South Africa’s National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) has released a DVD containing the winning films from its Short Film competition. The DVD includes Bhekumuzi Sgweje Sibiya’s Father Christmas Doesn’t Come Here; Lev David and Clare Cassidy’s If You Only Knew; and Hanneke Schutte’s Superhero.
The films are the result of a call put out by the NFVF in 2007 for emerging 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.
Hundreds of entries were received and were whittled down by the NFVF to 16 for development. By the middle of 2009 only four films were still in contention and only the above three were produced.
Father Christmas Doesn’t Come Here won the Best Narrative for Short Film award at the Tribeca Film Festival and has been featured in numerous international film festivals. The film tells of a naive young girl with low self-esteem who wants to be as beautiful as her mother. But her dream is almost ruined by a cynical man who gives her a dose of reality which makes her resort to extremes to achieve her goal.
If You Only Knew is about a timid young lady who is afraid to hurt people’s feelings and, as a result, is missing the freedom she so craves. She is helped along by a set of self-help CDs to find the courage to hurt her boyfriend’s feelings by breaking up with him.
Superhero tells of a white amnesiac who finds himself stranded in the middle of an arid landscape dressed as a superhero. He’s assisted and spurred on by a young black boy who wholeheartedly believes that he is a superhero. But as the man’s memory returns he discovers that he’s been anything but a hero.
For more information log onto www.nfvf.co.za.
