“We were looking for individuals and/or collectives who not only share similar beliefs but also are actively driving an inclusive society within their sphere of influence and communities.” – Kyle Lesch
The advocacy of women’s rights and the challenges women face in African society take centre stage in Jabulile Nadia Newman’s work. The writer and director of the 70’s inspired semi-autographical web series, The Foxy Five is being celebrated by Smirnoff as part of its Change Makers campaign.
According to Smirnoff marketing manager Kyle Lesch, the idea for the Smirnoff campaign – which kicked off in June 2017 – stemmed from the brand’s purpose to drive a more inclusive world.
“We were looking for individuals and/or collectives who not only share similar beliefs but also are actively driving an inclusive society within their sphere of influence and communities. Our search was not only limited to South Africa but also at a global level. We worked with our partners and we settled on three ‘change makers’, namely DJ Jeffrey Jewell, Lukhanyo Mdingi and Jabulile Newman,” shares Lesch.
DJ Jeffrey is an international deejay with albinism, who uses his platform to highlight that music has no colour and encourages open-mindedness in those around him; while Mdingi is a fashion designer with his label ATIFY (Africa This IS For You) celebrating African aesthetics and heritage in its designs.
Newman, who is the first and only local female ‘change maker’, uses her lens as a photographer and filmmaker to educate audiences about intersectional feminism in South Africa’s post-apartheid landscape.
“It (the series) was made for and by South African women of colour but also speaks to the diaspora and any women struggles around the world. It’s an honest and authentic representation of what women are speaking about and thinking about now and I just hope to make other women of colour proud. I want the impact to be spreading information, authentic stories as well as to inspire other women of colour to work in the film industry and take ownership for their stories and creativity,” shares Newman on her first web series and break-out project.
The former political student from the University of Cape Town (UCT) took part in the #FeesMustFall movement where she met other inspiring, defiant women and was introduced to intersectional feminism – which focuses on how women of different colour, classes and sexuality have multiple identities that influence the degree to which they experience oppression.
To better explain and explore this concept Newman decided to put her degree on hold and began to conceptualise on how to educate others regarding her findings. “The Foxy Five concept came about in 2015 during the first #FeesMustFall protests. I was so inspired by the women student-led movement that I started writing a script that wanted to tell the stories of what black women are experiencing today and what we’re discussing,” says Newman.
The young artist scripted a 15 minute six-part web series with the help of other female writers. The series explores the issues of intersectionality through five female characters: Qiniso van Damme (Prolly Plebs) tackles classism, Tatenda Wekwa Tenzi (Blaq Beauty) challenges racism; Qondiswa James (Femme Fatale) exudes sexuality and confronts issues of transmisogyny; Nala Xaba (Womxn We) inspires debates on gender roles, while Duduza Mchunu (Unity Bond) is the group leader and unifies all these issues together.
“I want each character to be relatable to every women whereby you could feel like Prolly one day and then by the next day relate more to Femme. It would have been impossible to only have one character to explain all the nuances and issues that one woman of colour goes through on the daily so I created five to try and explain what it’s like to be a sole woman in South Africa today,” shares Newman.
Being a feminist at heart and staying true to her struggle, Newman also recruited a predominantly female production crew. “The production team is made up mainly of women of colour and involves recent film graduates as well as artists, musicians, actors and academics,” she adds.
The series was initially shot on the Blackmagic Design Cinema camera but the crew later decided to use Sony a7S cameras. “We mainly used the Sony A7s because we had access to those and three people in our crew had those camera and lenses.”
Post-production was sponsored by the Visual Content Gang Production and was done by Sisanda Msimango. The series also features animation work by Staurt Kets and some editing by Chris Kets.
The first episode was released in June 2016 and celebrated over 10 000 views. Presenting a catchy 70’s aesthetic and theme song; we are introduced to the fashionable, bubbly, social conscious and diverse women identities.
“The Foxy Five is about five women who are best friends and who are just trying to navigate their way through a patriarchal society. They decide to try start fighting structural oppression on the streets but find that often internal issues or personal strife gets in the way of their initial plans to save the world. Each character represents a different struggle and oppression in society as well as plays on the stereotypes on how society would portray feminists,” explains Newman.
The characters display these issues in a conversational, witty and educational format with dialogue that is appealing and comprehensible to the educated, open-minded youth of today.
“I use a lot of humour in The Foxy Five and try to make it as stylised as possible, using different techniques and motifs to challenge the audience. This was essentially my student film and I wanted to experiment a lot. Trying out as many different styles as possible and playing around is a good way to engage with your audience,” Newman shares.
The crew were able to successfully shoot and deliver Episode 1 to 3 but found themselves struggling financially to carry on shooting the remaining three episodes. They then set out to request funding from the public through crowd-funding platform Thundafund.
This resulted in successful feedback and led to The Foxy Five series being able to shoot Episode 4 and 5, while the finale was supported by the Smirnoff campaign, which continued to assist Newman’s cause, bringing the series to more audiences using different platforms.
Smirnoff’s Lesch confirms: “We are using our platforms to broadcast their message and providing financial support to assist in their respective projects.”
“The reception has been amazing and interesting,” shares Newman. “My next step is to push it overseas and see what an international audience thinks as well as try and get it into rural areas in South Africa where this type of media is needed,” she concludes.
All episodes of the web series can be found on the YouTube channel, The Foxy Five TV.
TECH CHECK
EQUIPMENT
The Foxy Five web series was shot using Sony a7S cameras
• Camera: Sony A7S
