Enterprise and other standard commercial off-theshelf platforms • Supports high-capacity SDI over IP, 3G-SDI and linear compressed IP sources • Scaling to thousands of sources and hundreds of displays • Supports UHD outputs and UHD-capable inputs • Provides sophisticated monitoring by-exception functionality • Provides native support for MPEG2 and H.264/AVC compressed video stream delivery over IP networks Imagine Communications’ products and solutions are distributed in South Africa

by Concilium Technologies. Visit www.concilium.co.za.

10 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2016

Lawo hosted a world premiere unveiling of their newest innovation on the first day of this year’s NAB Show, North Hall. The V__matrix is a software-defined IP core routing and processing platform based on data center principles of flexibility, fabric computing and COTS economics. Designed to provide a completely virtualized real-time production infrastructure, V__matrix leverages multiple cores connected to a highcapacity COTS switch with redundant 10GE and 40GE connections to form a distributed IP routing and processing matrix with frame-accurate, clean switching just like a legacy baseband matrix.

As a completely IP-based platform, V__matrix can be deployed anywhere – in an OB truck, a TV studio or a broadcast operation center – to create a virtualized core infrastructure for live production. Since the capabilities of the system and the functionality of the signal chains are not defined by physical connectivity of hardware modules, routing and processing can either be decentralized and spread over one or more facilities or centralized in a fixed facility or OB truck. The V__matrix functionagnostic core processing hardware allows an operator to build complex workflows by simply loading and running the appropriate Virtual Modules, which can be changed on-the-fly during runtime as production demands change. By cascading multiple Virtual Modules together, the V__matrix can be scaled linearly up to thousands of SDI I/O and audio/video processing functions for unparalleled flexibility, versatility and cost-efficiency.

Lawo products are distributed in South Africa by Inala Broadcast. www.inalabroadcast.co.za.

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Datavideo introduces the KMU-100 4K processing unit Datavideo’s all new KMU-100 is a unique 4K multi-camera production solution that delivers multiple virtual full HD (up to 1080p) scaled camera angles with minimal installation cost and simple operation.

The basic concept is straightforward: The output of a single 4K/UHD camera is connected to KMU-100, which then displays up to four 16x9 user-defined cropped windows that are sent out as four separate HD signals through HD-SDI. These user defined windows can be scaled to zoom in on a particular subject that you would like to highlight on the 4K signal. An additional 4K camera could be connected to allow up to eight defined outputs from the two 4K signals. As an option, the Datavideo RMC-180 camera controller can be added to easily pan, tilt, and zoom to create the user defined windows on the 4K signal. You

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TECHNOLOGY

| NEWS

can set up these shots in advance and save them as presets, or you can do it in real-time.

For example, if you wanted to broadcast a live three-piece band concert using a 4K camera; simply set up the 4K/UHD camera with a wide angle shot, then connect the camera output to the KMU-100. Use the RMC-180 controller to select up to four 16x9 windows which could be positioned with a joystick as well as resized from any part of the original 4K signal. You can now have the following shots: 1. Wide angle of the band.

2. A close up shot of the lead singer.

3. Close up drummer and drum set.

4. Close up of piano player.

These 4 virtual camera signals (up to 1080p) could be connected to any HD-SDI switcher, giving the illusion of a multi camera production when in reality, you only have one 4K camera.

“Finally, it’s viable to use a 4K camera in live multi-camera production,” states Craig Moffat, Managing Director of Datavideo US. “Imagine how convenient it would be to set up a live video production for concerts, press conferences, sporting events, or a worship service. No camera operator needed and minimal set-up time – a real game changer for live video producers.”

Datavideo products are distributed in South Africa by Macrovideo.

Visit www.macrovideo.co.za.

Cine Photo Tools offers new camera and lighting products Cine Photo Tools has the scoop on two great new products hitting South African shores.

Products mentioned below can be ordered online at www.cinephototools.com or contact sales@cinephototools.com for enquiries.

Kino Flo Selects Purchasing Kino Flo lighting equipment is a long term investment.

Hardy and reliable, Kino Flo’s real strength lies in the quality of light. From their famous fluorescents to their innovative LEDs, they can be seen behind the scenes of Indie videos and top Hollywood blockbusters – there is a Kino Flo for every shooting scenario.

The Selects are a new range of variable colour LED lights from Kino Flo. These LEDs emit soft white light that is flicker-free and does not shift colour temperature when dimmed. They have built – in barndoors so they look like classic Kino fluorescent fixtures but possess all the perks of LED lights. On top of having full dial-in variable colour temperature and dimming control from 2700K to 6500K, there is also an independent green/magenta control to adjust the hue. This allows you to match the particular colour sensitivities of different camera sensors and lenses. You can operate the fixtures remotely via the detachable controller, so now you can easily dial your hue/intensity while looking at your monitor for instance.

Lighter than their popular Celeb LEDs – with more compact dimensions of their traditional fluorescents – the Selects are very portable, and perfect for both studio and location shoots. They can also be battery powered-two V-Lock batteries should keep the larger Select running on full power for around an hour. They are available in various Select20 DMX or Select30 DMX KIT options.

Samyang XEENs XEEN Cine lenses by Samyang offer outstanding optical performance for 4K+ shooting. These are dedicated Cine lenses that cover full frame sensors and are perfect for newer cameras like the RED Weapon.

Anticipated to perform in the same league as the likes of Schneider, Zeiss, and Canon in terms of specs, features, and quality, the only difference you will notice is when it comes to price. These lenses are definitely kinder on the budget, with no compromise felt elsewhere.

The XEEN X-Coating Technology ensures sharpness and contrast to create a perfect cinematic look. All the lenses feature de-clicked gear rings – with dual focus and iris scales- in identical locations so that changing lenses is simple and quick. Focus is internal with non-rotating fronts, ensuring no focus gear travel, and reduced focus breathing. The 14-layer coating process guarantees consistent colour, accurate skin tone reproduction, and anti-glare properties.

Last year Samyang released three lenses – the 24mm T1.5, 50mm T1.5 and 85mm T1.5, but there was a noticeable gap in the line-up. Recently they announced two new lenses – the much anticipated XEEN 14mm T3.1 and 35mm T1.5, which means you can now create a perfect, balanced five-lens-set for all your video and cinema needs. The Samyang XEEN Primes are quickly becoming the lens set of choice for shoots big and small. And with major lens brands imposing international price hikes, the XEENS have just become even more enticing. The lenses are available in five different mounts – PL, EF, F, E and MFT.

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May 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 11

ADCETERA

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OPINION

In defence of dialogue

By Dani Hynes, Egg Films director Dialogue-driven ads are an endangered species in South Africa. Out of 10 boards Egg Films receives, it’s rare for more than two to be dialogue-driven. Egg loves voiceovers, vignettes and visual storytelling as much as any agency art director but also believes that memorable dialogue still stands out, perhaps now more than ever as there’s so little of it. This is backed by the popularity

‘Mr. Cuddles’

of their recent campaigns for Careers24 and Wimpy.

‘Mr Cuddles,’ Dani Hynes’ Wimpy ad for FCB, is a great example of how dialogue can become a meme: since the ad aired, people on social media have been comparing news events like Zuma’s ‘apology,’ or Radovan Krejcir’s defense, to the dad who tries to blame Mr Cuddles, and appropriating ‘this guy’ (Wimpy voice) as a shorthand for their own disbelief. Dani weighs in on her own love of dialogue.

12 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2016

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omeone else: “When did you realise you wanted to be a film director?”

Me: “The day I fell in love with radio.”

Seems an incongruent argument right?

How does the ‘least visual’ medium set you on a path to picture making? Those of you who know, know exactly how. To those who find this whole premise weird, I’ll begin at the beginning.

I am a huge fan of conversation, language in general to be fair, but conversations specifically. Messy, awkward, funny, easy, tough, someone else’s – I love them all. I adore nuance and turns of phrase. It is how people reveal themselves to you over time, story by story, fact by fact, and if you’re lucky enough to meet the right people, wine too.

Our ability to communicate changed everything for us as a species. Well, that and opposable thumbs obviously.

Out-loud cognitive thinking and subtext is where the really good stuff happens.

Laughter, flirting, heartbreak, anger, warmth, tenderness – it’s all there beneath the surface in every conversation you have, overhear, read about, retell. It is how we understand that we are not alone in this crazy endeavour called life.

Radio taught me that when you don’t have visuals at the ready, you better choose your words and how you say them wisely. There is nowhere to hide there. So say what you mean and mean what

you say.

The power of dialogue is wielded beautifully over the airwaves. So why then do we think it doesn’t work on film?

Since movies started talking on a Thursday in 1927 (I like that it was a Thursday; I can’t tell you why), we have heard some incredible things. From the “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” advice in Jaws to the “You make me want to be a better man” compliment in As Good As It Gets. We have heard them all.

We have even stolen some of them when our own words failed us. Well, I have.

Why? Because on 6 October 1927, we realised we don’t just see the world around us, we populate it with our thoughts and personalities, our experiences and our points of view and none of that matters if we can’t share it with each other.

As marketers, we often believe that words and their intentions are hardy enough for us to bend them to our will. I have been in many a meeting where people even make them up. Unless you are Bruce Banner guys, you can’t brandish about ‘mutated buzzwords’ like ‘flag-poling’ as if they too are mightier than the sword. They aren’t. Because they aren’t real, you know they aren’t. In a world where people have been lied to too often, what they’re really after are honest conversations.

We talk all the time. We talk about everything. So you would be forgiven for

thinking that you could put any words in anyone’s mouth. Actors and actresses have to be able to deliver the lines we give them because it is their job. Right?

Wrong. They deliver the lines as the characters we give them. The more fully formed and authentic those are, the better the delivery.

Think of it like this: you are at a party and a very attractive prospect eyes you up. That is nice. Then they walk over and tell you straight away what they do, how good they are at it, how much value they give people and that if you go home with them right now, you will get a free set of steak knives or something else you don’t really need.

Less nice, more “Oh, would you look at that: my imaginary Uber is here!”

The only way I have ever got to know someone was by starting a conversation and talking to them. I have had less luck with the people I talk at.

Dialogue is a powerful way to tell a brand story, but we are doing it less and less. I just wonder why? In the (mumbles behind hand in embarrassed fashion) years I have been writing and directing, no one has ever quoted back to me an end line from one of my ads, but I got a special kick out of seeing the crazy cool selection of #thisguy memes.

It taught me one very important thing: audiences are like toddlers in traffic; they listen more closely than we think.

ADCETERA

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Saving the earth by banking glass Comparing recycling to banking, and animated by glass bottles that, once recycled, build a better country.

This is the premise of The Glass Recycling Company of South Africa’s (TGRC) latest ad campaign. It is a simulation of an idyllic Africa brought to life by glass bottles, revealing what is saved by what is recycled.

“When you put something in, you get something out,” is the theme behind the ad. TGRC CEO Shabeer Jhetam was inspired while conducting national research. “We found that consumers placed great importance on looking after our environment.” Therefore the advertisement needed to link and communicate the direct benefits of glass recycling.

The TVC was conceptualised with the South African advertising agency Tribe Sauce (TS), whose CEO Ant Hanly says: “We were faced with the challenge of creating a commercial that would break through the boredom of standard environmental communication.”

The ad was produced in Johannesburg

by Stephen Hanly who said the task came with much difficulty. “In order to fully visualise the glass-banking metaphor, animation software programmes such as After Effects and Avid were used over a

six-week period using 16 computers to render different parts of the commercial.”

This was an enormous task as each bottle had to be rendered separately and then placed in position.

Animated in Ireland by Street Monkey (SM) who produced a trial animal (The Giraffe) so that they could test looks, environments and ways of rendering.

“We worked for a week or more to narrow down a look. This Giraffe set the tone for the remainder of the job and allowed us to calculate timeframes for all aspects going forward,” says Dermot Faloon, director at SM. “Once everyone was happy with the test concept the commercial was boarded out on paper by the agency, then roughly modelled using basic 3D shapes in our software Cinema4D. This gave us timings to work to and allowed the client to see a very rough version of the commercial.”

At the same time designers worked on the lighting and environment for the glass bottle animals to come alive. “The animals were all created as basic bone skeletons. In the 3D environment these invisible bones were used to attach the 3D bottles. This was a very tricky part. In conventional 3D character animation, we can bend and deform shapes to make

Still from The Glass Recycling Company advert

arms and legs work, but this time we had to work with what essentially was a 3D jigsaw,” says Faloon.

“Rendering on this job was time consuming. It’s an unusual request as we had so many transparent, reflective, refractive objects at once. This pushed our render farm hard as we needed feedback every morning to make visual tweaks and amends. Visuals were being calculated 24 hours a day. Some of the more complex frames in this job took 40 to 50 minutes per frame to work out all the glass. Frames and scenes were internally swapped to suit skillsets across four employees,” says Faloon. He confirmed that client feedback was easy using Skype and email as they worked

Kiss and create a stir in Kenya In January Coca-Cola launched its largest global campaign in almost a decade.

The campaign in South Africa was launched early in March and is known by the tagline ‘Enjoy the Feeling’. While the global creative campaign has the tagline ‘Taste the Feeling,’ which replaces the seven-year-old ‘Open Happiness’ tag they have been using.

With the new campaign came the sugared surge of new commercials.

However, Kenya was not too pleased with the ad selected for its TV stations. The Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB), after receiving complaints in April, contacted the advertiser to remove what it deemed an offensive scene.

The scene in question was a threesecond shot of two strangers who have a passionate embrace in a library. The film board warned the advertisers to consider whether children would be watching at 14 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2016

The controversial kissing scene that was deleted from the Kenya commercial

the time the advert is aired.

The KFCB and the management of Coca Cola in Central, East & West Africa held a discussion about the campaign and agreed that the advert would be edited.

Head of communications at Coca-Cola Southern Africa, Zipporah Maubane confirmed that the advert referred to is not currently being aired in South Africa, as they chose to use a different version to

the one being aired in other countries.

