Ambitious plans for South African movies

They are planning to use their creative talent to establish business and employment opportunities for themselves in the tough and risky film industry.The Durban Film Office (DFO) - a film development arm of eThekwini municipality - is mandated to position Durban as a world-class film production base and facilitator of films on the African continent.

It drives activity and development in the dog-eat-dog sector to boost tourism, job creation and the development of core skills and small medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in the region.The plan seeks to address the horrific poverty that is crippling African artists in the industry.

DFO works together with Durban FilmMart (DFM) and the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) for a co-production and finance market aimed at reaching out to key players in the film sector, both national and international, while also opening economic opportunities for artists.

This industry has unfortunately led to many African artists failing to rise to the occasion. But with the industry beginning to compete globally, this is set to change. The first two South Africans who last year won the Most Promising Documentary Project in DFM set their objectives high to make their films a reality after they returned from Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Nicole Schafer, producer of Buddha of Africa, and Bryony Roughton were participants in the IDF Academy from KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape who were exposed to the International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA).

Schafer said participating in the academy provided her with a good foundation in the film business. "It gave fresh insights into new trends in documentary production and financing models. The forum was an invaluable opportunity to get a feel for the type of projects being pitched internationally and how the international market operates," she said.

The highlight was establishing invaluable contacts, including opening up discussion with potential funders, said Schafer, who owns a local production company called Thinking Strings, which is based in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. "Sourcing funding and support for documentaries is a hugely competitive process. Having some recognition for the project helps considerably to get the project off the ground," Schafer said.

Roughton and Mayenzeke Baza are joint owners of the film production company Mandela Day Pictures and the founders of the film development project Nab'Ubomi, based in Port Elizabeth. Both agreed that the experience abroad was "enlightening".

Baza and his partner secured connections for potential funding, broadcasting and sales as a result of networking with the industry elite. He said he would use his experience to continue to "voice" social consciousness issues through documentaries.

"I feel very strongly that South Africans need to tell their own stories and find ways to make films despite the challenges. To interact internationally is an honour," Baza said. Peter Rorvik, director of the DIFF, said there was a need to create a platform and opportunities in the local film industry. "The partnerships between DFM and IDFA is a reflection of South Africa's commitment to developing films and filmmakers and being part of the international market- place," Rorvik said.

He said South Africa has established a co-production with countries such as France, Germany and Canada. "We have shown a number of films and documentaries internationally and they all did very well," he said. He added that Dear Mandela, which was produced in Durban's Kennedy Road informal settlement, had done well internationally.

"Films such as Down of the Day and King Naki, had also done well internationally and we have a lot of documentaries currently being aired on television and also at New Metro. Last year we showed 11 feature stories, 27 documentaries and 26 short films," Rorvik said.

The third edition of Durban FilmMart takes place between 20 and 23 July during the 33rd DIF and is open for documentary and fiction project submissions. The deadline for submissions is the 15th of February 2012.