Don’t Shoot

Riaan Cruywagen has been reading the news on television since it arrived in South Africa in 1976. He prides himself in the nickname “The face of news in South Africa” and his record of the longest serving Afrikaans news reader in the world. The film explores South Africa’s transformation through the eyes of an Afrikaans television reporter.

short film, released ’07, festivals ‘08

Stimela: The Search for the Missing Chord

A riveting look at one of South Africa's most important bands that went beyond the boundaries of the ordinary to urge those who listened to reach deep into themselves to reflect on their identity as well as to manifest their own destiny. Tracing the story from genesis to dazzling success, break up and make up, Stimela includes incisive interviews with band members as well as key roleplayers, archival material and music videos.

Screened 2008

Lost Prophets

Young South African filmmaker Dylan Valley presents the real scoop about legendary and influential hip-hop group Prophets of the City. Featuring a Molotov-cocktail of a soundtrack, and interviews with members Ready D, Jazmo, Ramone, Gogga and Ishmael, we are immersed in the life and times of a group whose discography could be read as a primer to the difficult art of making conscious music while not rendering the listener unconscious.

Akekho Ugogo (Grandma's Not Home)

Directed by Tiny Mungwe
Released 2008

The film traces the clubbing and kwaito scene in Durban and shows that for many upwardly mobile young people in Durban , clubbing offers the only and simplest form of escapism; clubbing almost becomes a religion, a place where people can articulate their individuality. Out of this scene has emerged a music subgenre called Durban Kwaito Music. Filled with controversial lyrics, this music is taking over the country and creating a prominent entertainment industry in Durban.

Une Affaire De Negres (Black Business)

It is estimated that during a single year - 2000 - over 1,000 Cameroonians were killed by the Operational Command Unit, a special group of trained operatives, created by the President of the Republic of Cameroon, to tackle rampant banditry in the region of Douala. This, international commentators suspect, is merely a fraction of a far larger number of 'disappearances', over the preceding few years. Award-winning filmmaker Osvalde Lewat-Hallade's latest documentary is about the Cameroonian families, who have lost loved ones to the terrifying Unit.


2007 (2008 Cannes Cinema of the South and International Festivals)
French, Bamileke dialogue with English subtitles 90 mins

The City That Kills Somalians

Set in Cape Town, a city where socio-economic division exists largely on racial lines, The City That Kills Somalians documents the stressed lives of the city’s impoverished people. What starts out as an observational film, builds into a story that draws the viewer into the uncomfortable racial tensions of the city. Through intimate footage, this hard hitting film sensitively unpeels the tough layers of Cape Town, giving voice to the unspoken silence of a people in need to talk to each other.

Directed by: Riaan Hendricks

2007 (Screened at DIFF 2008)

Le Monde Selon Monsanto (2008)

The documentary The World According to Monsanto produced by French journalist and film maker Marie-Monique Robin paints a grim picture of a company with a long track record of environmental crimes, health scandals. It is also by far the leading producer of genetically engineered (GE) seed, holding 70%–100% market share for various crops. It’s development and marketing of genetically engineered seed and bovine growth hormones, as well as its aggressive litigation and political lobbying practices, have made the company controversial around the world and a primary target of the anti-globalization movement and environmental activists.

source

The Boys from Brazil

4 May 2008

To millions of fans around the world, they were, quite simply, the greatest group of players ever assembled. And when Paul Joseph set out to track down every member of Brazil's 1970 World Cup team, it was to become the 40,000-mile adventure of a lifetime.

Hello Africa

A documentary about mobile phone culture in Africa released

Before 2001, the year the first cell tower was erected in Zanzibar, people had very limited means of communicating with each other from a distance. Today, the situation is completely the opposite. Cell towers from main operators cover the whole island and people communicate all the time with their mobile phones. It is difficult to imagine how it once was before.

There are plenty of aspects about the ongoing changes that could be covered in a documentary, but the purpose of this fillm is not to elaborate and draw conclusions. The purpose is to catch the vibe, the know, show what’s going on right now. A snapshot of the Zanzibarian zeitgeist.

Music Stories

Toumani Diabaté - The Mandé Variations

Economics of music > world music boom, role of the internet/ blogs, shifting dyanamics in the global industry

My Name Is Albert Ayler documentary(2005) - an opportunity to write about Ayler
Directed by Kasper Collin
Screenings in 2007/ 2008