“Prior to broadcast in Kenya we received guidance from the KFCB and rating approval in line with their established classifications and our own responsible marketing guidelines and processes,” says Maubane. “However, following the request received from the KFCB, we have made a minor revision to one of the TV advertisements and a new version is currently being aired on the

from their location in Belfast.

Faced with continuous challenges Ant Hanly explains: “Bringing the world together at the end was incredibly difficult as the shots cut from a close-up featuring both mother and baby elephant to a long shot of the Earth. This resulted in rendering millions of minute bottles from above so that one could visualise that glass recycling helps the Earth to become more environmentally stable.”

Jhetam from TGRC concludes: “The visualisation of glass recycling and its positive link to creating a sustainable world was done in so much detail, so that one can see that action is needed in order to bring about change.”

– Cera-Jane Catton

local electronic media channels.”

According to Eva Mbun, corporate communications at KFCB, the commercial was edited immediately. “It has been two weeks since the edited version aired on broadcast stations as required,” claims Mbun. The commercial remains the same, except it is now without the kissing scene.

“The new version is without the offensive kissing scenes that violated family values,” she says.

“We’re committed to marketing in line with local guidelines and consumer values,” adds Maubane.

Considering that Coca-Cola can select from the campaign which commercials are run in which country, specifically by its local head office, it is interesting that they chose to delete the scene as opposed to running another ad. The SA version does not include any of the kissing scenes.

While Coca-Cola confirmed it had not received any complaint from any other country, they could not confirm where the commercial with the kissing scene is being aired.

The fact that Coca-Cola Southern Africa chose to air a version without such passion and rather focus on the brotherly love bonding contained in the ad speaks for our broadcasters, or does it? Would SA have needed a similar amendment?

– Cera-Jane Catton

| ADCETERA

Harmony hits Jozi Johannesburg provides the setting for the music video of RubyGold’s latest single ‘In the City’. The video opens with dancers jiving on a busy city street to the opening line, “What do you see?”

This bitter sweet song is about life in the dog-eat-dog world of the city where, the lyrics suggest, there is nothing wrong in the money-hungry city. All you need is to know where you heart beats.

“The song is about the life in the city and it was befitting for the music video to be shot in the location that captures all the elements of the song, and that was in the city of Johannesburg,” said director Sam Leburu.

The music video was filmed in Maboneng and Ghandi Square, over two days on the weekend of 27 and 28 June 2015. Since its release in February 2016 the video has been airing on MTV Base and Soweto TV. The song is a fusion of jazz, hip hop and dance. RubyGold’s record label, Strange Medley Music Group, describes her style as ‘A sound unique to her multi-faceted repertoire known as trance-jazz. The sound derives from the gradual downbeat of spiritual trance and is within pivotal breaks nuanced with the sensuality of jazz.’

RubyGold on the set of the In the City music video

Filmed and produced by Krugersdorp based LeburuGraphy Pictures the video was filmed using a Sony FS700 camera which Leburu says he chose for its slow motion precision. He says they used a 16-35mm, 50mm prime and a 24-70mm Canon lens and a Glidecam Steady Shot Rig and Manfrotto shoulder rig.

“Although the city does not necessarily

give the impression of a carefree world,” said Leburu. “People are heading to work, some just milling around and there are street-vendors everywhere, but we get to see the artist show her true self, free and happy.”

He said the music video gives the feeling of freedom in an unsafe place.

“There is dance and some scenes are

shot in slow motion. The atmosphere looks cold but the different characters captured bring in the warmth,” said Leburu.

RubyGold is preparing for the release of Box Unlimited, her first album with the independent label, which is licensed to Gallo Records.

– Cera-Jane Catton

May 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 15

FILM | OPINION

language filmmaking

The question of in A burning question for many African filmmakers is the question of language – in what language should one make a film?

And although it may seem obvious – many filmmakers don’t realise that the answer to this question is based on the most fundamental of premises: who is going to watch your film and where are they going to watch it?

B

efore starting production in any language, filmmakers must know their target audience: who are they, how many of them are there, where will they watch and how will they pay? By starting with the audience, the decisions around language become much clearer.

Some basic facts are also useful for filmmakers to keep in mind; for instance, US buyers won’t buy a film as soon as there are subtitles, so using English increases your sales chances in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand immediately. In the US subtitles on a film automatically exclude a long list of buyers who will not even consider the film, as their larger audiences have shown major reluctance towards sub-titled films – other than in niche world-cinema markets.

Even when a film is being made primarily for the South African market, language is still a major issue. There are myriad language groups across South Africa, from the various African languages to English and Afrikaans, however, it is clear from box office data (NFVF box office report) that outside of English, only Afrikaans audiences frequent the cinemas and support films in their mother tongue.

In South Africa, and across most of English-speaking Africa, English is the most common language in film. In South Africa English films appeal across all racial and language groups and especially to

16 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2016

By Pascal Schmitz and Mayenzeke Baza of AAA Entertainment

WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE: Pascal Schmitz and Mayenzeke Baza higher LSM groups – the audiences that go to the cinema and buy tickets and popcorn. The recent box office success of the English language film Happiness is a Four Letter Word is an ideal example of this trend, as it appealed mostly to black cinema audiences.

Filmmakers also need to understand and differentiate between cinema-bound films as opposed to those that will be more successful via DVD, VOD and TV sales. Knowing the film’s potential markets and distribution channels prior to production is critical, not just for language decisions, but also in terms of financing and budgets.

However, for many filmmakers the issue is not always so clear and not only based on financial considerations. In many cases filmmakers express a desire to make their films authentic and express the culture of the characters and the world of the film by having the characters talk in their mother tongue.

Other times the challenge lies with the writer of the film who may not feel comfortable writing a script in English or even with the actors who could struggle to deliver a great performance in English and would sound and come across as more authentic in their mother tongue.

While these are all very valid points from a creative perspective, all filmmakers do need to consider the size of nichelanguage audiences and especially the monetisation value of those audiences. If a filmmaker has no financial imperative or distribution aspirations beyond a niche audience group, then using mothertongue languages make sense. However, for most filmmakers who need to secure funding or recoup their investment, the bigger question is whether the film has

potential for local theatrical release and can it sell internationally?

Many times the filmmakers in this debate, will reference non-English speaking countries such as France, Germany, Brazil, that successfully produce films in local mother tongue for their domestic market and sometimes also for the international market. However, it is important to dig deeper and understand the realities of these territories.

First and foremost, South Africa is a multi-language environment unlike successful film producing countries such as France – where there is only one national language. A French language film would be accessible to the entire population of France. Additionally, French is spoken in 38 countries outside of France, 26 of them in Africa, and therefore their domestic mother tongue has a built-in global market.

The same goes for Spain, Brazil and many other domestic mother tongue cinema success stories. Even though all of these countries’ films are still placed second in terms of box office earnings to Hollywood, their cinema-going markets are large enough to sustain domestic films even as a secondary market.

There is, in fact, no multilingual country in the world that has successfully and consistently exported films in one or more local languages, but almost all primary English language countries have managed to do so.

Another example of this is closer to home; Nigeria has more languages and ethnic groups than South Africa, yet they produce more films in English, than in Hausa or other local languages. It is primarily the English films that are screened on DStv’s Africa Magic and

other channels for millions of eager viewers across the continent.

Lastly, but yet critically important to consider, are the technical implications of making a non-English language film. For any international sales and distribution, such as iTunes or television licensing, separate subtitles have to be delivered along with a clean version of the film. For territories that dub, the music and FX track must be delivered as well as a full transcription of the films’ final dialogue.

The costs to deliver non-English language films therefore are significantly higher than English language films, and they offer a lower potential for return on that investment.

It is clear that when setting out to make a film, filmmakers need to be clear and honest about the audiences targeted and the desired outcomes in terms of local, regional or global sales. A film may have a huge audience potential in a particular language, but sadly that audience’s size or viewing habits may seriously hamper the film’s financial success or global reach.

As sales agent and distributors, these are critical factors as the value of the TV, DVD and VOD sales are directly influenced by box office success in South Africa, and in international sales, language plays a huge role.

Therefore, if English as a language of production is at your disposal in terms of scriptwriting, directing and actors’ performances, it makes sense to use English as the primary language for film.

Doing so will increase chances of financing, regional and international reach, and ultimately, securing international sales and distribution – making it possible to share the story and message of the film on a global scale.

Nigeria | Opinion

| Film

The Nigerian film industry should follow the DIFF model

By Michael Chima Ekenyerengozi Editor and publisher, Nigerians Report Nigeria is the second largest film producing nation in the world according to information on the official website of the biennial Zuma International Film Festival of the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC), started in 2006 after the demise of the National Film Festival.

But this claim is disputed by the top global film markets in the world and Nigeria is not on the list of the top 10 countries led by USA, China, Japan and others. Nigeria produces more home videos than films and the Nigerian film industry does not have enough cinemas for her teeming population of more than 170 million people, therefore Nigerian filmmakers turned to producing home videos for home entertainment.

No local or foreign film has made up to USD1 million from the Nigerian box office, with only 50 screens operated by fewer than five film exhibitors in selected shopping malls in the country. The Nigerian film industry, popularly known for Nollywood movies of the southern region and Kannywood movies of the

largely Hausa-speaking north, has more international film festivals than South Africa, Africa’s biggest film industry with more than 857 screens in cinemas owned

by Ster-Kinekor, Nu Metro and Avalon Group. But the annual Durban International Film Festival in KwaZuluNatal province does more than all the international film festivals in Nigeria, including the Zuma International Film Festival funded by the Nigerian government. None of the international film festivals in Nigeria has a film market such as the Durban FilmMart, which has become the biggest on the continent.

And none of these are as functional as Durban, because of a lack of structure and inadequate professional management staff.

International award-winning Nigerian filmmaker, Chike Ibekwe who has been to DIFF, says the South African government, with the support of local and global corporate sponsors, have made DIFF what it is today, since it was founded in 1979. “Durban has become a cultural

Michael Chima Ekenyerengozi platform for filmmakers from Africa and beyond, with competent staff, including very passionate volunteers making it the biggest annual film event in Africa,” says Chike.

Jonathan Wolf, Managing Director of American Film Market (AFM) says that, unlike other film industries, Nigeria does not buy or sell films at international markets. Filmmakers and film distributors

from Nigeria only come to the annual AFM as visitors.

Nigerian film festivals can use the Durban model to improve their standards to make the Nigerian film industry a global film market that will attract international film distributors for filmmakers in Nigeria and others from abroad.

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May 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 17

FILM | Ghana

Tradition vs. modernity in Nakom as well as battery life and onboard memory as the village of Nakom itself does not have electricity. “…we knew that charging batteries and offloading footage would be a challenge,” comments Pittman, “Thanks to smart lens selection by our cinematographer – as well as his and Miss Norris’ excellent eye for composition – the look of the film was able to achieve a polish beyond our meager resources.”

Festivals and distribution

A FIRST FOR GHANA: Iddrisu (Jacob Ayanaba) must choose between family obligations and personal ambition

A co-production between Ghana (Isaac’s Films) and the USA (Rasquaché Films), Nakom had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival (Berlinale) earlier this year and was the first Ghanaian production to ever screen at the festival in its 66-year history…

C

o-directors Travis Pittman and Kelly Daniela Norris co-founded the indie production house Rasquaché Films in 2009. The company prides itself on its efforts to achieve artistry and emotional impact with very few resources.

Nakom is just that, a poignant and resounding narrative told in an exquisitely cinematic fashion – all on a “micro budget”.

Pittman says the inspiration for the film arose during her time living and working in the Ghanaian village of Nakom prior to the making of the film. The idea grew from a collaboration between her and the film’s co-writer and producer Isaac Adakudugu, who is a native of the village of Nakom. “He became a close friend and collaborator when I had been living and working in Nakom several years before setting out to make the film,” says Pittman. “The film is the story of the

18 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2016

community at a key moment in its development – as it tries to find its place in a changing Ghana, a changing environment, and a changing world.”

An intimate narrative Nakom is a uniquely intimate narrative from northern Ghana, which follows a talented and promising medical student Iddrisu (Jacob Ayanaba) back to his home village after his father’s sudden death.

There, he must come to terms with the traditional way of living that he has tried to leave behind, while also negotiating the strong personalities in his family as he reluctantly becomes its head-ofhousehold following his father’s death.

Upon returning home, Iddrisu also begins to realise that his education and experience are needed in his village but he has to come to terms with whether or not he wants to take on the considerable task. In the end, he faces a dire choice between two very different futures.

“We wanted to tell the story of the village,” says Adakudugu. “The idea of a young person trying to leave their community but then being forced back by a death in the family or another problem is very common, but also serious and important to the life of the village. It is something that we are all thinking about as villages like Nakom are trying to find a place in the 21st century and in a ‘globalised’ Africa.”

A community effort The film was shot almost entirely in the village of Nakom, with a few scenes captured in the markets and stations of the surrounding towns, and some key scenes shot in the city of Kumasi in southern Ghana. Filming took over three months, from August through November of 2013, in order to capture the transformation of the village from dry

season to rainy season to harvest.

However, the village of Nakom was not used solely for location or talent – “the whole community was involved in the production and also felt responsible for it,” comments Adakudugu. “We opened our arms and hearts and homes to the idea of telling this story. Everybody here knows Trav, and also her directing partner Kelly Daniela Norris – they are both considered daughters of the community.

This production would not have been possible without that very close relationship, people would not have agreed to it.”

Auditions were held in the village of Nakom for nearly all of the roles in the film, with only the main character, Iddrisu, being cast form outside the village. “We needed an actor who spoke fluent Kusaal and English, and who also could appropriately show the film audience the two worlds that Iddrisu is struggling with.

We were very lucky to find Jacob Ayanaba to play the role – he is a natural talent,” Adakudugu says.

