Hhola Hhola, a film which was a feature project at the inaugural
Durban FilmMart (DFM) in 2010, has been selected for the Sørfond
Pitching Forum in Oslo, Norway, this year.
Produced by Julie Frederikse and directed by Madoda Ncayiyana of Vuleka
Productions, based in KwaMashu in Durban, this is one of only eight projects
selected out of 130 applications from all over the world.
The Sørfond Pitching Forum, hosted by the Sørfond Norwegian South Film Fund,
which has as its mission to fund films from developing countries, is held from 14
October during the Films from the South Festival in Oslo.
The aim of the Sørfond Pitching Forum is to give international producers the
opportunity to present their projects to potential Norwegian co-producers, with the
aim to enter into a co-production agreement and apply for support from Sørfond in
March 2016.
Directed by Ncayiyana and produced by Julie Frederikse, Hhola Hhola
is a story about dreams, ambitions and standing for what you believe in. “The new
film is a relevant and poignant story of a young boy who dreams of being a
celebrity and gets mixed up with a conman in an effort to free his mother from
jail,’ explains Frederikse. “What is also eye-catching about the film is the setting
that is not often seen in African films. It is not poor and dusty Africa, with children
holding a begging bowl, at least figuratively. Hhola Hhola is about
tech-savvy urban Durban people, especially youth, who don’t have computers but
run their social and economic lives on their cellphones. It is also about the notion of
celebrity that young people are so taken with all over the world; the main
character’s journey is to get past superficial ideas of winning fame and fortune so
as to believe in himself and express what is really inside him. The film also delves
into contemporary culture and identity, depicting the relevance and importance of
these factors,’ she says.
“This is an significant opportunity for the film, and for Madoda to make his second
feature film, to follow up Izulu Lami,’ says Frederikse, “Approximately
1.6 million Euro will be granted for production support from 2015 to 2018 through
an international cooperation between the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
the Norwegian Ministry of Culture, with the Norwegian Film Institute and the Films
from the South Foundation jointly in charge of the administration of the fund.
Sørfond grants up to 130 000 Euro per film.’
The feature was first presented at the Durban FilmMart five years ago. Since then
the film has received development funding from the National Film and Video
Foundation in South Africa, the Durban Film Office and the KwaZulu Natal Film
Commission. Additional support for a top international script doctor came jointly
from Produire au Sud of Nantes, the Durban Film Office and International Relations
Office of the eThekwini Municipality. As co-writers of the script, Ncayiyana and
Frederikse worked with Argentinian-French-English script doctor Miguel Machalski.
