Lesego Lediga, a first-year graduate of the Big Fish School of Digital Filmmaking,
recently won the Best Short Film award at the Montreal International Black Film
Festival in Canada for her student movie, My Last Swim.
The young filmmaker addresses the shocking realities of rape in South Africa in her
movie, as Lediga’s niece, Mathapelo, recounts sexual crimes that had been
committed against her as a child.
Eighteen-year-old Mathapelo, who used to love swimming as a child, was raped by
her grandfather after returning from swimming practice one day and, many years
later, she was raped again by a stranger at gunpoint.
“The film is a personal story about my niece, with whom I happen to be very close.
However, as close as I am to her, I could never bring myself to ask her about her
feelings and her emotional state in terms of being raped, because she never wanted
to talk about it. So I told this story for her, for her healing process and so that I can
understand her better,’ says Lediga.
She adds: Our country has the highest incidents of rape in the world. And that on its
own is huge. However, what made me think about telling my niece’s story was the
gang-rape and murder of 17-year-old Anene Booysen earlier this year.’
Lediga says one of the things that she realised at the Montreal Film Festival was how
simple everyday issues can become very powerful stories. “This award means that I
can be confident enough to produce more authentic South African films, raise
awareness, highlight concerns, and motivate and liberate people through filmmaking
without being judged and labelled.’
Of her studies at Big Fish Digital School of Filmmaking, Lediga says, “One of the
reasons why I wanted to study at Big Fish was that you get hands-on experience
and 70% of the time you are shooting outside, implementing what you have learnt.
You are taught about everything and become an all-rounder, it’s just a matter of
choosing which field you want to explore.
“My passion is editing, but I was awarded for directing. I must applaude the way in
which Big Fish takes pride in their method of teaching, they bring in the best people
in the industry and always strive for perfection.’
One such mentor was Wessel van Huyssteen who Lediga says was very inspirational.
“Wessel didn’t want anything less than our all, our best! He is the person who saw
the potential of My Last Swim,’ she comments.
Lediga wrote, directed and did the online edit for My Last Swim, which is almost
eight minutes long and took four days to shoot. The film was in post-production for
three weeks. It was shot on a Sony HVR-Z5 on location at Mathapelo’s home in
Soshanguve and the local swimming pool, also in Soshanguve.
Prince Mathebula was the cameraman and offline editor, Amos Jay Mathebula
produced the movie and Matshiditso Bagananeng was in charge of sound.
“My goal is to make more films, but not films that only entertain, but ones that
create awareness and motivate, educate and encourage my fellow human beings,’
concludes Lediga. – Martie Bester
* According to StatsSA a woman is raped every 17 seconds in South Africa.