A throwback to David Lean Pittman explains that Nakom was carefully composed and shot in way that would give the film a classic, thoughtful, and sweeping feel – “a throwback to David Lean or to the early films of Sissako,” she states. “Featuring big landscapes, composed character frames, steady tracking shots…We felt this was the best way to capture the steady pace of life and also the elemental power of the landscape that is so important to the characters’ livelihoods. This aesthetic also helped to bring a polish and production value to what was a micro-budget production.”

Director of photography Bob Geile captured the visuals in HD on the Sony FS100 which was selected for its versatility, durability in harsh conditions,

Nakom was completed on a budget of just $30 000 USD, and the filmmakers are enormously proud of having it screen at Berlinale. Additionally, the film screened at New Directors/New Films in the USA and in Hong Kong. It will screen next at the Durban International Film Festival this June where it will compete in the main competition.

Nakom was recently picked up by North American distributor Corinth Films and is due to start screening on the art house market there, but Pittman says they are still seeking other global partners. “A huge priority is screening the film in Ghana and throughout the African continent, and we hope that the festival in Durban can be an opportunity to make contacts to that end.”

Tradition versus modernity Nakom showcases how the tensions of development and globalisation play out within a single family of subsistence farmers: The main character is forced to leave university to take on this traditional way of living because of his father’s death; his sister Damata (Grace Ayariga) experiences anger and frustration as her education is abandoned because of her gender; his mother must come to terms with changing traditions and norms.

“Above all, it is a story about the unique personalities of this family – but hopes to say something bigger and more universal through that intimacy and specificity,” says Pittman, who highlights that the creative team behind Nakom was purposefully multinational – in order to bring a layered perspective to issues that have large consequences for the whole world. “In our view the film does not have a black-and-white message that we are trying to communicate, but instead presents a nuanced view of a very particular village, community, and lifestyle. In a way, that nuance itself is the message – that happiness is present but elusive everywhere, that there’s no such thing as linear development or a ‘right’ way of living on the planet, that the struggles of the individual versus the community or of tradition versus modernity are universal ones.”

– Chanelle Ellaya

Chioma Onyenwe

Nigeria

| Film

– no-holds-barred storytelling “I wanted to tell a story of what truly defines success and happiness,” says Nigerian filmmaker and CEO of Raconteur Productions, Chioma Onyenwe, whose first cinematic release 8 Bars and a Clef attempts to unite two of Nigeria’s biggest entertainment exports: music and movies.

DEFINING SUCCESS: Chioma Onyenwe checking the take with her crew

O

nyenwe first made a foray into Nollywood as an economics undergraduate at the University of Lagos when she wrote her thesis ‘The Economic Impact of the Nigerian Film Industry’. “This exposed me to the scale of Nollywood on a macroeconomic level. While I worked in consulting during my master’s degree, I started to learn part time through short film courses and making my own web series and other short form content ways to tell stories through film.” She would continue to work in corporate Nigeria while also studying at the London Film Academy and the MET Film School in London.

Her first project was the controversial web series Goddammit It’s Monday. The six-episode series featured narrator Womilee, an unusual anti-hero with jaded views on life in Lagos. For the first time, a Nigerian video story took a no-holdsbarred angle on storytelling; the video series was ridden with expletives and the unconventional views of its lead. The online audience sat up and paid attention, torn between their love for the honesty of the actor and dislike of his cynical views.

In 2013, she joined Nigeria’s progressive Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) first as a volunteer, eventually becoming a Programme Coordinator, a position that took her into the inner workings of Nollywood and inspired her decision to take up a full time career in the industry. “The growth of international festivals for Africans by

Africans like AFRIFF help in capacity building for the industry and connect like-minded filmmakers around the world so that discussions are held around co-productions, distribution and financing, which helps to further position Nollywood as a global giant,” she says.

Onyenwe also points out three areas where the industry has developed incrementally over the years. She attributes the improvement in technical quality to the growth of the cinema culture across Nigeria. “Nollywood is growing at an accelerated pace and a lot has happened over the past few years.

The growth of the cinemas and local content within cinemas have hugely contributed to the growth of technical quality of the films.”

According to Onyenwe, filmmakers have also begun to gain financially from their trade. “The multiple streams of income also presented by online streaming and international cable and television stations have further grown the audience for Nollywood internationally.”

Increased government funding has also developed the industry. “Funding opportunities presented through government programs like Project Act Nollywood, Bank of Industry and Corporate Nigeria have been instrumental to not just creating content but solidifying investment and building stars. The introduction of Nollywood to the GDP, showing that the industry contributes N5 billion annually, made the whole world really sit up and listen.”

She delved into filmmaking full time in 2013. Soon after, she started shooting 8 Bars and a Clef, which took her two years to finish. The movie premiered at AFRIFF in November 2015 and is in cinemas in June. 8 Bars and a Clef is a story about a young man who has to overcome a learning defect (dyslexia) a dysfunctional family and an overbearing record label executive in order to achieve his dream of becoming a music superstar.

Onyenwe’s 8 Bars and a Clef opens in cinemas at a pivotal time for Nigeria’s music industry by telling the story of one of thousands of Nigerian acts who achieve relative success. Nigerian music has become a multimillion-dollar industry churning out music stars on a yearly basis.

Of Nigeria’s estimated 178 million inhabitants, the young and upcoming crop of music artists are believed to number in the hundreds of thousands, with scores of weekly new music releases across Nigeria’s very popular music websites like NotJustOk.com and Tooxclusive.com, among others, plus engineering daily Twitter hashtag trends to raise awareness around their releases.

Some of them will gain fame following a hit single before gradually slipping back into obscurity.

The movie boasts a cast of known Nollywood faces including Bimbo Akintola, Wale Ojo, Kehinde Bankole, Ade Bantu, Kunle Bello, Blink, Jude Idada and starlet Linda Ejiofor. However, for the leading role of rapper Victor, Onyenwe took another route casting a little known

alternative musician best known as IBK SpaceshipBoi. Funds for the movie were personally sourced. Despite the challenges, Onyenwe admits that she is one of few film makers to have accessed grants from the ‘Project ACT Nollywood’ (Project ACT-Nollywood is managed

by Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism with around 3 billion Naira/9-million-dollar grant funds for Nollywood film makers).

She explains that her background in finance gave her the opportunity to gain access to the funding. “It is important that new filmmakers develop business skills or hire someone who can bring that to the table. It is important to always have your paperwork in order, simple things like incorporation and tax clearance. Operate with a company bank account, not a personal one, and treat filmmaking like a business. Write a business plan for each project, investors will initially come from within your circle. However, depending on the subject matter, there is access to funding and with consistent good quality work, the circle expands,” she adds.

Raconteur Productions is already involved in other projects. “Raconteur means ‘storyteller’ and that’s exactly who we are. Over the next few years Raconteur Productions will continue to tell stories across different media. Right now, we’re working on other people’s projects, exploring television and stage productions.” – Oma Areh May 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 19

FILM | Director Speak where and at what time of one’s life one saw them…

There are so many films that were so important at different times, offhand I would say Aguirre, The Wrath of God: the film even today transports me to places I cannot quite articulate, there are moments of complete filmic magic, and somehow the power of the film lies partly in its being a flawed work. Stalker: simply one of the great masterpieces of all time, one that locates the biggest metaphysical questions within the close-up textures of gritty reality. Belovy: this is a film that I can watch again and again, unpretentious, funny, tragic, with some of the most amazing observational scenes ever, astounding and at times mysterious camerawork, wonderful characters and perfect structure.

cois Franster Ver

WHICH FIVE FILM CHARACTERS WOULD YOU INVITE TO A DINNER PARTY? Thomas Fowler from The Quiet American; Billy from Easy Rider; the driver played by Mania Akbari in Kiarostami’s Ten; Mory from Mambety’s Touki Bouki; David Locke from Antonioni’s The Passenger.

Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker François Verster has won local and international awards and been broadcast around the world. His films have been used to teach and illustrate the fusion of creative documentary and social activism.

WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND AND HOW HAS THIS SHAPED YOU AS A DIRECTOR? I have a background in music, photography and literature studies – all of these have helped in some ways with directing documentary films. The amazing thing about documentary is that you can bring any knowledge, discipline, or content into it, come from any background, and it all still makes sense within the form.

DESCRIBE THE MOMENT WHEN YOU DECIDED YOU WANTED TO BECOME A DIRECTOR? I was 19 when I first saw Werner Herzog’s Aguirre, The Wrath of God and The Enigma of Kasper Hauser and I thought wow, I never knew this is what one could do with film. I also never thought I would be a director until I started working on student and independent films in New York, first as a PA and then as a clapper-loader, and realised that the only way I am going to enjoy filmmaking is by calling the shots myself.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS A DIRECTOR? A bit of a lone operator, mostly out of financial necessity.

I would say my strengths lie in conceptualising films and integrating varied material within them, in forming intimate observational relationships with people on camera, and in being open to how situations develop and change. Weaknesses would be resistance to definite planning, and willingness to keep working endlessly for no pay.

20 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2016

FUSING CREATIVITY AND SOCIAL ACTIVISM: Francois Verster

WHERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION? Usually by watching films – particularly if they move one’s sense of what is possible formally, emotionally or perhaps even morally – and from people who become the subjects of my films.

DO YOU HAVE ANY MENTORS? The two people I learnt most about filmmaking from: Saskia Baron – a BBC director whom I worked with intensively on a film she made in South Africa, and Peter Neal – the master filmmaker who edited by first film Pavement Aristocrats and many of the subsequent ones such as A Lion’s Trail, The Mothers’ House and more.

WHAT ARE YOUR PERSONAL CAREER MILESTONES? Completing my first film, winning an Emmy for A Lion’s Trail, starting to teach, premiering Sea Point Days at the Toronto IFF, and finishing The Dream of Shahrazad.

WHICH PROJECTS ARE YOU CURRENTLY INVOLVED IN? Some short TV pieces (the day job), a documentary feature on JM Coetzee, and I am also working with my wife Shameela Seedat on a film she is directing on Thuli Madonsela. Cape Town filmmaker Simon Wood and I are embarking on another project that will be made public in the next while.

WHAT ARE YOUR LEAST FAVOURITE PARTS OF THE JOB? The initial stages of editing, where all is just slog, fundraising, time and financial stress.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR FUNNIEST MOMENT ON SET? While shooting A Lion’s Trail when Rian Malan’s boxer dog kept attacking the sound recordist’s mic fluffy. And while shooting Sea Point Days, when a young boy started competing with an old man sitting singing on the pavement and insisting he was better.

WHAT ARE YOUR ALL-TIME THREE FAVOURITE FILMS AND WHY? This is an impossible call. Films have impact because of

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE OF FILM IN AFRICA LOOK LIKE TO YOU? Hugely positive… Africa’s film industry is steadily ‘internationalising’ – and so-called star African directors are no longer based in Western Europe or North America. Some examples of exciting things happening are the amazing Docubox East African documentary, based in Nairobi, the extensive rise of local industries in regions like Egypt, Nigeria, South Arica, Kenya, Burkina Faso, the local appearance of major TV and news channels, the explosion of more authororiented film in Egypt after the 2011 uprisings, and so on.

IF YOU COULD SHOOT A FILM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, WHERE WOULD IT BE? I would love to make a film in Egypt again.

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU AREN’T MAKING MOVIES? Obsessing about what I am not doing to get them made. Otherwise socialising, swimming, hanging with my wife and son, reading, surfing, watching low-brow TV series.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR PROUDEST MOMENT AS A DIRECTOR? Being told by a number of Egyptian activists that my film The Dream of Shahrazad came closest to capturing their own experience of events from 2011 to 2013 from all films they saw on the so-called Arab Spring.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ONELINER FROM A FILM? “Shit… Trees on the road” from Walerian Borowczyk’s The Beast – I guess you have to hear it in context.

WHAT SONGS MAKE UP YOUR MOST RECENT MUSIC PLAYLIST? I don’t really do playlists… but lately have been listening to Zim Ngqawana’s Vadzimu, to George Kazazian’s Monaga, and to Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis (possibly a future film).

IF YOU COULD PRODUCE AN AFRICAN VERSION OF A HOLLYWOOD CLASSIC, WHAT WOULD IT BE? The Sound of Music… or perhaps a revisionist version of Apocalypse Now. Compiled by Cera-Jane Catton

Durban International Film Festival South Africa’s longest-running film festival (DIFF) will return for its 37th anniversary to celebrate the beauty and diversity of global cinema. DIFF runs across 12 days from the 16 to the 26 June, presenting more than 200 films from around the world, with a strong focus on South African and African cinema.

Screenings take place throughout Durban, including township areas where cinemas are non-existent.

The festival also runs extensive seminar and workshop programmes to stimulate industry development. This includes the participation of numerous filmmakers from Africa in Talents Durban, in cooperation with the Berlinale Film Festival, and the Durban FilmMart, a film financing initiative in partnership with the Durban Film Office. DIFF is organised by the Centre for Creative Arts (CCA), University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN).

For more information please visit www.durbanfilmfest.co.za

7TH

Durban FilmMart at the Durban Interna

www.durbanfilmmart.com

tional Film Festival

DURBAN FILMMART Another exciting edition of South Africa’s leading filmmaking event takes place next month Durban Film Mart (DFM), Africa’s leading film finance and co-production market is currently open for registration. Now entering its 7th edition, DFM will take place from 17–20 June at the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF 16 -26 June 2016). A joint project of the Durban Film Office and the festival, DFM has, over the last seven years, been a key driver in raising the international profile of African cinema, stimulating the local and African film industry, and facilitating collaborations, both between African filmmakers themselves and with producers and financiers from around the world.

“We are thrilled with the impact that DFM has had over the years,” says Toni Monty, who heads the Durban Film Office. “With every edition of the market and the festival, we are seeing an increasing number of projects and productions from around the continent, with the quality of submitted projects and productions continually improving.” She continued, “DFM provides a vital space for industry professionals to engage with each other, forge partnerships and grow the continent’s film industry. It is very gratifying to see projects that were initiated at Durban continue to develop at other markets around the world, eventually returning to be screened at Africa’s leading festival”.

