Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Manenberg kids get a taste of reel life
AGAINST the backdrop of gang violence in Manenberg, young people are aiming to become film-makers one day. Pupils from Fairmount High School in Parkwood join their peers at Manenberg High School every Wednesday to take part in the Young Filmmakers Programme (YFP), an afterschool community restoration project.
The programme started in October 2015 and is aimed at developing young entrepreneurs in the creative industries, with a specific focus on film and television.
They’re taught camera work, hair and make-up, special effects, acting and directing.
Teacher and YFP host Michael Curry said: “I started a short film school project in Fairmount in March 2015 with about four learners. A guy from overseas showed some interest in what I was doing and he was prepared to donate some equipment. That’s when we kick-started our journey.
“I met Quinton and from then onwards we partnered to get where we are now.”
Founder and programme manager Quinton Fredericks said: “These learners make up that demographic that are most likely to fall victim to gang and drug abuse. So, this is a social cohesion development initiative.
“We are trying to restore social cohesion by getting young people to be champions of that.”
Fredericks himself was a gangster when he was a teenager. He said he was intimate with the reality of the limited choices that youth face. He is a documentary film-maker who has been in the industry for 17 years.
The films they hope to make will be about telling community stories. They are working on a short feature film, which they’ll “hopefully shoot in December”, depending on funding.
Their biggest challenge has been to secure funding. The programme has already spent “probably close to a million”.
Fredericks said they struggled to raise funding because of where the programme was.
Laurenshia Prince, 18, a Grade 12 pupil at Manenberg High, started on the programme two years ago.
She said: “I do hair and make-up and that has always been a passion of mine, to go into glitz and glamour. Being part of this film club at a young age is helping me for the future.”
Nikita Cupido,13, who is the youngest pupil in the group, said: “Here you feel at home because it’s a safe space. You’re accepted the way you are.
“In my community, people are very judgemental and if you are being yourself or talkative, you get judged. You’re looked at in a way that you are forced to change who you are just to fit in.”
Manenberg High School teacher Rizaan Hendricks said: “Our youngsters don’t go into the film industry and maybe they think it is not possible. “This project creates those opportunities and shows them that the possibilities are there.”