Mediatech Africa will be showcasing the latest filmmaking technology

There is no denying that in that past the business of making motion pictures was exclusively for the rich and famous. However, major advancements in the field of technology have resulted in the affordability of recording equipment. This development has led to a massive boost in the number of movies coming out of Africa. Nowadays any ‘Simba, Jamal and Hakeem’ can now grab a camcorder and shoot a film of some sort.

Because of this directly proportional relationship between media technological advancements and the number of films produced I have come to appreciate important trends in media technology. MEDIATECH AFRICA, the continent ‘s largest advanced media technology trade exhibition, is a perfect stop to see all the latest film recording gadgets and trends in film production. Following the success of the previous years, the biennial trade exhibition, will again showcase cutting edge technologies and services from industry leaders in:
• Broadcast, Film, Production & Post Production
• Pro AV, Sound, Lighting, Staging and Rigging
• AV & Broadcast System Integration
• Animation, New Media, Mobile & On-line
• Satellite and Signal
• Musical Instruments & DJ Equipment
• Computer Music and Production Tools

Filmmakers in the continent should diarise July 20, 2011 because the Screen Africa Technology and Production will taking place at this year’s Mediatech Africa trade exhibition. Among the topics that will be discussed is ‘3D PRODUCTION FLOW’.

This is a practical workshop which demonstrates to delegates what it takes to shoot 3D in the field. The workshop will bring delegates up to speed on the latest 3D techniques and the possible future of 3D. The critical variables and pitfalls of shooting 3D will be discussed. The workshop is pitched at an introductory level.

African Cinemas on wheels

The problem with Africa is that bad politics affects every bit of our lives- movie watching included. There are many countries in the motherland that have closed down movie theatres for political reasons. For these unfortunate countries, however, there is ‘MobiCINE’ a new initiative that is changing the way cinema is viewed.

MobiCINE is basically cinema on motor cycles. It operates in a safe and easy manner. Each MobiCINE carried on a motor cycle in a ‘black box’ (a flight-case lodging a 1.300 lumens beamer plus a laptop). Also included in the Mobile cinema set are self-amplified loudspeakers, a 2,40m screen and a power generator plus 50 buckets used as theatre seats.

The film files that are loaded on the laptop are encrypted, and can be unlocked only by a digital ‘token’, which is prepaid by the exhibitor. Allcables and plugs of the PC and beamer are sealed, so as to prevent any unauthorized show.

Since Monday, May 9, 2011 seven mobiCINE units have cruised on the roads in Dakar with seven more to go in Bamako in June. This new development is a path breaking screening system in Africa. It is certainly offering a new way of watching films in places where all legal movie theatres have shut down.

The project has received funding from ACP Films, the Jan Vrijman Fund, and the French embassies in Dakar and Bamako.Organizers say the initiative is giving African filmmakers a chance to reach local audiences and develop a legitimate B.O. model they now lack.

Man On Ground

The scourge of African on African violence is a stupidity this continent knows too well.The South African xenophobic attacks of 2008, which resulted in the death of over 60 people, made headlines the world over. This unfortunate slaughter of foreign nationals was the inspiration of Akin Omotoso’s (2007 Standard Bank Young Artist Of The Year For Film Directing) follow up film Man on Ground. The feature film, which is produced by T.O.M Pictures, 1 Take Media and Rosie Motene Productions, explores the complex themes of xenophobia, identity, fear and reconciliation.

“The xenophobia attacks generated profound national and continental shock and soul searching,” says Akin Omotoso Man On Ground’s Director, Writer and Producer. “This film is part of this continual soul searching and it is also a strong appeal for healing to ensure that such killings do not happen again.”

The feature film is about Ade, a Nigerian-British doctor based in the UK who visits South Africa to see his estranged half-brother Femi. Upon his arrival in South Africa, Ade discovers his brother has been missing for a week. With the help of Femi’s fiancée, Zodwa, Ade investigates his brother’s disappearance. It is soon realised that Femi’s disappearance coincides with a recent period of xenophobic violence. As the truth starts to emerge Ade discovers that Femi is dead but no one can account for the body. The search for the body leads Ade to the discovery of the horrific truth about his brother’s death.

Man on Ground, a self and crowd funded feature film, is being produced on an undefined meagre budget. “It’s difficult to put a figure on our budget because we are relying on the generosity of Crowd Funding,” said Rosie Motene one of the producers of the film. “We will have to keep appealing for donations until the project is completed.”