This year’s edition of DFM will provide delegates with access to prominent film industry experts, financiers, content directors and broadcasters from around Africa and the world, with other industry specialists attending both DFM and DIFF independently in order to connect with the African film industry and develop business associations and future projects.

DFM’s programme is structured around three core pillars – DFM Master Classes, Finance Forum and Africa in Focus. The latter consists of a series of industry workshops which offer networking opportunities for industry representatives.

The DFM Master Classes are led by well-known industry experts and will explore issues and challenges in concept development, project packaging, coproduction development, new media, finance, marketing, distribution, and other related themes, while the Finance Forum offers a rare opportunity for African filmmakers to engage with financiers from

Partners

around the world.

Among the experts attending this year’s edition of DFM are marketing expert, entrepeneur and author GG Alcock, author of Kasinomics, a book which unpacks marketing to the vastly untapped and not-understood informal sector in South Africa. Alcock will present a masterclass on the power of culture within the African audience context and the importance of characters, history, language and pictures in ensuring credibility in communicating a story and message in film and commercials.

Also up is British-Nigerian script expert Selina Ukwouma, who will share her experience as a development executive and screenwriting and pitching educator.

Masterclass, workshop and panel topics to be covered in this year’s DFM include a status on virtual reality in film, Hollywood financing models and an exploration of the complex American independent market, video on demand and how to get content onto relevant to-pay channels, the importance of pre-sales in the context of broadcast, social media and the value of social media in the marketing of independent films.

This year’s co-production market will feature ten or so feature titles and roughly the same number of documentary films. The various projects selected for mentorship will be presented to industry experts during the market, followed by sessions with industry experts providing valuable input, with the most promising projects awarded grants for further development.

Established partners of DFM include the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s CineMart, the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the Sundance Film Festival, AfriDocs, the Berlinale Film Festival, HotDocs – Blue Ice Documentary Film Fund, Produire au Sud, Restless Talent Management, the French Embassy South Africa, the National Film and Video Foundation, the KwaZuluNatal Film Commission, the Durban Film Office, VideoVision Entertainment, Goethe Institute and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie.

Restless Talent Management will for the third year in a row, host its Restless Pitch event at the DFM whereby candidates are randomly selected among the

filmmakers willing to pitch, and each have 3 minutes to present their best idea for a feature film or TV show in front of a panel of experts. The filmmaker with the most promising, interesting and ultimately best idea put forward will win a one-on-one coaching session with Restless Talent Management, potentially leading to a representation deal for his or her project.

New additions to the partner roster this year include the German company Sonoton, the largest independent stock music library in the world.

Barbara Hintermeier, their Music and Licensing Consultant will present a workshop on methods to help find music quickly and easily on their platform.

Sørfond Norwegian South Film Fund, another new partner, which will provide a new DFM award this year and will be awarding a project the chance to pitch at the Sørfond Pitching Forum in Oslo, which is aimed at films from developing countries.

“In addition film-makers will have an opportunity to discuss their ideas and unpack story-lines with peers in the daily Story Junction sessions, and there are also many opportunities for social networking and catching up with friends within the industry,” says Toni Monty.

To register for DFM and to find out more about the delegate registration process, visit the official website at www.durbanfilmmart.com. An Early Bird registration discount for the 4-day event is available to delegates who book before 30 May at a cost of R1 485, which includes access to allocated sessions, a daily luncheon, DFM networking events, entrance into festival screenings (subject to ticket availability), listing in the DFM Industry Manual, and access to Masterclasses and the Africa in Focus programme. After 30 May 2016, the cost is R2035. Daily passes to the event cost R605.

(This does not include tickets to the DIFF screenings or access into the opening and closing events.)

For the third year running, DFM will also be hosting an Industry Expo, providing an important promotional space for all aspects of the local industry. To book a stand at this year’s please contact Sharon Ngcobo at Sharon.Ngcobo@durban.gov.za.

For more information about the DFM go to www.durbanfilmmart.co.za or like the Facebook Page. Durban FilmMart SA.

Documentary

|

TANZANIA

In the court of the

Taarab queen

One thing Africa is not short of is musical heroes. Even if they don’t acquire the same kind of mediadriven celebrity that Western stars enjoy, they often develop a connection to their fan bases that runs even deeper – whether in their home region or across the continent. British filmmaker Andy Jones was compelled to document the career of one such legend.

26 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2016

TANZANIA

THE MYTH AND MYSTIQUE: Andy Jones with Bi Kidude

M

ention the name Bi Kidude to anyone outside of Zanzibar – with the exception of devotees in mainland Tanzania or Kenya, as well as fans of the world music scene – and there is a good chance they might not recognise the name.

Yet, on the island that was her home for over a century, she achieved almost mythical status.

Bi Kidude, born Fatuma binti Baraka, was the undisputed queen of Taarab – the distinctly East African music genre that blends the traditional sounds of the Great Lakes region with influences from the Middle East and the Maghreb. She was also a respected practitioner of unyago ceremonies and their related music and dance styles (in Swahili culture, unyago is the celebration of girls’ passage into adulthood, with older women teaching them how to navigate the approaching vagaries of womanhood, marriage and sex.)

A singer, drummer and raconteur, Kidude was loved and respected for her musical talent and her maternal position in her community. She also drew both criticism and admiration for her rebellion against some of Zanzibar’s traditional views on the roles of women. She abandoned two unhappy marriages at a relatively young age and remained single for the rest of her life, she never had any children, was often to be found holding court backstage with a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other; as a young girl, she played truant from Koran school to hang out with travelling musicians on the docks of Stone Town – all quite scandalous by the standards of conservative Zanzibar.

In 2000, English filmmaker and activist Andy Jones attended a panel discussion at the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF), regarding feminism in Africa and Bi Kidude’s role in it. The woman herself was in attendance, sitting quietly and looking rather bored with the proceedings. Just a few hours later, Jones saw her again in

very different circumstances.

“She got on the stage, strapped a chest-high msondo drum to her waist and starting pounding out a rhythm with such fervor I feared her arms might fall off,” Jones recalls. “It was just the most remarkable transformation; I was captivated.”

Jones decided to make Bi Kidude the subject of his debut documentary feature.

As Old as My Tongue was shot over the course of four years, on a virtually non-existent budget, with Jones and his crew returning to Zanzibar three times and following Kidude on tours to England, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The finished film examined the life and work of a unique artist and the myth and mystique that had been built up around her. As Old as My Tongue was well received at festivals around the world, from Atlanta to Abuja, and acclaimed as a masterful combination of biography and mythmaking.

Jones’ association with the Zanzibari legend might have ended there were it not for an intriguing development that occurred in 2012. Through his connections in Zanzibar’s music scene, Jones heard that Bi Kidude had disappeared. Rumours began to circulate that the singer, then already over 100 years old, had been kidnapped. Not long after, a man appeared on Tanzanian television claiming to be a relative of hers.

He said that he was keeping her in his home for her own protection and wellbeing and he lashed out the music industry for having exploited her over the years.

Jones set off to Zanzibar once again, camera in hand, to start capturing what would end up being the fascinating final chapter in a truly extraordinary life. His second film, I Shot Bi Kidude, began to take shape. He and his crew, which included South African cinematographer Natalie Haarhoff, eventually caught up with Kidude and her ‘captor’ – her nephew Baraka. The story that unfolded,

| Documentary

and is related in the film, is a unique take on a familiar theme of stardom and its trappings. The lady herself, it seems, was relatively unaffected by her local and international fame. Those around her, however, were not.

The title of the film is cheekily misleading; there is no violence in this story. Rather, the name Jones chose reflects his long personal investment in the life of his subject. He did indeed ‘shoot’ Bi Kidude, frequently, on and off for more than a decade. In so doing, their lives became more entangled than Jones could have expected. Not to reveal too much, the film begins with Jones relating how he heard of Kidude’s death and how it coincided with the passing of two other women who had made a marked impact on his life – in different ways, for better and for worse. I Shot Bi Kidude is therefore not only a documenting of the dramatic final years of a music legend, but also a recursive examination of Jones’ own, increasingly personal, involvement with the project and the complex web of reciprocal interactions that developed between himself, his subject and the films they created together.

Having started his career in the NGO sector, Jones began making short films to complement various activism campaigns.

He is the founder and creative director of independent film collective ScreenStation, based in his home city of Newcastle in the United Kingdom. Both As Old as My Tongue and I Shot Bi Kidude were shot piecemeal on shoestring budgets, offering a heartening example to any prospective documentary filmmaker: all you need is a subject you’re passionate about, a camera and time.

I Shot Bi Kidude was presented as a work in progress at the 2014 Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) and the completed film premiered on the closing night of the 2015 edition of ZIFF. For this version of the film, Jones re-recorded his narration in Swahili, though he confesses to having limited knowledge of the language and learned much of the script phonetically. The effort was applauded by the home crowd at the Old Fort Amphitheatre.

Following a UK festival and semitheatrical run and a screening at iREP in Lagos, the film had its official Zanzibari cinematic release on the third anniversary of Bi Kidude’s death in April. I Shot Bi Kidude will premiere in South Africa at Encounters and DIFF in June.

As Old as My Tongue is now available on VOD at http://www.screenstation.net/ bi-kidude/.

– Warren Holden May 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 27

Documentary

|

SOUTH AFRICA

Tackling questions of identity and culture in a globalised world

SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS: Reviving the N!uu language

One of only 10 documentaries from around the world to screen at the Socially Relevant Film Festival in New York earlier this year, Lost Tongue highlights the importance of identity and culture.

D

irected by Zimbabwean-born Davison Mudzingwa, Lost Tongue is a debut feature from Johannesburg-based Mvura Ya Afrika (MYA) Productions, which presents a story of hope through the attempted revival of an ancient and endangered N!uu language of the marginalised indigenous Khomani San people in the Kalahari.

The documentary follows Helena Steenkamp, a Khomani San woman from the Kalahari, as she embarks on a mission to revive the N!uu language of her people.

Mudzingwa, who previously directed the documentary What’s the Frack?, says that the idea for Lost Tongue came to him when he was in the Kalahari filming Bush Trail (2012). “As virgins in the place, we had some fantastical expectations of what it would be, including the San people there, in this instance, the Khomani San. We expected them to be wearing the traditional clothes like we saw on TV, you know that stereotypical view. It wasn’t like that. More shocking was their

28 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2016

way of life and language. The people communicated in Afrikaans. This shocked me and it didn’t feel right.”

Surprised that the Khomani San people did not speak their language or follow their traditional culture, Mudzingwa and his crew began investigating the reasons behind these phenomena and “a new, exciting and surprising journey for Lost Tongue began,” he says.

Described by Mudzingwa as “a documentary that feels like a God-sent assignment,” he and producers Francis Yannicq Hweshe (SA) and MeSun Barnett (USA) met Steenkamp – the main character in the documentary who drives the story – while in the Kalahari brainstorming how exactly to tackle the project. “She was at a point in her life when she was beginning to question her own identity. She wanted answers on why she had Afrikaans names, why she spoke Afrikaans. She wanted to know from elders on what went wrong in the past,” Mudzingwa explains. “We followed this journey for three years and met other incredible characters who brought the

depth we didn’t anticipate in the beginning. The documentary shaped itself.”

The cinematography in Lost Tongue encompasses “a combination of a more natural way of shooting and allegory,” says Mudzingwa. “We wanted to get as much actuality as possible. However, we decided from the start that we wanted to have a parallel visual narrative that would bring out some issues that are not said in words… Our visuals are highly allegorical, so has a folk tale element to it. We wanted to showcase the Kalahari in a 360 degree view. We wanted to veer away from some stereotypical documentaries we have seen of the San and the Kalahari.

They have a way of portraying the San people, often forcing elements to achieve this. We didn’t want to force anything. We worked hard to be part of the community and tell a real story.”

From 2012 to November 2015 Lost Tongue was filmed predominantly in the Khomani San community of Andriesval in the Kalahari Desert and on the border with neighbouring Botswana and Namibia. Other scenes were photographed in Upington, Johannesburg and Cape Town. Director of photography Themba Vilakazi shot the documentary using the Canon FX100, which Mudzingwa says was chosen for its impressive HD quality as well as to achieve the desired, more natural feel: “They are handy cameras and subjects do not feel any intrusion.” Aerial shots

were captured using a drone.

According to Hweshe, the South African producer on the project, Lost Tongue was shot on a “shoe-string budget of under R2.5 million” and largely funded by MYA Productions as well as by the non-profit organisation Entrepreneurship Africa. “We had a small band of passionate folks who stepped forward and invested their time and skills to ensure the project was completed and shared with the world,” says Hweshe.

Upon premiering in New York City at the Socially Relevant Film Festival in March 2016, Lost Tongue scooped the prestigious Women Film Critics Circle Award. The documentary will have its African premiere at the Encounters South African International Documentary Film Festival and will also screen at the Durban International Film Festival, both taking place in June 2016.

Striving to drive home the universal themes of identity and culture, Lost Tongue is a film that will resonate with every human being. The film unpacks the tough, yet imperative questions that plague us all in an increasingly globalised world. “We constantly ask ourselves who we are and where we come from. This film, although rooted in the Kalahari, is a great opportunity and conduit for everyone in the world to start asking questions about their own identity and culture. It is a kind of film that anyone can watch and feel connected to,” concludes Mudzingwa. – Chanelle Ellaya

Kenya

| Television

Salim Amin: telling untold stories This is what the son remembers of his father: seeing him waking up early in the morning, working at his enormous office in Lavington, Nairobi whistling allegro con fuoco as he goes, and staying in there until late at night. He remembers sitting in a boardroom with Camerapix employees and being treated like one himself.

SON OF A LEGEND: Salim Amin

T

he son remembers missing his father when he was out of the country for days on end, documenting stories from war-torn Somalia, the harsh plateau of Korem in Ethiopia or the green jungles of Congo.

