Stories with ekasi flava
BY comparison, Egoliwood s appeal worldwide is a far cry from Nigeria’s Nollywood or India’s Bollywood film industries.
But short film producer Bheki Sibiya has made it his mission to change the face of Mzansi’s madefor-TV film industry.
And the 42-year-old, having worked on e.tv s
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project since its inception in 2009 and producing more than 30 madefor-TV short films, believes the series has contributed to the boom in local content.
It all stems from my passion to tell home-grown stories and developing local talent,” he said.
The type of movies we produce speak to the masses, and that makes them favourites.”
Sibiya, who has been churning out low-budget short films for more than 20 years, said black people not telling their stories kept him going.
Who can better re- enact township life than the bloke and gal’ who grew up there?” asked Sibiya, who was born in eMadadeni, near Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal, but works in Durban and Joburg.
This week, e.tv announced the return of to the small screen.
The series, starting on November 6, explores township life and its stories.
No doubt, the talent is abundant in the fields of acting, directing and producing,” said Sibiya.
But the resources are scarce, restricting growth. We need support from all the stakeholders in the arts industry to grow.
We can’t stand by waiting for broadcasters to lead the campaign to popularise local content.
It’s imperative for us as producers and directors to take the lead.
We can’t go to Naija (Nigeria) and ask to be part of the Nollywood culture, nor can we bulldoze our way into Hollywood... the Americans are in a class of their own. So, it’s up to us to create our own legacy in order to be appreciated by the rest of the world.”
Sibiya scours the whole country, from Cape Town to Musina, looking for stories to tell.
The producer said discovering new lifestyles, trends and genres both rural and urban to expose to the public, thrilled him.
In fact, we should be pumping millions of rands into the economy through low-budget films.”
Sibiya said his passion for moviemaking stemmed from his speech and drama background. He added that he was grateful to
creator Duma Ndlovu, who showed him the ropes as an actor and producer.
I’ve always been fascinated by the camera,” he said.
I asked questions and nagged people until I perfected the craft with the help of workshops and training courses.”
Sibiya s short film Father Christmas Does Not Come Here won the Tribeca Film Festival award for best narrative short film in the US, in Manhattan, New York, in 2010.