Bold plans to develop talent
AN UPCOMING Durban film-maker, who was recently nominated for a South African Film and Television Award (Safta), has his sights set on improving film-making in Kwazulu-natal.
Dayakar Padayachee, 27, from Musgrave, would like to see more films coming out of the province and, using his talent, he plans to make this possible.
Next month, Padayachee will start producing a modern western action thriller short film called Saloon. This will be just one of the many short film productions on his list.
Last month, Padayachee was nominated for a Safta in the category of best micro-budget film for one of his movies, Shadow.
Shadow is a short film centred on the dramatic story of a family falling apart and haunted by their own imprudence. It is centred around a 15-year-old boy,
Tyrone Sharma, as he struggles to deal with his parents’ failing marriage and his own homosexuality,
The film also won best original song for a short film at the Durban Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. The song was created by songwriter Sanam Sitaram and musician, composer and producer Rudi Greyvenstein.
“Another milestone for me was also when I won best audience choice award for the 48 Hour Film Project in 2014 for a film called Glances,” said Padayachee.
“We have only the film commissions and NFVF funding films in this country. If you look at India and England, there are independent bodies that churn out hundreds of films in a year. I really feel South Africa needs to adopt that structure and policy. There are good films out there. Their voices are lost because there is no money,” he said.
Padayachee would like to see himself achieve a heavy belt of quality films, and to help shape the province into the film hub it’s yearning to be.