The son remembers visiting Buckingham Palace and bowing his head in a show of respect to her majesty, he remembers posing for photos with some of the most powerful people in the world, of seeing the face of his father in hundreds of newspapers from different news firms.

The son counts himself as fortunate to call Mohamed (Mo) Amin, his father. Mo Amin was the most iconic African photojournalist of the 20th century, a man who captured some of the world’s most powerful images.

Salim Amin, 46, the only child of Mohamed Amin, is a big man, standing an impressive six feet and change, but his imposing appearance is offset with a ready smile and amiable nature. He is the chairman of A24 Media, a media outfit that has more than two dozen employees with a chain of stringers operating across the rest of the continent and other parts of the world. Like his father, he has a heart for telling positive African stories to the rest of the world, avoiding the stereotypical negative narrative from Western media outlets that has been blitzing the world.

“I realised a long time ago that most people are never satisfied with what they have done and always wish they could do

Salim and Mo Amin – a favourite father-son snapshot, taken during a working safari more; I am no different. I will always feel that I should and could do more but I also have put some perspective on things that I can control,” Amin enthuses. “I have realised that there are only so many hours in a day and so many days in a year and you have to do whatever you can to make the most of these … and be satisfied that you have tried your best.”

“People often want to talk about Africa and its history as if it died with my dad or years ago,” he says. “The fact is, Africa is always changing and the past hard news has given way to a bright future and my dad’s legacy lives on.”

A24 Media under his leadership is a custodian to more than three million images that have been carefully archived for current and future use. This body of work is a lot of his father’s doing and Salim’s efforts for the past 10 years have been directed towards modernising Mo’s legacy.

“At this point the central focus of all our

Salim at work on The Scoop

efforts is to grow and expand A24 Media,” he explains. ‘We are producing some of the best and most unique content in Africa and we are looking at all the different platforms to distribute and hopefully earn a decent revenue. We will continue to produce unique content and work with our historical archives to create new and exciting content.”

Salim also runs his own TV show. “The Scoop is my show and was something my dad could only dream about,” he animatedly adds. “We want to champion all the shows that are no longer themed on wars and corruption but are crafted for the modern African viewer.” In addition to The Scoop in this regard, A24 also produces shows like Upbeat and a CCTV documentary series.

He urges African governments to promote local talent with all the resources they have.

“I think governments have to recognise the importance of content producers in

their countries and work with them to be able to tell the real story of this continent,” he says. “We are the best platform for promoting the achievements, successes and beauty of our countries and continent. Governments need to see that and work with us instead of against us. They should put resources into training and nurturing young talent and giving them a creative space to work in.”

While preserving and promoting his father’s legacy, the son also wants to carve out his own.

“I want to be remembered as someone who tried to change the conversation about Africa, who tried to change the perception of the continent, who tried to change the image many people have of Africa. If I manage to help tell some of the great untold stories of this continent, then I feel I will have contributed something worthwhile in shaping Africa’s history and build my own legacy separate to my father’s.” – Sam Charo May 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 29

Television

|

South Africa

two best R10 000?!

Just how far will go for

friends

LURED TO A CHALLENGE: Down for the Guap

Down for the Guap, winner of the Best Game Show award at the 2016 South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs), tests the limits of just how far people are willing to go to win R10 000.

T

he brand new ‘reality adventure game show’ was conceptualised

by Johannesburg-based content creation agency The Launch Factory.

“The idea originated within The Launch Factory. We started discussions with Vuzu early in 2015 around a local and fun game show we could create for them, from there on it was a collaborative process,” explains executive producer Apollo Zake.

The goal was to create a South African game show that represents South African youth.

Pushing the boundaries of friendships, the eight-part reality game show first aired on Vuzu AMP (DStv channel 114) in June 2015, hosted by the undeniably hilarious and (almost) excessively vibrant best friend duo TJ and Larry, best known for belonging to the South African

30 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2016

hip-hop dance outfit The Repertoires, and as stars of previous Vuzu reality show Running with the Reps.

Directed by Eugene Naidoo, the youth-centred game show sees contestants – in the form of best friends – being put through the paces, in order to win a piece of the R10 000 cash prize up for grabs in every episode. In each standalone episode, an unsuspecting ‘victim’ is lured by his or her best friend into a challenge. The nominated friend is then monetarily rewarded for simply accepting the challenge. Then a larger sum of money is offered to the friend to take on a challenge alone. At this stage of the game, R5 000 in prize money has been won by the nominated friend, the contestant is then given the opportunity to double the money by teaming up with their friend to compete in the ultimate

challenge against the two hosts.

Commenting on the way in which the format for Down for the Guap came about, Zake says: “We looked at all the international game shows out there and we found that they were very serious, very Survivor-like, lots of backstabbing, etc, and we thought South Africans aren’t like that, we’re very light-hearted, we enjoy having a good time…so from that we created a new, simple, fun, youthoriented game show that hasn’t been done before in the country.”

The result was a young, urban, unapologetically South African game show that more importantly, worked equally as well on second screens. “It was important that the show worked equally as well on social media…this is what we wanted to create,” says Zake.

Interestingly, the second-screen interaction on the show was not just limited to audience feedback, as all casting for Down for the Guap was done using social media.

“Contestants were found via Instagram,” explains Zake. “We were looking for vibrant 20-somethings, who wanted to win R10 000. To enter contestants had to send their submission to the show using Instagram where they

had to explain why they deserve the money.” Zake says that entries were received from young people wanting to fund everything from their driver’s license to Cape Town holidays, while some just wanted a little extra cash for an extravagant night out. “A lot of the contestants were in university – so they were just trying to have some fun,” he says.

Production on Down for the Guap took a total of three months with all episodes shot in downtown Johannesburg – from Maboneng Precinct to Wits University and Melville to showcase the splendid urban landscapes that Johannesburg has to offer and keep with the urban theme.

Commenting on the show’s SAFTA award win for Best Game Show, Zake says: “The great thing about the SAFTAs is that the panel of judges have been in the industry for a long time, I think it was interesting for us to see the outcome because the show was so different from the other contenders in the category… I think it won because Down for the Guap is just about pure entertainment and fun.

It allows you to watch TV and not think about the day you’ve had. I think that’s what the judges saw.” – Chanelle Ellaya

| FESTIVALS & MARKETS African projects selected at the Cinefondation’s Atelier and La Fabrique des Cinémas du Monde 2005-2016 For African filmmakers, the Cannes Film Festival offers two opportunities to develop feature film projects: the Cinéfondation’s L’Atelier or to La Fabrique les Cinémas du Monde. Since 2005, several African productions have been realised through these platforms.

2005

Daratt by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (Tchad) 2006 Special Jury Prize, EIUC Award, Human Rights Film Network Award, Signis Award, Unesco Award – Venice Mostra (Italy) • Special Mention – Amiens Film Festival (France) • Amnesty International Award – Motovun Film Festival (Croatia) • 2007 Bronze Stallion, Best Cinematography, European Award – Fespaco (Burkina Faso)

L’ombre de Liberty by Imunga Ivanga (Gabon) 2007 Best Sound Award – Fespaco (Burkina Faso)

2006

***No African Projects***

2007

In Brackets by Hicham Falah and Mohamed Chrif Tribak (Morocco) – Not completed

2008

Queleh by Abdi Ismael Jama (Somalia) Note: The director passed away in 2009 but the film was planned for shooting on November 2010 with a €1.2 million budget and a new director (Abraham Haile Biru, Ethiopia). Due to family and authority pressures, the shooting was cancelled.

2009

Death For Sale by Faouzi Bensaïdi (Morocco) 2012 Berlinale CICAE Award – Cinefan Best Director

2010

Les étoiles de Sidi Moumen by Nabil Ayouch (Morocco) Release title: Horses of God • 2012 Un Certain Regard – François Chalais Award (France) • Best French Language Foreign Film – Lumière Awards (France) • Best Cinematography – Magritte (Belgium) • MovieZone Award – Rotterdam (Netherlands) • Best Director – Seattle (USA) • Best Director – Valladolid (Spain) • Oscar nominee Best Foreign Film

2011

***No African Projects***

2012

Under the Starry Sky by Dyana Gaye (France/Senegal) 2013 European Jury Award – Angers (France) • Prix France Culture Cinéma Révélation 2014 • Trophée Francophone Best Actor and Best Actress

PATRONS: Maria de Medeiros & Elia Suleiman Fataria sommet arabe by Walid Tayaa (Tunisia) In development

Run by Philippe Lacôte (Ivory Coast) 2014 Un Certain Regard (France) • Oscar nominee Best Foreign Film

The Siren of Faso Fani by Michel K Zongo (Burkina Faso) 2015 Berlinale – Forum (Germany) • UEMOA Award – FESPACO (Burkina Faso) • Without Boarders Award – Traces de Vie (France) • Anthropology & Sustainable Development Award – Comité du Film ethnographique (France)

Odysseys by Malek Bensmaïl (Algeria) In development

Please yourself with the worst by Majdi Lakhdar (Tunisia) In development

Days of Cannibalism by Teboho Edkins (South Africa) In development

PATRON: Roul Peck Song of Tlous by Luck Razanajaona (Madagascar) In development

Lamb by Yared Zeleke (Ethiopia) 2015 Un Certain Regard (France) • Krzysztof Kieslowski Award – Denver (USA)

The Mercy of the Jungle by Joel Karekezi (Rwanda) In development

Out on the Streets by Jasmin Metlany, Philip Rizk (Egypt) 2015 Berlinale Forum Expanded (Germany) • Best Feature Film Award – Buenos Aires (Argentina)

Jomo by Kivu Ruhorahoza (Rwanda) In development

2014

Oil On Water by Newton Aduaka (Nigeria) – In development

PATRON: Walter Salles The Wound by John Trengove (South Africa) – In development Chedda by Damien Ounouri (Algeria) – In development So long a letter by Angèle Diabang (Senegal) – In development

2015

Our Madness by Joao Viana (Angola) In development

PATRON: Claire Denis Cactus Flower by Hala Elkoussy (Egypt) The Beauty and the Pack by Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia)

The Tree by Louw Venter (South Africa) Shooting started in April 2016

African Cinema by Haminiaina Ratovoarivony (Madagascar)

Abou Leila by Amin Sidi-Boumédiene (Algeria)

PATRON: Jia Zhangke Amal by Mohamed Siam (Egypt) Girlie by Pocas Pascoal (Angola) Saint Unknown by Alaa Eddine Aljem (Morocco) The Other Half of the African Sky by Tapiwa Chipfupa (Zimbabwe)

2013

2016

Since 2005, 32 African projects have been selected in the Cinéfondation’s L’Atelier (16) and La Fabrique des Cinémas du Monde (16).

Most of them come from Arabic speaking countries (13), English speaking countries (9), Francophone countries (8) and Portuguese speaking countries (2).

The most represented countries are Morocco (in L’Atelier, three projects) and Tunisia (in La Fabrique des Cinémas du Monde, three projects).

Angola is the only Lusophone country selected in both selections whereas Locarno Open Doors received in 2014 a numerous amount of Mozambican projects.

La Fabrique des Cinémas du Monde selected a biggest amount of women directors (5) than L’Atelier (2).

Two projects selected by L’Atelier were nominated for Academy Awards (Horses of Gods and Run) and six were selected in prestigious film festivals (Cannes, Venice, Berlin). Only one African project (The Siren of Faso Fani) from La Fabrique des Cinémas du Monde has been presented in a prestigious festival (Berlin). – Claire Diao May 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 31

POST-PRODUCTION

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A collaborative effort

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cloud-based tools for editing and review of large volumes of source material.

collaboratively it’s getting smaller and smaller. – Ian Dormer

Post-production toolbox:

| POST-PRODUCTION

essential new plug-ins and collaborations Avid/FilmLight Professional Colour Bundle

At NAB, Avid and FilmLight announced a new collaboration that would combine the former’s Media Composer video editing suite with the latter’s BaseLight colour grading package. The two companies have already been working together for several years, improving interoperability between their respective products. The Professional Colour Bundle brings this cooperation to its highest point by creating a fully integrated editing and colouring system, combining two of the industry’s most popular products into one.

The bundle includes a customized version of BaseLight, modified especially to be integrated into Avid, allowing editors and colourists to engage in a fully integrated, collaborative workflow, directly within one NLE system.

BaseLight for Avid is a real-time plug-in that enables colour corrections to be played directly on the Avid timeline. It provides unlimited primary and secondary grades in a single layer, including mattes, automatic object tracking and full keyframe animation.

BaseLight for Avid is immediately available for both Mac and Windows at US$995.

Hawaiki Super Dissolve This plug-in, designed exclusively for use with FCPX, eases and enhances the creation of dissolve transitions.

Key features available in Super Dissolve include: • Gamma Encoding: Super Dissolve offers unique in-depth control of the gamma encoding of the transition, significantly impacting the overall look;

• Blend Modes: With 30 blending modes to choose from, Super Dissolve provides an incredibly rich range of compositing possibilities; • Layer Order: Another unique feature is the ability to choose the order in which the dissolve is composited; • Custom Curves: Super Dissolve offers you extensive and comprehensive control over the transition animation curves, with both a wide range of preset curves and complete manual control over the curve shape and timing; • Curve Design Interface: To facilitate setting up complex animation curves, Super Dissolve’s interface makes it easy to visualise exactly what you are creating; • True Asymmetric Dissolve: Sophisticated compositing technology inside Super Dissolve allows users to create true asymmetric dissolves with discrete control over timing and blending; • Split Mode: Super Dissolve enables editors to generate split dissolves where one half of the frame transitions through quicker than the rest; • Brightness and Blur: Super Dissolve offers the ability to add blur or brightness boost/cut or both, enabling the user to create glows and blooms and a variety of diffuse effects. In combination with the extensive blend modes options, this allows for some truly unique looks; • Dedicated Dip and Fade: Creating dips and fades is easy with Super Dissolve – simply grab one of the dedicated modules optimised for these transitions.

