There’s definitely a renaissance in films from South Africa as TIME Magazine reports (see also, for example, the South Africa focus at the New York African Film Festival this month), but as for a South African ‘film industry’ this is a more accurate description:
“… At the end of apartheid, South Africa had no film industry to speak of. Filmmakers had either been co-opted by the white regime for propaganda or driven underground. Foreign filmmakers — whose big budgets can help prop up smaller local industries — had stayed away. With apartheid gone and sanctions lifted, that changed. Television commercial producers from around the globe discovered that Cape Town combined a spectacular location with skilled, cheap crews. Movie makers found that South Africa’s diverse landscape — savannah to desert, winelands to white-sand beaches — could stand in for almost anywhere, while the people of the Rainbow Nation, with a carefully placed sombrero here or a hijab there, could be almost anyone. Hollywood descended. In the last few years, South Africa has doubled as 16th century England, Iraq, Mexico, the earth in 10,000 B.C. and outer space — as well as other parts of Africa. As a result, Cape Town now finds itself home to a thriving film industry that employs 25,000 people and contributes some $800 million a year to South Africa’s economy, according to Laurence Mitchell of the Cape Film Commission.”
i think alex perry’s article is very good – however it is mainbly about americans telling our stories and emphasis you have unfortunately left out by your selective pasting of the article – the truth is that there was an apartheid driven film industry that in many ways was more successful than the present one – in terms of local content – and in the dying years of apartheid some of SA’s best films were made – ‘the stick’, ‘mapantsula’, ‘shot down’, – in the 15 years since – despite ‘democracy’ – very few local film have reached those heights – shusster’s racism still dominates – the biggest growth in the industry has been the production of niche afrikaans farces – and the continuing short-sightedness and ineptness of bodies like the NFVF and boradcasters such as the SABC mean that local product will forever be compormised – the unfortunate truth is that eastwood has the resources and the skills to make a better movie than locals at present – and there’s the unfortunaste rub – a film like ‘jerusalema’ and ‘tsotsi’ for example benefitted from no south african investment – only after ‘tsotsi’ won the oscar did the nfvf and sabc jump on the bandwagon congratulating themselves – when in fact they did nothing to help the film get made – truth is that the creative and financial gatekeepers of the sa film and tv industry are corrupt, pompous and – like the government – ill-suited to the job, yet opinionated and well-fed – why, for example, is the head of production at the nfvf an american? – why does a film like the upcoming ‘white wedding’ only get it’s majority finance from a UK benefactor – the rise of a so-called ‘industry’ is more about facility houses than real south african content on screen that audiences want to see…
Nollywood would be a more suitable model for the South African film industry. To take on Hollywood at it’s game is self defeating. Leave the big screen, big budget stuff to Hollywood and focus on local product for local consumption like the Nigerians and the Ghanaians. A good example of that is the South African pop music(kwaito, etc)industry which is quite vibrant and has a local market.
I think to speak of the SA film industry is dubious. There are fractions within the industry and mostly revenue is created through service environment. The actuality of SA content is very narrow and Andrew Worsdale is very correct in his summery. Nkanyiso also has a point however we have more skill and cash than Nollywood to be exploited in making local. I smell Hybrid…But the government, like in all other sectors, need to “pull up their socks”
So, Nollywood should be the model? How successful has something like Coal Stove Collective or Jollywood been in breaking through the mold?
Sean and Jozua,
The existence of an affordable local industry that is independent of either government funding or that of outside sources gives South Africans control in defining what it is they want South African film/video to be. As long as the model is Hollywood type large screen movies in an open market it will always makes sense to opt for the real thing – Hollywood type movies. As for Coal Stove and Jollywood, artsy/serious movies are fine and all, but let’s not forget that people go to movies mostly for the escapist/ entertainment value.
“South Africans control in defining what it is they want South African film/video to be”…
I don’t think we “lose control” if government is involved…that is not their role..an organization like NFVF could do alot more in creating opportunity for film makers, whether it be, in nkanyiso’s words, hollywood style or low bdgt grass roots films. I think there is place for both and creativity lies in both. We cant sustain a hollywood model because we ain’t it but we also should aim at better films than that of nollywood. I like to look at European cinema in that case in seeing how local their content is and also how much audience participation there is for these films…It’s not an either/or situation for us. Africa (in general) is a beast that needs it’s own rules and we cant copy/paste what exists elsewhere….
“we should aim at better films than nollywood.”
I agree with you,jozua, but my point is that we should own the process first. To go back to South African popular music, most kwaito is dreadful and numbingly derivative, but it is unquestionably locally rooted and commercially viable. A South African film/video industry that is viable in the same manner sets up the basis for discussing questions of quality within a South African context. Until we make local and affordable films/videos that attract an audience in Langa as well as Outdshoorn and Sandton, we can’t claim to have a film/video industry. Year after year I attend the various film festivals in Cape Town and always ask myself “who the hell are these films made for?” In terms of production values, remember how much of a godawful mess Sophiatown was despite or because of it’s vaunted production values?
Should we not just forget about Ster Kinekor or NuMetro showing local films or promoting it well (I remember when Akin Omotoso’s “God is African” played at NuMetro cinemas, there was clearly minimal PR and marketing involved. I think we–my wife and I–were the only people, plus one other, in the cinema that day. Yes, as Andrew said earlier, Schuster-type films with their racist and objectionable plotlines, gets the big push (and gets underwritten by the SABC!).
But my point is something else. Why not consider “TV” as film, because that is where the interesting stuff is being made and shown? And I am not talking about all the M-Net soap operas, I mean programs like Yizo Yizo, Then we were black, etc.
And will Soweto TV and Cape Town TV have an impact?
“why not consider TV as film” That’s partly my point about Nollywood as a model. Technological advances have made video very accessible and affordable to a wide range of people and has made the making of movies possible even under significant financial and technological constraints. If the making of movies becomes something fairly commonplace – not some exotic import – people acquire ownership of the process/concept and only then can they begin to define film/video from their point of view. It is only at that point that we can start talking about the quality of the product.
The problem with Soweto TV or Cape Town TV is that fine as they are, the creation of the product still requires a the mediation of another entity which acts as a gatekeeper. Let’s go ahead and make what will probably be initially godawful videos that will be sold at spazza shops for R10 and eventually South African film will start to take definition from that process.