The three films to be made in the 2010 / 2011 cycle of the M-Net New Directions skills development initiative were delivered to the pay-TV broadcaster at the end of March. They will be shown on M-Net’s local content channel Mzansi Magic.
Two 25-minute dramas, Southern Cross and Heart and Soul, as well as a 52-minute documentary Terror Mathebula – The Living Legend make up this cycle.
Over the 17 years of its existence, New Directions, which falls under the M-Net Cares Corporate Social Investment (CSI) banner, has produced over 50 films in Africa. These have been broadcast on M-Net’s continental channels and generated interest at international film festivals.
“As per the brief for the 2010 / 2011 cycle we wanted to commission stories with heart that could be about love, emotions or experiences that touch or inspire. We received 78 script proposals in total which was very encouraging,’ notes New Directions supervising producer Bongiwe Selane of Vanilla Productions.
Written by first-timer Anil Polton and produced by Akin Omotoso of T.O.M Pictures, Southern Cross was shot in Johannesburg and is the story of a young woman, Carissa, who works at a chicken processing plant. On the evening when the future of the plant is being decided by the board, Carissa wonders whether she should remain with the plant and take what comes, or spread her wings.
Two directors pitched to direct the film. Says Selane: “We decided on Carmen Sangion as she loved the Southern Cross script and did a good director’s treatment for it. In addition Carmen has an excellent track record, having written and directed a New Directions film called The Lovers in 2006. She also won an M-Net EDiT award for best film for My Name is Jacob in 2001.’
In Heart and Soul, written and directed by Robert J Carlisle, a simple cleaner teaches visionary doctor Chris Barnard that he needs to rediscover his own humanity before saving the lives of others through heart transplants. The film was shot in Cape Town and produced by Greig Buckle of Enigma Pictures.
According to Selane, Phillip Roberts worked as script editor on Southern Cross and Heart and Soul. “Phillip mentored the two scriptwriters all the way through their various drafts until they came up with workable shooting scripts.’
Terror Mathebula – The Living Legend by Sparara Modieginyana is a documentary about the life of the apartheid era boxer who became South Africa’s first black world boxing champion.
Well known documentary filmmaker Xoliswa Sithole (Shouting Silent, Zimbabwe’s Forgotten Children) from Nayanaya Pictures was brought in to mentor Modieginyana through the production process.
Because of a budget reduction for this New Directions cycle, the filmmakers had between three and five days to shoot their films, instead of 10 days as in the past.
Selane notes that M-Net plans to re-launch New Directions in April with Mzansi Magic officially set as the new home for the initiative.