With unprecedented control over every aspect of the dip or fade, editors can create subtle and complex results that no other transition offers.

Available for download at US$49.

Hedge for Mac

Hedge for Mac is a new transfer and data management app that is simple to use and relatively reliable –

compared to similar applications on the market – when it comes to transferring your shoot and edit data safely.

The easy-to-use interface enables editors and data wranglers to copy data from and to multiple sources simultaneously, while keeping a close eye on the process.

The standard three-copy transfer procedure can be performed easily and in a controlled way. Say, for example, you are copying your footage from your HD card to your Mac for edit and also to two back-up drives: the Hedge interface allows you to do all three transfers at the same time, while showing you progress bars for each one. This small but handy visual tool can offer considerable peace of mind to the user.

This tool can prevent a lot of stress on set. Its ease of use means it can quickly be mastered by a production assistant, leaving senior crew to think about other things in the knowledge that their precious video and audio data is safe. There are many data transfer programmes on the market but this one seriously demystifies and simplifies the process.

Available for download at €99.

PostNotes for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Perhaps the simplest plug-in on this list, PostNotes nevertheless caters to a need that many editors will have felt at one time or another. This extension for Adobe Premiere Pro is a combined note pad and to-do-list that enables editors to make editing notes as they go within their edit workflow, without a need for markers or metadata fields. Perhaps, at the end of a work day, you want to remind yourself to make a change to a cut or add a particular transition when you resume your edit the following day. Or perhaps you’re doing a client viewing and want to take down feedback points for later implementation. This easy plug-in will allow you to do just that.

Available to download for US$10

May 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 33

POST-PRODUCTION

|

OPINION

Forget the cappuccinos, let’s talk about the craft

By Paulene Abrey, deepend post production When Screen Africa approached deepend post production for an editorial piece for the May issue, I took a moment to think about just what it is that I would want to say about deepend post production – or just editing / the editors/ the producers I work with and just generally what a privilege it is to work in post-production.

I didn’t want to say the usual promotional stuff about deepend’s facilities: the edit suites, the services, the capuccinos! I think it was the word ‘our’ and then ‘industry’ that struck me and reminded me of the fact that Yes! deepend is a company that continues to uphold the craft of editing to the best of our abilities – the mystery and intrigue, the hard work, great relationships, moving with the technology!

But hold on, stop! Wake up call: don’t all the editors I have ever worked with actually deserve to be paid homage? The craftsmen and craftswomen with whom deepend has had the privilege of working over the years? Of late I must say I have become a little despondent at how these amazing people have been treated, and have grown tired of hearing producers complain about money issues. We are all too aware of the fact that economic times, digital and changing platforms have all had an effect on the entire industry.

Enough of that now! I still believe that editing is one of the most amazing crafts in the world. These people – the editors – are the wizards behind the stories and a very important part of the puzzle.

info@refinery.co.za | www.refinery.co.za | +27 11 799 7800

“Good editing makes a director look good; great editing makes the film look like it wasn’t directed at all.” – Victor Fleming.

The editor is always in conversation with the audience; it’s personal and it’s often one-on-one, the audience either buying into a product, the person or the story.

The editor recreates the framing and dialogue and gives you – yes, you, the audience – the mystery, intrigue or the answers you are looking for. Together they work alongside their accomplices the directors and cinematographers, who work their own brand of magic.

We are in an extremely privileged industry, for which we sometimes forget to be grateful and while we all need to eat, pay bills, etc. Let’s not forget who we are and what we do. We make dreams come true and we allow people to dream.

Editors form part collectively of our everyday lives, talking to us via television, internet, movies – you name it. We sit in front of them daily.

With technology changing and deadlines and budgets ever tighter, the editors no longer have the time to craft the visual or have rushes meetings pre-editing. The mileage of footage is far more than what the editor would have received in the day of 35mm/16mm film.

They are pressured with time and delivery.

The above is nothing new, but perhaps we could all take the time to remember it, to revisit those pre-edit rushes meetings and have a little more respect for our work and the people that ultimately pull it all together for us – THE EDITORS. To all the editors in our industry, THANK YOU!

Deepend post production proudly represents THE EDITORS: Marcelle Mouton, Melanie Jankes Golden, Nicholas Gishen, Caroline Anthony, William Kalmer, Jade Bowyer, Mmapula Letsoalo and Mzwaki Dhlamini

On the tech side: Offline on FCP/ Premier / Avid Grade on Da Vinci Online on Smoke & Afterfx

Image courtesy Saints&Strangers, Dis ek Anna, Kalushi, ‘n man soon my pa, Shepards and Butchers

VFX . Animation/Motion graphics . Colour Grading . Sound Post Production. Digital Dailies . Editing Rooms . Deliveries & Mastering . DCP theatrical Lab

34 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2016

Premier Post Production Facilities Cape Town lauren@sspp.co.za 021 469 2820

TRAINING

|

It’s in the

doing

Ask anyone in the industry what their thoughts are on the topic of training and you’ll find you’ve lifted the lid of a spattering pot full of strong and contradicting opinions.

T

here are those who feel that a majority of graduates of the content creating variety are ill equipped to take on the title of professional filmmaker. They have too much ego, they have a poor understanding of how their role fits into a bigger production workflow, and they are generalists who are not exposed enough to the full scope of production roles at a foundation level.

These are some of grievances of many of the established players who meet graduates and entry level content producers at the threshold of the professional production industry. Despite these shortcomings there seems to be a consensus and a belief in the talent which exists in our country; creative talent which has the potential to shape fresh perspectives and master new technological tools.

A ticket to ride From a parent’s perspective tertiary education is a crucial phase in preparing a child for employment opportunities.

Having a degree in hand provides school leavers with a greater chance of job security as they set forth to create a livelihood for themselves.

Some argue that a successful career in the artistic realm is less dependent on a qualification and rather on the subject’s innate talent, drive and willingness to gain hands-on experience from a grassroots level.

Natalie Delport, CEO of Sabido eAcademy, says that the question of whether or not the successful pursuit of a career in the film and television industries requires a formal qualification, depends on the specifics of the job or career path in question.

“There are companies who hire based on one’s qualifications and others who hire purely on attitude. However, having a formal qualification could give the person more ‘bargaining power’ with regards to the package. On the other hand, some companies, mostly the large organisations and government, would only hire employees who have formal and recognised qualifications.“ Animation South Africa chair Nick Cloete believes that tertiary institutions are under a lot of pressure to meet the teaching requirements needed for 36 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2016

students to obtain a degree, and that there is a need for a kind of bridging education or incubator process to help graduates refine their respective craft and the skills associated with it.

“Training institutions can only teach so much. They have to make sure their students are technically proficient. They have to finely calibrate their programme to meet a certain score to be able to offer a recognised qualification,” he comments. Eugen Olsen, creative director at Refinery Post Production, adds: “The industry needs generalists with a niche focus..

In addition to the creative aspects of the job – cultivating engaging stories, framing beautiful shots and putting art onto screens – there are some crucial skills that are often overlooked in many traditional training programmes.

Concepts like the business and economics of film and delivering a product to market are as – if not more – important in arming oneself for success in the industry.”

“All the decisions you make, from script to screen, are affected by where you are selling your product. You learn those lessons the hard way. It’s important to have a realistic idea of the industry while nurturing your creative dreams,” says Tracey Williams, director of postproduction at The Refinery. This is why so many people involved in content creation are of the opinion that – tertiary education or not – practical experience through internships and mentoring is a fundamental part of attaining the skills, etiquette and professionalism needed to earn a respected place in the industry.

“The best way to help young filmmakers is to allow them the opportunity to make content,” says Harry Hofmeyr, who runs the Maxum Media Accelerator, a hands-on film and TV programme aimed to upskill fledgling start-ups in the industry, run by Urban Brew Studios in collaboration with The Innovation Hub. “They need to pay their dues and make their mistakes.”

Check yourself Instilling a sense of entrepreneurship in filmmakers as they embark on their journey into the professional world is viewed as a move in the right direction.

FITTING INTO THE BIGGER PICTURE: Nico from IntelliLAB giving a master class in lighting to the students at Footprint Media Academy However, many entry level filmmakers are faced with a healthy serving of humble pie as they step onto set with inflated expectations.

It is widely understood that in most professions the starting block is positioned at the bottom of the pecking order – and the film industry is no different. It is for this reason that Cheryl Delport of Footprint Media Academy says the institution has adjusted the curriculum, which is practically driven, to include aspects such as life skills training and time management.

Delport maintains that equipping students for a career in film or TV means constantly gaining insight from the industry on what skills are needed and these issues have been continuously raised in her feedback with those currently working in the field. Gina Bonmarriage, dean of AFDA Johannesburg, says the institution aims to stay abreast of current industry needs and market gaps through research, links to the industry and a committee of discipline chairs and experts. However there seems to be more collaboration needed if the calibre and capability of graduate film students is to be raised.

A number of industry players cited some in-demand jobs which could benefit learners entering the highly competitive world of production. Editing assistants, production accountants, line producers, location scouts, production managers, compositors and on-set VFX artists were mentioned as being greatly sought after.

Kevan Jones, executive director of SACIA, points out that one of the great challenges facing the broadcast industry at the moment is the lack of people looking to pursue a career in broadcast engineering. According to an IABM report which was compiled based on input from SACIA: “The skills shortages were a consequence of many things, including significant reductions in training provision, dramatic shifts in technology, failure to attract new engineering talent and a lack of clear career paths and professional development for technical staff.”

The report goes on to say that: “The transition away from bespoke hardware to software-enabled products and networks also means there is a continuing

need for crossover training and development. In particular, the current ageing population of broadcast engineers needs to develop skills in IT architecture and other technologies if they are to act as mentors and role models for new entrants to the industry.”

It would be valuable for first-year students and entry level filmmakers to understand these needs and gaps in the industry in order to better plan their developmental trajectory and work towards meeting realistic and practical industry deficits.

Sabido eAcademy emphasises the importance of attitude and discipline in preparing young learners for the industry. “No matter where we place our learners, the most important ‘discipline’, is discipline itself,” says Natalie Delport. “That is, punctuality, commitment, respect, integrity… all the life skills competencies that are so often overlooked by the higher education institutions. We teach our learners all aspects of production, and they have to choose a specialisation for assessment.

However, since they have been exposed to so much, it’s the learners with the best attitude that get employed. The employers are prepared to train the right learners in the job that they have an opening for. We see this happen all the time.”

Next level There are no shortcuts. And while institutions may have a responsibility to generate a better dialogue with the industry in order to shape their students more adequately for the turbulent landscape ahead of them, the accountability ultimately lies where it always has – with the individual. There are some qualities, such as problem solving, attention to detail, taking direction and being a team player, that are needed to be a professional in the field of filmmaking. Technical ability can arguably be honed and refined. But the ability to get stuck in where it counts and to soak up any knowledge and experience, in which a burgeoning filmmaker may be gifted, seems to be more valued among the industry workforce than an eloquent CV. – Carly Barnes

w w w. s c r e e n a f r i c a . c o m Email: publisher@screenafrica.com

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TRAINING

|

screenwriting

Peter Russell shares his secrets

HOLLYWOOD’S STORY DOCTOR: Peter Russell

Peter Russell recently presented his seminar Secret Patterns of Writing for Different Genres in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town, between 12 and 22 May 2016, through the Writers Guild of South Africa. Hollywood’s renowned story doctor’s clients include Imagine Films, HBO, Participant, Viacom, CBS, to name a few.

R

ussell started out as a script reader in LA nearly 20 years ago. “My notes got passed around, and people started offering to pay me to give them development notes on their scripts,” said Russell. A recent tally of all the commercially submitted scripts he’s read topped 7 000. “Even an idiot – and I certainly can fit that description – can start to see patterns in what works and what doesn’t.”

Since Russell was a child he wanted to be a writer. “I think writing is the most astonishing craft in the world. I think it’s as challenging as nuclear physics, and I always admired writers above everyone else. I still do. I have deep honour and respect for writers.”

Russell loves helping create a story and making it better. “I get to work with the smartest people in the world. Then I get to teach this stuff to beginners and to people at UCLA and Pepperdine

38 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2016

University who are just starting out. That is a blissful thing, I get such a high from teaching that I get nowhere else.”

At his South African seminar, he covered the deep hidden patterns in action movies like Dark Knight Rises, Iron Man, 300, and the reason The Fast & Furious and Bond franchises work so well.

How movie mystery thrillers like Inception work. He looked at the Sci-Fi patterns in Star Trek, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Avatar and Interstellar. At TV drama like The Good Wife, True Detective and Mr Robot.

He broke down TV structures claiming that TV plots are much more intricate than film. Using Breaking Bad to illustrate this. At romantic comedy and love stories and comedies like Bridesmaids. “I see a lot and I analyse a lot for my clients in LA, and frankly, I’m going to see what the SA folk want. I love to tailor it to what the audience wants.”

So, what are the Secret Patterns of Writing for Different Genres? “At the heart of almost all great movies is one simple thing: a wounded hero given a chance to heal,” said Russell. “It’s different in TV, but in the Hollywood movie story, by the end of two hours this wounded hero has either healed (happy ending) or they’ve bled out (tragedy). In TV, the hero is offered a chance to heal, but they generally don’t take it for 100 episodes, or ever. That’s one important gist of almost all great film and TV shows.”

Russell explained that this same pattern works in slightly different ways in shorts and webisodes. “It’s critical to understand where the industry is right now, in 2016. It’s in a helluva different place than it was just five years ago.” He said that back then in 2011, 80 per cent of his doctoring was for movies. Now, in 2016, 80 per cent is for TV. “Luckily, almost all the hidden patterns I’ve found in films also apply (in each genre) to TV.” Russell explained that almost all hit movies use the following tools: ‘Weed and Speed’, ‘Core Wounds’, ‘Five Suspense Techniques’, ‘Healers and Wounders’, ‘Theme’, ‘BMOC’, ‘Hero’s Journey’, ‘The 3 Act Structure’ and the ‘20 Beats of the Story’. “There are 20 big beats in almost all hit movies. Even though the movies can be about wildly different subjects, these beats usually are the same. They tend to happen in the same order, and at the same time,” he added. “Just like pop songs, no matter how original, they always have choruses,

verses, bridges, et cetera.”