Motene is very positive about Crowd Funding and hopes to raise enough funds to complete the project. “This form of funding works especially for films with a social message. It has been working for years in Europe and the US,” she stated. “We are appealing to individuals and companies to contribute anything from R1 000 and in return they will get an associate producer credit or product placement opportunities.”

Crowd Funding has become very popular in the South African film industry in recent time with many directors opting for this kind funding to finance their productions. “We believe that rather than always waiting for external funding for making art on this continent, we can draw on our collective resources and networks to make films and art works that will both entertain and educate our people,” said Omotoso.

Man On Ground stars Hakeem Kae-Kazim (Hotel Rwanda, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End), Fana Mokoena (Yizo Yizo, Generations, The Lab), Fabian Olojode (Jacob’s Cross) and Bubu Mazibuko (Gaz’lam, Catch A Fire). The film, which has completed principal photography, is hoping to create a buzz at the local and International film festival circuit, starting with a premiere at the Toronto Film Festival and the Dubai Film Festival.

Winnie vs. Winnie

The biographic film Winnie is no stranger to controversy. During its casting phase there was much hullabaloo about the casting of African Americans Oscar Winner Jennifer Hudson and Oscar Nominee Terrence Howard. The two Americans play Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Nelson Mandela respectively. This, however, did not go down with many South Africans who felt that such iconic roles should be given to South African actors.

Fast forward a year or so later- Winnie is now in post-production and yet another fracas has erupted. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela herself has openly

scorned the production by calling it an insult. Her resentment towards a movie about her life stems out of the fact that the apartheid veteran was not consulted in the making of the film.

South African director James Roodt is responsible for production of Winnie and he has described the motion picture as the ultimate women’s movie and an amazing love story. Madikizela-Mandela, however, told CNN that it was disrespectful to make a movie about her struggle a romantic feature.
Madikizela-Mandela's lawyers wrote to the filmmakers last year threatening action to stop production but they went ahead. They in turn took the decision not to show Madikizela-Mandela the script.

FREEDOM fighting in Cinema

35 years later the events 16th of June 1976 are salient in the south African psyche. The Soweto Uprising, AKA "June 16", was a series of student-led protests in South Africa that began on the morning of June 16, 1976. Students from numerous Sowetan schools began to protest in the streets of Soweto, in response to the introduction of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in local schools. An estimated 20 000 students took part in the protests, and roughly 176 people were killed. The 16th of June is now a public holiday named Youth Day. It is remembrance of the events in 1976.

As I sat home and enjoyed the holiday I began thinking about how the world of cinema has chronicled Africa's fight for freedom. Mapantsula, Battle for Algiers, Flame immediately come to mind. I would have appreciated watching these types of movies on national TV to celebrate the sacrifice made by our freedom fighters but it seems national broadcaster’s don’t share my sentiments.

FAVOURITE AFRICAN FILM

A while ago a posted the question- "What is your FAVOURITE AFRICAN FILM of all time?" on LinkedIn. Many responses were posted on this LinkedIn discussion and I am very impressed with the diversity of answers in terms of genre, country of origin and era of production. Taking a glimpse at what different people consider their favourite film is a testament that African cinema has come a long way and has now firmly established itself as market to be reckoned with. This was an education on the vastness of African Cinema. I am making it my personal mission to watch all these African gems of cinema i have not watched yet.

The following movies made it to the list (A DROP IN THE OCEAN)
Yesterday
District 9
Tsotsi
Neria
Yellow Card (My Choice)
White Wedding
Jerusalema
Jump the Gun
Moolaade
Chickn Buziness
Elolipop
Zeinabu Rudi Nyumbani
Otto the bloodbath
Heritage Africa
The flyers

Afro documentary making

Documentaries are part of cinema too and so rightly deserve a blog post too. Organisers of Toronto's Hot Docs will administer a $1 Million documentary fund geared toward nurturing emerging African film filmmakers.

the fright is in the air

Is it me or has there been a sudden influx of horror movies from the African continent? If it’s not about vampire it’s zombies or cannibals from the Kalahari.

Taharuki

Kenya and the US have teamed up to produce a fascinating short film named Taharuki aka Suspense. Taharuki is a 12 minute Kiswahili film set in the post-election violence of Kenya 2008. It is a fictional account of a man and a woman from different tribes working for an underground movement seeking to expose a child trafficking cartel.

