Woman we love: Rea Moeti
Award-winning writer, director and filmmaker Rea Moeti gives us a glimpse into her life behind the scenes, and an exclusive look into her latest project, Woke in Progress
GQ: What’s the process behind crafting a story?
Rea Moeti: I always talk about storytelling and scriptwriting. You first tell a story, then you write a script. So as a storyteller, I think there are basics we all understand, whether you’ve been taught academically or you’re just a consumer. There’s a beginning, middle and end. That’s the basic crafting of any story: what’s your beginning, how does it go in the middle, and how does the story end? As a scriptwriter, you use similar principles, but different scriptwriters use different structures to craft their stories. Mine is starting with the story arc, dissecting the beats within those arcs, and getting into the scenes, and then finally writing the script and dialogue.
GQ: Let’s talk about Woke in Progress. What inspired the title?
RM: The first title was F@M, which is Friends at Maboneng. The world of the story was always going to be Maboneng, and it was about all the people you meet at Maboneng, who are your friends and who become your family. But then of course the title was already taken by another series, so we started brainstorming.
Woke was always part of the spirit of the series, as was the idea that these characters are on a journey to understand and define themselves. They’re in progress; they’re not completed yet. So as a combination of woke and ‘work in progress’, it just came together.
GQ: What would you say is the tone of the narrative and what would you like viewers to take away from the storyline? RM: The tone of the narrative is definitely comedy, so we hope audiences are going to laugh. A lot! It’s a comedy that makes satirical commentary. We’re not trying to shy away from the current politics happening in our country with young people. We want to show what brings young people together and how they view the world, and being woke, their identity and progress.
I also want viewers to know that people can come from different walks of life, meet each other and become family, even though they might seem unlikely friends. I wanted to understand what brings us together as
South Africans.
GQ: This is Showmax’s second original scripted comedy. What’s the importance of telling local stories? RM: Local stories are the only type of stories I’ve ever told. I’m South African. I was born here. I grew up here. I don’t know how to tell a story from any other context, except for the experiences that I’ve had. Even when I was living and schooling in England, the only storytelling voice that I had was as a South African in a different place in the world. It’s important to tell stories that you can identify with, that can inform other people’s experiences and link us to each other, stories that help us to grow and give different nuances and perspectives. Otherwise people only know one voice being told – sometimes by people who have an outside perspective.
GQ: In the show, Martie’s and Amandla‘s paths cross unexpectedly. What’s the common thread here?
RM: The common thread is searching for an identity. Martie is searching for her biological parents after finding out she was adopted. Amandla was raised outside of South Africa by her diplomatic parents, so she arrives in South Africa to search for her identity as a black South African. They’re linked together by their search for identity – regardless of what that identity is.
GQ: Who are these characters in a social context? RM: Martie is happy go lucky. She wants to do »
well. She wants people to get along. She’s basically a ray of sunshine, who’s also quite naive and wants to believe the best is possible out of people. Whereas Amandla doesn’t quite believe that. She is an only child and comes from money and is protective of herself and her belongings. She can be a bitch. She’s snappy. She’s impatient. She’s not used to people like Martie. There’s also a hustler called Lerato; a misanthrope called Christo; and a dreamer called Puma, who’s the Jaden Smith of the group.
GQ: What’s the significance of Maboneng in relation to the story?
RM: Maboneng is the heartbeat of the story. It is a character of its own. This is where they got together. This is where the building is. This is where they socialise. So they’re connected by this world.
GQ: What can we look forward to with regards to story and character development?
RM: Martie arrives in Johannesburg as this hopeful, naive girl. She’s ‘Vrystaat cool’ trying to be ‘Joburg cool’. You’ll get to watch her evolve from small town girl to big city girl. I think people are also going to find the relationships interesting, like Amandla’s love triangle and how Martie handles her boyfriend from home who comes to visit.
GQ: How’s the chemistry and relationship between the cast members?
RM: It’s almost like we took a real bunch of friends and cast them together. So it’s been really beautiful to see their relationships blossom, and their chemistry on set and how they just come to life. It’s just beautiful and amazing.
GQ: What do you think is the role of humour in modern day society? RM:WE live a very stressful life, especially in a city like Johannesburg. I feel like the chase is just always at a high pace. So we need moments of humour with each other and with the content that we consume, to relieve us of the rat race and the pressure that always has us high strung. Humour is very important and necessary. It can also help us introspect in a satirical type of way.
GQ: You won a SAFTA for Best Drama Writer for Lockdown, what would you say this speaks to?
RM: With Lockdown, the big challenge was writing a world of story based in a female prison, when I have no personal experience. To gain that experience from research and find out more and speak to people and see the conditions, it was different for me. Having won for that is just testament of how I dedicated myself to knowing enough to retell a story about a world I’ve never had to experience. I’ve been writing comedy before I wrote drama.
Comedy is still harder for me to write, especially within the context of Woke in Progress, with the type of characters that we have, how different they all are, how contemporary they all are, and how accurately you have to depict them. I’ve had to research again, because we’re writing young people who funnily enough happen to be younger than I am, and different from how I was when I was five years younger.
GQ: What does it mean to you to get recognition for your work?
RM: It means a lot to me to have my work reach all the places it’s been, all the different countries and all the places I’ve been able to travel to because of my work. To have gotten recognition for it, not just in official selections and articles, but in awards and nominations, it’s very encouraging to know that I’m on the right track with my voice. It’s encouraged me to do more, and to feel like my voice is necessary and there is a place for me in the world as a storyteller.
GQ: You’ve achieved a lot at such a young age. What else can we expect from Rea? RM: After I’m done with Woke in Progress, I am in development for a few feature films, some with Multichoice and one with the National Film and Video Foundation.
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