Talking about why certain genres seem to be more popular than others Russell explained: “It’s all about the audience and who will pay to watch what. Some groups of people (Hollywood thinks) won’t go see anything, by the way, Hollywood can be wrong. People over 60 are one of the newest, growing markets for movies and TV shows, which surprised the hell out of Hollywood.”

So on his first trip to SA Russell advised script writers to write about Africa. “I can tell you that Americans are fascinated with Africa. It’s such a huge, astonishing place and we know so little about it.”

Russell has a series of books on genre coming out next year where each genre has its own book. The best piece of advice he has ever been given is also what he believes is most needed to succeed as a screen writer: Don’t quit.

“It also helps to be a narcissist who is completely certain that what you have to say is incredibly valuable, so when your work gets criticised you just shrug it off,” Russell added. “And you must get along with people. This, too, is horrible news to a lot of writers, who have become writers because they loathe working with other people. Screenwriting is all about collaboration.”

Russell continues to get to know stories better and to share what he’s learned.

While doing just that in SA he planned to explore thoroughly what he called “your fabulously renowned, gorgeous country.”

– Cera-Jane Catton

ADVERTORIAL

| TRAINING

Wits Film and Television division expands international networks The Film and Television Division (Film/TV) within the University of the Witwatersrand’s School of Arts continues to expand on its already established exchange programmes with other leading international film schools.

Wits provides a four-year Bachelor of Arts in Film and Television with a unique blend of practical and theoretical applications around its courses in visual storytelling and image creation.

Wits Film and Television pioneered international collaborations 15 years ago when it initiated a programme with New York University’s celebrated film school involving students from both institutions collaborating on short film projects. A first for a South African institution, Wits Film/TV has continued to build on this trend over the last ten years with leading institutions in Africa and abroad through the Diversity and Documentary (D&D) programme. D&D’s tri-national collaboration involved students from South Africa, Ghana and Finland in a north –south annual exchange where students from each of the countries working together produced over 50 award winning documentaries.

Wits has made important inroads in developing an African practice of

filmmaking by offering students an opportunity to share in the creation of African narratives and explore the aesthetics and politics of filmmaking across the continent. For Prof Jyoti Mistry, a driving force behind many international programmes at Wits Film/ TV, working with African institutions “provides opportunity to consider the tensions between developing a commercial industry and the possibilities for an authentic African cinematic language”. Out of this approach a successful teaching exchange with the Masters filmmaking programme at the ALLE Arts School at the University of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, was initiated in 2014.

Wits also participates in the Bologna Summer film programme which is held by the International Film Academy (IFA) and is part of the oldest registered university in the world, Bologna University, situated in Italy and established in 1088. The IFA Summer programme is a prestigious event that selects universities from around the world based on their outstanding curriculum design and research approach. Dr. Tanja Sakota – Kokot, the head of Wits Film/TV Division, is an IFA Counsellor and has

Video compression MPEG-4 video compression technology is now being widely used, almost exclusively for high quality, low bandwidth HD contribution links into the broadcasters, Louis explains. The next-generation compression HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) is available in the market, but has not as yet

been invited to join the IFA Board of Directors. Wits Film/TV’s involvement provides a unique opportunity for students to access mentors from amongst internationally acclaimed film directors who have exhibited their work at top international film festivals including Cannes, Venice and Berlin. Selected students have one week at the film festival and two weeks in the mentorship workshop in Bologna with these renowned directors.

In an exciting new project, Wits Film/ TV is currently developing an innovative programme with Valand Academy at the University of Gotheburg. This Swedish based institution has impressive credentials through its association with Roy Andersson who many regard as one of the most important living European film directors. It also boasts the success of recent graduates including Ruben Östlund, director of the Cannes Film Festival award winning feature film, Force Majeure.

As part of the exchange programme, Gotheburg along with Wits Film/TV are piloting a project in South Africa that considers film as a research tool while also exploring alternative approaches to screenplay writing.

“Our ongoing international exchange programmes build on our commitment to preparing graduates with all round skills as well as a sound academic education,” says Dr. Tanja Sakota. This approach offers selected final year students the opportunity to make films alongside international students which not only exposes them to various filmmaking cultures, but also equips them with essential tools in a rapidly transforming media landscape.

The division continues to benchmark itself against leading international film and media teaching institutions through its membership with CILECT (The International Federation of Film Schools).

| SATELLITE AND TRANSMISSION TECHNOLOGY

Temporary respite in C-Band debate According to Telemedia’s Andy Louis, the various improvements in satellite transmission technology over the past few years fit into one of the following two broad categories: • improvements made in the coding (video compression) methods • new frequency bands available for satellite transmissions.

PIONEER OF INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION: Wits Film and TV staff with the visiting delegation from Gotheburg University

been adopted. DVB-S2, the secondgeneration modulation system, is also used extensively. DVB-S2X (Extensions) is now available, but is not widely used yet in South Africa.

These new technological developments require not only the transmitting station to upgrade, but also the single (or multiple) receive stations to be capable of receiving the signals.

New frequency bands As far as transmission frequencies go, Louis says that, in recent years most of the major satellite manufacturers have been implementing K-Band beams as their next-generation platforms. Transmission frequencies are approximately 30GHz,

and reception is either in the Ku-Band (10 to 12 GHz) or Ka-Band range of 20GHz. The main reason for the increase in frequency band is the simple fact that all other bands are already fully utilised.

Ka-Band allows for a much smaller transmit antenna, but a much larger receive antenna, due to the huge atmospheric losses (rain fade) as a result of the higher receive frequencies. Satellite links operating in the Middle East and Europe rarely experience heavy rain.

Ka-Band transmissions would work well in these areas, but not in the Equatorial regions.

Satellite broadcast across Africa has largely made use of C-Band beams, which perform far better in adverse weather conditions, preventing rain fade to a large

extent. In the past year, there was a debate over whether to reallocate telecommunication services to the C-Band which, broadcasters argued, would seriously disrupt their operations, forcing them to move to K-Band transmission, resulting in less reliable service and thus a loss of revenue. The most recent iTU World Radio Conference (WRC) was held in Geneva in December 2015 and ended with delegates agreeing not to make any major changes to the C-Band allocations.

While K-Band frequency transmission and HEVC compression are the next step in the technological advancement of satellite broadcast, neither of these are likely to have a major presence across Africa anytime soon. Although the decision taken at the latest WRC means that broadcasters are, for now, not going to have to deal with the crisis that would certainly result from C-Band reallocation, the respite is likely only a temporary one.

The issue is sure to come up again, with telecoms still eyeing these frequencies.

With telecoms entering the content distribution space via a range of VOD platforms set to give traditional, linear, satellite and terrestrial television broadcast a run for its money, it remains to be seen how the balance of power will shift in this arena.

May 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 39

NEW MEDIA

|

VOD

Demand escalates in an

expanding industry

Video-on-demand (VOD) technology is developing at an indeterminate speed with new players entering the market regularly.

The convergence of technologies is blurring the distinction between mobile units and television sets. Despite South Africa’s low internet penetration, currently at less than 50 per cent, it has not deterred the rising usage of VOD platforms in the country.

40 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2016

A

ccording to a new Nielsen VOD survey, 63 per cent of South Africans watch some kind of VOD programming on an online device.

The Nielsen survey polled more than 30 000 online respondents in 61 countries including SA, and found that rather than replacing paid traditional TV services, South Africans are supplementing traditional viewing habits with online service subscriptions.

The delivery of video content is shifting towards subscription-based VOD and consumer habits are changing, a development that provides hope for revenue stream diversification for all players involved.

Kgositsile Poonyane, head of marketing at SA VOD industry player ONTAPtv.com, says that VOD is a relatively new way of seeing films and TV series and that the cost of data is an issue. “Against this, there are huge advantages. People have choice, they have thousands of films and episodes to choose from and watch when it is convenient to them. And VOD is mobile, you can choose to watch a movie, a TV series or a documentary on your smart phone or tablet. In short VOD is the future for most people,” says Poonyane.

At the start of 2016 Netflix entered 130 new countries. This move introduced the VOD service to 4.51 million new subscribers in territories outside its native United States market pushing it up to 70 million customers in more than 190 countries worldwide. This didn’t deter ONTAP. “With our local content offering, blockbuster rentals and download (to

view later offline) capability we have our unique positioning,” says Poonyane.

Nigerian VOD operator iROKOtv is one of YouTube’s largest channel partners in Africa, with a total of 396 movie and music channels generating 65 million views every single month.

“Netflix arriving in Africa certainly raised the overall profile of the huge potential market that is VOD in Africa,” said iROKO CEO Jason Njoku. “iROKO continues on its quest to bring Nollywood to millions on the continent, so from that perspective, our vision stays the same. iROKO is built for Africa – mobile-first, Android-first, download-only and we are also priced for this market. So our offering, in terms of content, our product and our prices are totally built around an African audience.”

Internet TV, VOD or SVOD platforms are seeing double digit growth figures across Africa, as the continent’s growing population expects to access their favourite content 24/7 online.

OTT and internet TV will, this decade, become a serious player in Africa’s content consumption market, going head-to-head with the continent’s more established linear FTA and pay TV networks.

ONTAP notes that customers prefer the opportunity to “binge watch their favourite TV series,” says Poonyane. The biggest challenge they face is broadband limitation which is why they have enabled download as well as streaming packages.

“We are however encouraged by the growth in cost effective broadband in

South Africa.” iROKO too has continued to face challenges regarding streaming long-format content because of issues with broadband connectivity. This is why in 2015, we essentially decided to switch off the streaming part of the platform and build iROKOtv app,” said Njoku.

South Africans have increasing choice, gone are those days when pay and free-to-air TV were the only options. “VOD will go from strength to strength, and ONTAP will continue to be innovative with regards to our service and also the options of content we provide for our target audience,” confirms Poonyane.

“The future is probably best focussed on mobile and internet TV, VOD and the live streaming of long format content in Africa is going to remain hugely challenging as long as the continent’s broadband infrastructure remains patchy (at best) and expensive,” says Njoku. “However, watching content on the go, via mobile, will without a doubt be the future for content consumption on the continent.”

According to statistics portal Statista, faster internet speeds globally are expected to increase VOD subscribers to 200 million by 2020, from around 83 million last year. SA can already enjoy local offerings from Vidi, BoxOffice, Altech Node, ShowMax, MTN VU, FutureTV among international players as the industry continues to expand.

– Cera-Jane Catton

P R ODUCTION

U PDATE S

FOR FURTHER DETAILS VISIT www.screenafrica.com

Those productions in red are newly listed this month Production Updates Order of Information 1. Title 2. Production Company 3. Director 4. Genre

IN PRODUCTION 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 A BROTHER’S LOVE 1300 Pictures (Pty) Ltd Dir: Elvis Nkosi Feature A CALENDAR OF EVENTS – MEDUPI & KUSILE Betta Beta Communications Prod: Tommy Doig Documentary A MAN OF HIS OWN PRINCIPALS Sekgopha Productions Prod: Buhle Mofulatsi / Thapelo Hlagala TV movie AQUELLE’ MIDMAR MILE 2015 Media Ventures Prod/Dir: Chris Moolman Documentary 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 BACKBONE PROJECT Global Access Creative Agency Prod: GA Creative Agency Documentary BIG BROTHER MZANSI Endemol South Africa Prod: Terja Beney, Liza Kleitman Reality BINNELAND Stark Films Prod/Dir: Friedrich / Elsje Stark Series BRAVO! Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Magazine BONISANANI Grounded Media Talk Show Bugatti Together Lucky Fish Productions Dir: Raphaël Crombez Commercial CAINE’S LEGACY Media Navigation Prod/Dir: Dan Akinlolu Short Film CARTE BLANCHE (INSERTS) Modern Times Prod: Sophia Phirippides News Carte Blanche shorts TIA productions Prod / Dir: Tarryn Lee Crossman News

CLAASENS DESIGNS MARKETING VIDEOS Panache Video Productions Prod/Dir: Liesel Eiselen Marketing videos CLASH OF THE CHOIRS Endemol South Africa Prod: Josh Feldman Talent / Reality 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 DIAMOND BROKER OF CONGO Bendimir Productions PTY LTD Prod: Dede Tshibangu Documentary DIMENSION DATA Global Access Creative Agency Dir: Natalie Varoy Corporate DINNER DIVAS 2 Blonds and a Redhead Filming Prod: Anne Myers Series DISHONEST Inhlakanipho Films Dir: Vusi Nhlapo Feature Film Ditokelo tsa Medupi LMOL Production Dir: Lizzy Moloto Feature DIY MET RIAAN Prod: Riaan Venter-Garforth Magazine EARTH BEAT Tekweni TV Productions Prod: Sandra Herrington Series EASTERN MOSAIC Red Carpet Productions Prod: Saira Essa / Mark Corlett Magazine 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 FRENZY Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Morena Sefatsa Variety

