'Weblog by Don Mattera
In the technologically-advanced, if not dominated world of today, the common adage appears to be: "For diversity to exist, differences must remain the same."(Ibid) And, that may ring true for the entire international movie-production world; they may hold and treasure their diverse individual national film-award ceremonies amid great fanfare, but in the end, all their aspirations turn to the Stars and Stripes of America's Oscar Awards for direction and relevance. By Don Mattera
In September the NFVF convened a panel of industry to consider which South African feature film to nominate for the Foreign Language Academy Award (the Oscars) of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of America.
When an Act of motherly love and caring
Turns into an exercise in Futility
A month or so, before the run up to the FIFA 2010 football extravaganza, I attended a funeral service in a nondescript part of the sprawling township of Meadowlands in the 'Ndofaya' section which is said to have been populated by residents who had been forcibly evicted from Sophiatown, Newclare and the old Vrededorp multi-cultural areas that became part of Soweto.
I have been fanatical about movies since way-back when the stuff was still silent and some querulous music teacher from Johannesburg's Albertsville, Sophiatown and Coronationville townships or from Greenside, gave piano lessons to kids whose parents could afford it - played background music behind the silver screen which complemented the action portrayed in the film. In those days, I favoured the music that accompanied the old classical horror flicks such as Phantom of the Opera, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man and Dr Jekyll and Mister Hyde – ancient, but thrilling stuff, it was too.
Judging by the early falling of leaves in the leafy suburbs of Johannesburg - and if Jack Frost, the mythical father of winter has his way, the month of May maybe heralding a season of chilly weather underscored by the ensuing global fanfare and the maddening fanaticism of the 'Beautiful Game' of football. By Dr. Don Mattera.
The unanimous and resounding international show of hands for the multi-award winning Skin bears testimony to the fact that South Africa is teeming with innumerable fascinating stories of the country's sordid past of human degradation, and of the sustaining ethics of forgiveness and reconciliation - which need to be shared with audiences throughout the world. This is a heart-rending (part fact-part mythic fiction) tale of Sandra Laing, a dark-skinned child born to a rural, storekeeping, Afrikaner couple whose customers were black and oppressed.
In 2007, the NFVF sent out a call to up and coming young filmmakers to submit short film scripts in any genre but with two stipulations- the films had either to be in an indigenous language and or be written and directed by women.
Since the advent of political, and therefore, artistic and cultural liberation coupled with an ensuing snail's-pace, but still welcome transformation in the film production industry in South Africa, local film-goers have long been starved of experiencing superlative dramatizations by child actors - such as evidenced in the acting of the young cast of
Izulu Lami (My Secret Sky), which premiered at the Durban International Film Festival in August.
Review by Don Mattera
When I informed a close friend that I had recently attended the screening of a movie called "Triomf," he smirked, cleared his throat, and spat – what sounded to be his disgust - into a Newclare township bin filled with trash.
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