FILM NEWS

Artistic response to xenophobia

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:11

Fabian Lojede

A new South African film set during the xenophobic violence of 2008 premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival recently.

Man on Ground was one of four South African films selected for the 36th edition of the Canadian festival, along with Oliver Hermanus’ Skoonheid, Darrell James Roodt’s Winnie Mandela biopic Winnie and Avie Luthra’s Lucky.

According to T.O.M Pictures’ Akin Omotoso, who wrote and directed the film, it was an honour and a blessing to premiere at Toronto. “This is one of the top five film festivals in the world, so considering where we came from it was truly magical to achieve what was a dream of ours.”

He says the film had three sold-out screenings. “There were great question and answer sessions, lots of Twitter and Facebook love and great glowing reviews. It’s the stuff dreams are made of.”

The story was inspired by the famous picture showing Mozambican migrant Ernesto Nhamuavhe being burnt to death in Ramaphosa informal settlement, Ekurhuleni, during the May 2008 xenophobic attacks in South Africa, while bystanders stood laughing.

“After the xenophobic riots Fabian Adeoye Lojede, Hakeem Kae-Kazim and I decided that we wanted to create an artistic response to the violence. We hadn’t settled on a story so we commissioned research into the source of the violence,” explains Omotoso.

They started development of the film in 2008 and spent two years going through research and brainstorming different ideas on how the story should be told.

“In 2010 we settled on a story of two estranged brothers, one living in London and the other as a refugee in Johannesburg.”

The film was financed through crowdfunding. “Emails were sent out to friends, friends of friends and corporates asking for donations ranging from R1 000 upwards. The crowdfunders financed the production costs and the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) funded the post-production,” explains Omotoso.

In June 2011 Man on Ground was shot by cinematographer Paul Michelson in and around Johannesburg on the RED Mysterium. It stars Kae-Kazim, Lojede and Fana Mokoena. Post-production was done at Refinery in Johannesburg and equipment was rented from Media Film Service.

According to Omotoso, there were some challenges. “The producers, Fabian, Hakeem, Rosie Motene and I were always on edge because we were expecting a large donation from a certain company. The donation came but it wasn’t what we expected and it reached a point where we were going to shut down production.

“Fortunately another production company called ChrisDon Productions came to our rescue and we were able to continue shooting. That was probably the most intense five days of our lives!”

The film is a mystery drama and Omotoso hopes that fans of the genre will respond positively. “At the same time, it is a film about healing in our society. Xenophobia is a scourge so we want the film to not only show in multiplexes, but to screen in communities that have been affected by xenophobia.

“We have partnered with City Press and The International Organisation for Migration to assist in this end. We are also approaching other corporate sponsors to join in the initiative. So the distribution is multi layered.”

Man on Ground is expected to release in local cinemas during the first quarter of 2012.

SCREENAFRICA Print Magazine – November 2011 (view here)
By Linda Krige

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