The interesting thing about this film is that though set in Kenya it was entirely shot in Brooklyn, New York. Due to the very tight budget everyone volunteered their labour free of

charge. The location,a nursery, was donated for 24 hours.

The movie was written, directed and produced by Musangi-Omari and Co-produced Kia Barbee. The three roles in the movie are played by US-based Kenyan actors.

Durban International Film Festival

The Durban International Film festival is on the horizon and I very excited about it. DIFF is South Africa’s longest-running film festival, the Durban International Film Festival runs across 12 days at the end of July, presenting over 250 screenings of current films from around the world, with 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 capacity. This Includes the participation of 40 filmmakers from Africa in Talent Campus Durban, a cooperation with the Berlin Film Festival, and the Durban FilmMart, a film financing initiative in partnership with Durban Film Office. DIFF is organised by the Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN).

The Democratic Republic of the Congo often referred to as DR Congo, DROC, DRC, or RDC (from its French abbreviation), or Congo-Kinshasa after the capital of Kinshasa (in contrast to Congo-Brazzaville for its neighbour) conjures up many images some beautiful but while others are eerie. Think the beautiful Congo River System, diamonds and many other natural resources. On the flipside think the horrible civil war and poverty.

In terms of cinematic productions, however, Congo is breaking ground. Viva Riva, a new film coming out of this part of our continent is an excellent example of this. The film is the FIRST feature film brain child of documentary Filmmaker Djo Tunda. It is also the FIRST contemporary drama to be made by a Congolese director.Viva Riva! won the inaugural prize for Best African Movie at MTV’s 2011 Movie Awards presented at the Gibson Amphitheatre in California on 5 June.

The story revolves around Riva, a thief after the heart of a gangster’s lover (this should be interesting). Throw in some bad choices, an Angolan gangster, precious oils, violence, sex and some social commentary and what we have is a riveting crime tale. The film is set in the beautiful Kinshasa and has the makings of where African Cinema should be going.

Choice - New Zim Movie

I have not yet had the pleasure to scribble something about, Zimbabwe's film industry. The reason I must confess was because of ignorance. A lot has been happening in Zollywood which is my country’s equivalent to Nollywood which is Nigeria’s answer to Bollywood who adopted that name from Hollywood. Zollywood or whoever came up with that title get a 1 out of 10 for their creative effort. ZOLLYWOOD! C'mon. It’s so uncreative that if I type Zollywood or Nollywood my computer automatically corrects it to Hollywood or Bollywood.

Now that is out of the way I will get back to talking about cinema.

According to entertainment journos The Zimbabwean movie industry is reported to be booming. The country has seen a number of motion pictures released in the past year. The much talked about ‘Lobola’ and the recently released ‘Choice’ instantly come to mind. But having watched neither film I am in no position to critic them. As soon as I buy copies at a corner in Marabastaad I will post something immediately... just kidding. Piracy is ILLEGAL!

I must say though, Choice seems to be a step in the right direction for Zimbabwean movie making. The film is about a young married woman, Choice Tembo, played by Rudo Chigogo, who is caught between two lovers. She loves her husband Morrison Tembo (Sylvester Hwema) but he is not meeting her conjugal rights satisfactorily. As a result, she finds a sensual touch from a young, handsome man, James Tigere, played by Tinashe Maisva. She then carefully juggles the two relationships but Morrison later discovers the game. I like the premise it departs from those sombre story lines associated with Zim movies.

deadline for entries

Submission of entries for the 2011 Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) will close on July 30. A statement from Chioma Ude, the chief executive officer of AFRIFF, highlighted guidelines for filmmakers wishing to enter works for the festival. She disclosed that categories available include feature, documentary, animation and short film and that each entry must be accompanied by a completed form.

Sisters in Africa are doing Big Things in Cinema

I have recently found a very interesting and well put together blog. This interesting weblog is birthed by WFOZ aka Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe. These filmmakers mean business and are abreast on all developments in the realm of cinema.

According to these mothers, sisters and daughters of cinema "The purpose of the African Women in Cinema Blog is to provide a space to discuss diverse topics relating to African women in cinema--filmmakers, actors, producers, and all film professionals. The blog is a public forum of the Center for the Study and Research of African Women in Cinema."