I’ve blogged here before about that creature called the “South African film industry” (a number of people weighed in on that post, including critic and filmmaker, Andrew Worsdale).
Which brings me to Joziewood.
A friend just pointed me to this trailer for the film, “Zero One One.”
The three film directors behind Joziewood call themselves Joziewood Films. Not only does it refer to a production house, but also a philosophy for making films: That is, low-budget, entertaining, feature-length films with little “politics;” what they mean is their films are about the young, multi-racial “rainbow” middle class (for a flavor, read the synopsis for the films on their websites).
It also helps that Jozeiwood’s bosses are well-connected: Two of them are the sons of leading South African TV directors and producers (Gray Hofmeyr and Mfundi Vundla; the third is Vundla’s nephew).
Anyway, I find Joziewood interesting for one another reason: They want to upend the distribution and exhibition bottleneck for films in South Africa. And they’re doing it at the right time. The situation is not getting better with commercial outlets and video stores stocking Hollywood fare, art cinemas limited to mostly European films, film festivals facing a crisis (I got an email today that the Encounters Documentary Film Festival may be canceled after its main sponsors withdrew), and the public broadcaster (which dominates TV) in disarray and with a dwindling schedule for local content. (It will be interesting to see what faster and cheaper internet will do.)
So Joziewood are selling their films straight to DVD. “Zero One One” is apparently the third film where they followed this strategy.
Here and here in interviews with South Africa’s Sunday Times, you can see them expand on their ideas.
I haven’t seen any of these films, and my assessment is secondhand, so it would be interesting to get a sense of their audience and their rate of success as well as their relationship to other initiatives such as Jollywood (started by Leonard Ashu or the Coal Stove Group from people in South Africa.
It would also be good to hear what else is out there?
I agree with this thinking. These films appear to be gaudy, materialistic and crass – just what the SA middle class loves!
More seriously, there needs to be an industry in place and this is the best way to build it. Political dramas are great, but a film watching public has diverse tastes and won’t always be interested in politics – or just want to escape from that for a while.
What is encouraging is if these low budget films sell then the money for investment is likely to follow. Hence in the longer term we will produce more quality productions.
Thanks Ryan for your ongoing interest in us and to the local industry, and thanks never the less David for your crit.
I at this point I have no idea what the local market wants to see, or what the hell the local FILM industry IS at all. Other than my daddies work with Leon Schuster, you’re very lucky if you make a decent profit, big hopes for White Wedding though, done great so far, lets see if they make a few bars turnover.
What I’m doing right now is learning by trial and error.
Our first 3 films we made more selfishly in that we were less interested in who our market is and more interested in what are we capable of producing with the skills we’ve acquired over the years and with cheap technology. These first 3 (The List, Friends in Need & Zero One One) were shot quickly and on a profit share deal with the skeleton crew and cast. Now that we have something under our belt, we have a foundation to build from. I feel confident now to call myself a filmmaker as I’ve been though it and have some work under my belt. I’m looking at making films as a business and a lifestyle and not a hobby, I figure the only way to do so is to throw myself in there and fully commit. Call me in five years and i’ll tell you all about it
Ziggy, I like yr entrepreneurial spirit. The best intentions alone will not an industry make so good yr getting on with business.