Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Uniting communities through film
Aspiring young movie-makers can’t wait to tell their stories
TWENTY young budding film- makers from Masiphumelele, Ocean View and Khayelitsha are eager to share their experiences and tell stories that resonate with them, in an attempt to shed stereotypes and prejudices surrounding their identities and their communities.
The aspiring film- makers were recently awarded scholarships at the newly established ForwardFund Academy in Fish Hoek, which opened its doors last month.
The film and television production academy has given the group of talented youngsters the opportunity to realise their dreams, while also allowing them to acquire skills to share knowledge with and give back to their respective communities.
Weekend Argus spoke to three of the future John Kanis about their plans and what their future film ideas were. While many are yet to be finetuned, a general view was that stories about their communities needed to be told.
Amber-Rose de Breton, 20, is an animal lover who had aspirations of becoming a foundation-phase teacher.
“I started at the academy three weeks ago and I feel like this is something I can use as an outlet to do short documentaries,” she said. “I enjoy people stories, so I will definitely use the course and everything I learn here to tell those stories.
“I like anything factual, I want to do a documentary about the people of South Africa; I feel we are so diverse as a people and we have so much to teach one another about ourselves,” she said.
Teagon Klein, 20, from Ocean View is a cabaret and drag performer. He was raised by his grandmother and fell in love with performance art at a young age.
“I prefer living with my granny because she spoils me a lot,” he said. “We’d often go to church and church meetings together and the performance during praise and worship just grabbed me, it made me want to explore a part of me which I knew was there.
“I started taking part in drag- queen pageants, then cabaret performances and I am very good.”
Klein is busy with a blog as well as a vlog, which he will put up on Youtube. “My blog will be about pageantry, the do’s and don’ts, how to prep for competitions and general awareness around what to expect when you enter this world,” he said.
Klein told Weekend Argus he lived in an area where gang violence was not rife but was evident.
“Gang violence is everywhere, but we can’t blame the community, it is an individual choice and all we as communities can do is fight against it.
“I’m passionate about pageantry and people, so with this course I want to first start my own drama classes, a book club to get people’s minds going and ultimately a movie about where I come from, tell the stories of our people.”
Sindiswa Mthembu, 25, wants to be the “voice of hope for the people back home in KwaMashu, Durban”.
“I want to be an example to my community and show the young people that anything is possible,” she said.
Mthembu was raised by her mother, a factory worker and grandmother, a domestic worker. She aspires to tell tales about mental health, to show people the power of their mind, challenge them and not produce the same old stereotypical movies about romance and death.
“I want to inspire people and produce movies that challenge them to rise above their circumstances,” she said.
asanda.sokanyile@inl.co.za