Mark Dornford-May and Pauline Malefane are the first Africans to have ever won a
Golden Bear in Berlin. That was in 2005 with uCarmen eKhayalitsha, a retelling of
Bizet’s opera transposed into 21st Century South Africa. Ten years later, they have
adapted Puccini’s La boheme into Breathe Umphefumlo, which premiered at the 65th
Berlinale. They took time out to share their recipes for modern musicals with
Screen Africa.
The adaptation: From 19th Century Paris to contemporary South Africa
Mark Dornford-May: It wasn’t really difficult if you want the truth. A lot of the
conditions in Paris in the 19th century are quite similar to conditions which exist
now in South Africa: in terms of poverty, in terms of people who do not have
access to medicine when they need it, these kinds of issues were easy to deal with.
Both with Carmen and this film, the move from the original setting to the
contemporary one was never really a problem. Once you’ve made that first step, all
sorts of details fall into place. It was a relatively easy adaptation. The music is
extraordinary, and that was Mandisi Dyantyis who transposed the Western score.
That’s not easy.
How to transpose a Puccini opera – originally in Italian – into Xhosa songs.
Pauline Malefane: It’s not Puccini or the Xhosa that is important, but the story. We
didn’t want to make a film purely for commercial reasons. We have issues in South
Africa that need to be dealt with and this is one of them. It’s how we tackle our
work, really, but also to help and entertain. If there’s an issue that needs to be
dealt with, we’re more than happy to tackle it. Puccini was fantastic, brilliant; he
composed fantastic music. South Africa has a rich musical culture and we sing
anything at anytime. You can compose or come up with a song about anything:
people sitting by the fire or washing up. And that is the link between our culture and
Puccini. It’s people telling stories through music. TB is really an issue in South
Africa and we wanted to raise awareness with the help of Puccini, in a way.
Financing
Mark Dornford-May: We had partners: ARTE ZDF in Europe and Mzansi Magic in
South Africa and then the rest was through the production rebate system offered by
South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry. We didn’t get any funding from
the National Film and Video Foundation – they objected to the original script
because someone died of TB. So it was really ARTE and Mzansi Magic who
supported us. Then Preplan Film, in Germany and Film & Music Entertainment
(F&ME) in the UK, also helped in terms of guiding us through various processes and
making things happen. And then of course, Fortissimo Films brought it to cinemas.
The budget
Mark Dornford-May: It was around US$1.5 million. We raised the money in two
months. We were in Berlin last year with a short film (Unogumbe) and I met Dieter
Schneider from ARTE. A year ago, we were sitting here talking about this and now
we’ve finished. It happened really quickly. The good thing about films that do not
have enormous budgets is that you can move a lot faster, and for us, in the way we
made it, that was important. The difference, I suppose, between the way we work
and how people normally work on a film is that we rehearsed for two or three
weeks with elements of the set… In none of the films we’ve done, have we had to
reshoot a scene. That means that the performers are really confident about what’s
happening there because we’ve done so much rehearsing.
The cast
Pauline Malefane: Because we are in Isango Ensemble (a South African theatre
company), our 30 actors are in the film. So it was not made like a normal film
where you have to go to a casting agent and look for people. We used who we have
within the company.
The location and sets
Mark Dornford-May: We moved the first part of the story to a university residence
and it had to be a bleak place, an empty place. We found a residence hall at
Stellenbosch University. Then the second half of the film was in Khayelitsha. I don’t
know Khayelitsha half as well as Pauline but I do know it better than most
filmmakers. It’s quite easy to find locations. We try to work consistently with the
same sound and camera crew. So that helps as well, it’s a group of people who
know each other and what they are doing. And the community is very welcoming,
which is nice.
Pauline Malefane: It can be quite irritating for some people. You come from work
and you’re tired and then you’ve got a group of people who have taken up residence
on your street and you don’t even know what they’re doing. So you get irritated and
just walk through the shot. But like Mark says, it’s mostly a delight. It feels a bit
like you’re performing on stage because there are so many people watching while
you make the film. People come and ask questions: what is this about? And then
they sit and watch us work – it brings an energy that you wouldn’t normally get on
a film set.
Mark Dornford-May: It’s great when people come. It’s in Xhosa so people can
understand and have an immediate response. It’s not like if it was in Italian and no
one could understand.
Pauline: And the playback is so loud that it entices people from the vicinity to come
and see and then after seven takes they’re singing along as well.
Editing and post-production
Mark Dornford-May: It’s quite complicated obviously because the sound element is
as big and as important to the visual. And only if we have extraordinary performers
can we make it happen. What we do, which is quite unusual, is we have people who
are singing to the pre-recorded track but we are actually also recording them live
and then we mix the two together to get a different feel.
The impact of a Berlin Golden Bear for uCarmen
Mark Dornford-May: Of course it’s fantastic to have a Golden Bear! It certainly
helps. I suppose it lets people know that you are capable of making a film of a high
standard. It’s a fantastic honour and achievement to be the first Africans to win a
Golden Bear. Plus a lot of the people who worked with us on uCarmen are still
working with us now.
– Claire Diao
