Last week the people of Bojanala district showed their eagerness to pursue careers in filmmaking and that they are passionate about the film industry. This was evident during the Bojanala Film Week that took place between 26 and 29 October at the Bafokeng Plaza in Rustenburg.
The Bojanala Film Week, hosted by the Bojanala Platinum District Municipality in partnership with the North West Department of Sports, Arts and Culture and Ster-Kinekor saw aspiring filmmakers from the area attend various activities of the festival. These included workshops on screenwriting, directing, how to enter the film industry and free screenings of locally produced films comprising Skin, Jozi, Paradise Stop, Otelo Burning, White Wedding, A Pair of Boots and a Bicycle as well as Surfing Soweto.
The workshops, organised by the NFVF, were conducted by seasoned film industry practitioners and personalities Rapulana Seiphemo, Presley Chweneyagae, Tony Kgoroge and NFVF’s Neiloe Khunyeli. During these workshops, participants were provided opportunity to talk about their experience, ask questions and engage with facilitators.
Azania Muendane, NFVF Head of Marketing and Public Affairs said the NFVF was pleased to take part in the Bojanala Film Week. “I’m very happy with the participants’ response and enthusiasm displayed during the workshops. The consistent increase in volume of attendants each day is testament that the people of Bojanala are hungry to tell their stories.’ She further added that she can safely say that the exercise was “a great starting point to our long term goal of having a feature film produced from the Bojanala region in the future’.
Rapulana Seiphemo, who facilitated a session on how to enter the film industry, said the Bojanala Film festival is a step in the right direction. “Through a platform created by the NFVF, I was able to reach out to future filmmakers and share my experiences and hopefully guide them in the right direction.’
The workshops also gave an audience a breakdown of the role of the NFVF in the film industry and outlined what projects the NFVF fund and how that process is done.