FRIENDS LIKE THESE Urban Brew Studios Prod: Trishana Singh Game show GENERATIONS Morula Pictures Prod: Mfundi Vundla Series GOOD MORNING AFRICA Planet Image Productions SA Prod/Dir: Wale Akinlabi Magazine GOSPEL GOLD Engage Entertainment Prod: Sthembile Mhlongu Music Got It Global Access Creative Agency Dir: Guy Sclanders Corporate THE GREATEST THING Noble Pictures Prod: Claudia Noble Feature Film GROEN Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Wildlife HEAT WAVE Ruby Rocket Media Dir: Eddie Edwards TV Series HECTIC 99 Okuhle Media Prod: Wilna van Schalkwyk Magazine HITACHI POWER AFRICA MEDUPI AND KUSILE Betta Beta Communications Prod/Dir: Tommy Doig Documentary HOUSE CALL Urban Brew Studios Prod: Lawrence Molepo Talk Show IGNITE Footprint Media TV Prod: Cheryl Delport Reality IHAWU LE SISWE Provoke Entertainment Dir: Sechaba Morojele TV Series iParent training clips Global Access Creative Agency Dir: Guy Sclanders Corporate 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 JOBURG TAXI Xcut Studios Prod: Dave Kaminer Documentary JOU SHOW Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Talkshow comedy KHUMBUL’EKHAYA Urban Brew Studios Prod: Khulile Nxumalo Factual Entertainment KOKKEDOOR 2 Homebrew films Prod: Jaco Loubser and Paul Venter Cooking reality series KOLLIG Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Magazine

1464 Vragboot Steet Cnr Vooraadskip Streets Laserpark, Honeydew

KONA The Directors Team (Pty) Ltd Prod/Dir: Laurence Lurie / Cathy Sykes Series KOOLCON CORPORATE VIDEO FiX Post Production/ Marketing AV Marketing Video LATE NITE NEWS ON E.TV Diprente Productions Prod: Tamsin Andersson Series Light Girls South African Unit White Heron Pictures Prod: Themba Sibeko Documentary LIVE Urban Brew Music LIVE AMP Urban Brew Studios Prod: Sjula Dlamini Music Show

LIVE LOTTO SHOW Urban Brew Game Show MAHADI SEASON 2 Urban Brew Studios Prod: Khulile Nxumalo Reality 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 MASHELENG1 LMOL Production Dir: Lizzy Moloto Feature MASHELENG 2 LMOL Production Dir: Jonny Muteba Feature

May 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 41

P R OD U CT ION

UPDATES MassTalk Global Access Creative Agency Prod: Brad Montgomery Corporate MATRICS UPLOADED Educational Improvement and Study Help (EISH) Prod: Lisa Blakeway Educational MOTSWAKO Carol Bouwer Productions Prod: Grant Paul Roy Talk Show MCA Training Global Access Creative Agency Dir: Guy Sclanders Corporate M-NET SHORT FILMS Current Affairs Films Prod/ Dir: Jane Thandi Lipman Film MURDER OF A FORMER FIRST LADY Sabido Productions Dir/Prod: Catherine Rice Documentary MUVHANGO Word of Mouth Prod: Pieter Grobbelaar Feature MY GENERATION Current Affairs Films Dir: Jane Lipman TV Series My name is Funeka Sabido Productions Dir/Prod: Catherine Rice Documentary MZANSI INSIDER Bonngoe Productions Prod: Pepsi Pokane Magazine NEILL ANTHONY – THE PRIVATE CHEF Okuhle Media Prod: Grant Flynn Cooking Show NET1 – SASSA Betta Beta Communications Prod: Tommy Doig Corporate NEWS NIGHT eNews Prod: Nikiwe Bikitsha Current Affairs Oscar Pistorius Documentary Inserts TIA Productions Dir/ Prod: Tarryn Crossman 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 PHUNDEKA READING PROGRAMME SummerTime Productions Exec Prod: Phundeka (NGO) Documentary POWER COMBAT ZONE Mixed Motion Entertainment Dir: Dieter Gottert Sport PROJECT MV Zen Crew Prod: Laura Tarling Music Rands with Sense 2 Blonds and a Redhead Filming Prod: Anne Myersin Education RHYTHM CITY Quizzical Pictures Prod: Yula Quinn Soapie RIVONINGO Asi-B Films Prod: Asivhanzi ‘Asi’ Mathaba Children’s Show ROLLING WITH KELLY KHUMALO Red Pepper Prod: Cecil Barry Reality ROOTS Ukhamba Communications Prod: Alfred Mpofu Music

Unit C5 RobeRtville Mini FaCtoRies 255 nadine stReet RobeRtville RoodepooRt 1709

SAINT AND FREEDOM FIGHTER Blue Marble Entertainment Dir: Eugene Botha Documentary SAKEGESPREK MET THEO VORSTER – SEASON 5 Dirk Mostert Camera Production Prod/ Dir: Dirk Mostert Series SAUBA IMAGOFILM Prod: Tam de Vries Reality TV Series Shreds and Dreams Penguin Films Prod: Roberta Durrant TV Series SOUTH AFRICAN TOURISM Rapid Blue Prod: Kee-Leen Irvine Global TV Commercial SCANDAL Ochre Moving Pictures Prod: Romano Gorlei Soapie SCHOEMAN BOERDERY – MOOSRIVIER Khaki Productions Prod/Dir: Christelle Parrott / Wynand Dreyer Documentary SELIMATHUNZI Sikhoyana Productions Prod: Baby Joe Correira Variety SHIZ NIZ Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Allen Makhubele Variety SHIFT Urban Brew Studios Prod: Bongani Maphumulo Talk show SISTERHOOD Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Andy Leze Variety SIYAKHOLWA – WE BELIEVE X CON Films Dir: Munier Parker Edutainment 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 SPRINGBOK STORIES Angel Music Studio Productions Dir: Chrissie Rossouw TV Series STUDY MATE Educational Improvement and Study Help (EISH) Exec Prod: Lisa Blakeway Educational SUIDOOSTER Suidooster Films Prod: Colin Howard Soap SUPERSWIMMER Media Ventures Prod/Dir: Chris Moolman TV Series 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 10 Urban Brew Studios Prod: Sydney Mekgwe Magazine show

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 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 VELDKINDERS Kilroy Was Here! Productions Prod: Gideon Breytenbach Documentary Series 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 WARD 22 TIA Productions Prod/Dir: Tarryn Crossman Documentary WEEKEND AM LIVE SABC News Current Affairs WIZARD OF ZIM Away From Keyboard Dir: Samora Sekhukhune Documentary WOMB-MAN Bolobathaba Multimedia Prod: Molatelo Mainetje Documentary YILENGELO LAKHO Prod: Nndanganeni Mudau Current Affairs YOTV Urban Brew Studios Prod: Adelaide Joshua Youth show 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 FATAL ENCOUNTER – THE MARLEEN KONINGS STORY Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Johann Abrahams Documentary A Love Letter to Luxor Shadow Films Prod/Dir: David Forbes Short Film A MOTHER’S MADNESS Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Ayesha Ismail Documentary A STOLEN LIFE – THE SASHA LEIGH CROOK STORY Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Catherine Rice Documentary

U C T INO NU P UP P R O PDR UO CD T IO DDAATT EE SS 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 ALL FOR NOTHING – THE LIFE AND DEATH OF BRUNO BRONN Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Barbara Friedman Documentary BEAUTY CONTEST Phoenix TV Productions Prod/Dir: Koketso Sefanyetso Short Film CAESAREAN COMPLICATIONS SummerTime Productions Exec Prod: Professor Eckhart Buchmann Documentary Challenge SOS 2 Blonds and a Redhead Filming Prod: Anne Myers Reality Collide Media Village Productions Prod: Ardeen Munnik TV Series CROSSBOW KILLER Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Barbara Friedman Documentary DEBRA DEEL Khaki Productions Prod: Christelle Parrott TV Series DIE WASGOEDLYN Kilroy Was Here! Productions Prod: Gideon Breytenbach TV Series FASHION GURU SA Pro Media & Spider – Co Productions Prod/Dir: Dee Vanzyl Reality FORMIDABELE VROUE: CISSY GOOL Khaki Productions Prod/Dir: Christelle Parrott/ Wynand Dreyer Documentary HAD BETTER DAYS Uniquely Novel Productions Prod/Dir: Deon VD Merwe Feature Film HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARIES: KIMBERLEY: SOUTH AFRICA Spike Productions Prod/Dir: Steve Muller Documentary THE HOCKEY STICK KILLER Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Melanie Rice Documentary HOPE NHU Africa Prod: Vyv Simson / Donfrey Meyer Documentary HOUSE OF ENCOURAGEMENT Panache Video Productions Dir/Prod: Liesel Eiselen Corporate I AM…CRAIG Away From Keyboard Dir: Samora Sekhukhune Documentary IQILI Impucuzeko Prod: Sharon Kakora Feature Joyous 18 RM Recording Prod: Lindelani Mkhize Other JULIUS HAS A DREAM Creative South Africa, Nkanyethi Productions,Jam TV Prod: Bathelemy Ngwessam Documentary KADARA Media Navigation Prod: Dan Akinlolu/ Biola Karonwi TV Drama Kerels wat Kook Penguin Films Prod: Roberta Durrant Reality TV Series

KNYSNA West Five Films Prod/ Dir: Maynard Kraak; Andre Velts Feature Film LINCOLN CLAN Total Recall Media Ltd Dir: Adebanjo Oluseyi TV Series THE MIME ARTIST Phoenix TV Productions Prod: Koketso Sefanyetso Short Film MURDER ON MILLIONAIRE’S MILE Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Barbara Friedman Documentary MY SIGHT FOR SORE EYES Enigma Ace Films Prod/Dir: Ryan Kruger Feature Film NEW LAND Plexus Films/ Four Corners Media Dir: Kyle O’ Donoghue TV Series NIGHT OF THE MASSACRE Tshepo Lesedi Projects, Mathope & Izibuko Films Dir: Charles Khuele Documentary NIGHTCLUB KILLER Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Nobathembu Stefane Documentary NORTH WEST KILLER Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Ayesha Ismail Documentary 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 THE QUIET BOY Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Charlene Stanley Corporate ROSA 3 Two Oceans Productions Prod: Giselher Venzke & Bertha Spieker TV Feature SAFE BET Sukuma Media Producer: Nokuthula Sakhile Mguni / Bonginhlanhla Ncube Feature Film SAMURAI KILLER Sabido Productions Dir: Catherine Rice Corporate SECRET PAIN #1 Makoya Entertainment Prod/Dir: Prayer Ndlovu TV Drama SHALLOW GRAVE Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Meggan Raubenheimer Documentary SLENDER WONDER FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video SLENDER WONDER MJ LABS FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video SWARTWATER Quizzical Pictures Prod: Bianca Isaac Dir: John Trengove/ Jozua Malherbe/ Denny Y Miller Series SUPERDAD Two Oceans Productions Prod: Giselher Venzke & Bertha Spieker TV Feature SURVIVOR Endemol South Africa Prod: Anton Burggraaf, Josh Feldman Reality

TELKOM: BUSINESS INSIGHTS WEBSERIES UZI Films Prod/Dir: Steven Hall Corporate TESSA BEETGE – A Life Interrupted Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Meggan Raubenheimer Documentary The calling LMOL Production Dir: Lizzy Moloto Feature THE CODE BREAKER NHU Africa Prod: Vyv Simson / Donfrey Meyer Documentary THE FAMILY PUZZLE Site et Sons media productions Prod/Dir : Zamo Missie Feature THE LAST GREAT TUSKERS NHU Africa Prod: Vyv Simson / Donfrey Meyer Documentary The Message Reel Edge Studios Dir: David Golden TV Drama Series THE STORY OF LITTLE FOOT Paul Myburgh Film Prod: Paul Myburgh Documentary THE TRANSPORTERS Sukuma Media/ Reality Motion Pictures Dir: Bonginhlanhla Ncube Documentary TOWNSHIP TERROR Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Melanie Rice Documentary TROOPSHIP TRAGEDY Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Marion Edmunds Documentary Traffic Penguin Films Prod: Roberta Durrant TV Series TWEE GRADE VAN MOORD Inverse Films (Pty) Ltd Prod: Barry Strick Feature Film UNDER THE MOUNTAIN Plexus Films Prod: Miki Redelinghuys,/ Lauren Groenewald Short film UNSOLVED – THE STORY OF THE CAPE RIPPER Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Johann Abrahams Documentary VKB LANDBOU BEPERK FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video When I Was Water Shadow Films Dir: David Forbes Documentary XJ-1 Eternal Film Productions Prod: Marius Swanepoel/ Dana Pretorius Feature XTREME OUTDOORS AFRICA Africa InSight Prod: Esah Panyako TV Magazine You Deserve It Penguin Films Prod: Roberta Durrant TV Game Show

UPCOMING EVENTS

|

MAY

11 – 22

Festival de Cannes

France www.festival-cannes.com 12

Screen Africa Golf Day 2016

Johannesburg www.screenafrica.com

JUNE

4 – 14

Encounters South African Documentary Film Festival

Cape Town www.encounters.co.za 13 – 18

Annecy International Animated Film Festival

France www.annecy.org Screen Africa relies on the accuracy of information received and cannot be held

16 – 26

Durban International Film Festival

Durban www.durbanfilmfest.co.za

responsible for any errors or omissions which may occur.

E-mail production updates to:

17 – 20

7th Durban FilmMart

Durban www.durbanfilmmart.co.za

online@screenafrica.com

May 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 43

Social

|

IPO presented Bongiwe Selane’s talk about producing the hit Happiness is a Four-Letter Word

Photos by Cera-Jane Catton

In the first of a series of talks, the Independent Producers Organisation (IPO) on 20 April 2016 presented producer Bongiwe Selane for an intimate talk and knowledge share at Atlas Studio in Johannesburg. An eager audience, made up of movie lovers, producers, directors, casting agents and a number of industry professionals, engaged in discussions about the challenges facing the industry, profit participation, vernacular in Africa, genre, formula, fears and fees. No topic was out of the question as industry hacks and hints were discussed in depth.

Nicole Jonathan, Dayo Ogunyemi and Mmabatho Kau

Khobi Ledwaba and Rolie Nikiwe

Lara Cunha and Phuthi Nakene

Xolelwa Nhlabatsi and Brendan C Campbell

Bongiwe Selane and Thabang Moleya

Presley Tsheole and Moposetola Mokhomo

Kopano Marumo, Akin Omotoso and Bongiwe Selane

Neo Ntlatleng and Rethabile Mothobi

Sonny Mabasa and Ayanda Sithebe

44 | SCREENAFRICA | May 2016

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