The Bible has been a source of inspiration for a plethora of films over the years and in the first South African edition of the UK film competition Enter The Pitch, South African filmmakers were challenged to come up with compelling stories peppered with Christian themes.
“The Pitch offers not only investment in production but crucially investment in the filmmakers themselves, offering skills in adaptation, storytelling, character development and pitching. In all this, the Bible offers a tapestry of human stories and conditions. It is available without copyright issues and available in all 11 official South African languages, offering a unique level playing field,” says Mims Turley, project leader of The Pitch SA.
This competition gives the winning “pitcher”, a unique opportunity to make a short film with professional production support worth more than R300 000. Thereafter, the filmmaker will fly to London to meet with top UK film professionals who will share their feedback and advice on the film, before it travels the film festival circuit.
The Pitch SA journey began last year when filmmakers were asked to create a 2-minute pitch of their chosen theme, story or verse from the Bible.
Luke Walton, the founder of The Pitch UK and head judge on The Pitch SA comments: “South Africa has the film industry infrastructure to match the best in the world. It also has talented youth and a wealth of storytelling tradition. We want to see these brought together to offer the unique South African voice to the world.”
Filmmakers from all over the country took on the challenge and pitched their story ideas; their clips can now be viewed on The Pitch SA website.“We are delighted with the variety of ideas and breadth of voices that have already enriched The Pitch. Our finalists have already improved in their skills so much from their original concepts,” Turley adds.
A longlist selection of filmmakers was made and announced by the judges on 13 November, which then progressed to a shortlist selection that was dependent on public votes.
Fast forward to the last week of February 2018, six finalists from all over South Africa made their way to Rick’s Café in Cape Town for the announcement of the winning pitch.
Walton was present to announce the pitch winner, which surprising became two winners, Mpumelelo Kheswa (The Second) and Howard Fyvie (Ramsey).
The Second by Mpumelelo Kheswa: The Second is inspired by the events leading up to the birth of Jesus. Kheswa’s modern twist of the events, begins in 1990 when newly-weds Kwandile and Nolwandle prepare to escape the political instability of rural KZN to a peaceful farm where they can raise their “special” unborn child. The story becomes an action-packed adventure as the parents of the child realise the gifts and prophesies laid upon their son.
Ramsey by Howard Fyvie: Ramsey tells the story of a group of guardian angels who follow the daily grind of Jonathan – a rookie guardian angel – as he learns the ropes of the game. In this tale, filmmaker Howard Fyvie takes a comical approach to life’s heartfelt situations as the guardian angels do their bit to save lost and desperate souls.
While the two winners take the next step to producing their films, lead speaker of The Pitch SA, Laurie Hutzler will be conducting masterclasses for filmmakers who would like to enter the second annual Pitch SA competition.
The masterclasses will take place from 5 to 7 March 2017 at various learning institutions and locations in Pretoria and around Johannesburg. Filmmakers can book their seats online by sending a message to The Pitch SA Facebook page.
“Laurie Hutzler is an international expert on story development and has worked on two Oscar-winning foreign language films Tsotsi (SA) and The Counterfeiter (Austria). To listen to Laurie Hutzler on adaptation should be a bonus for any young filmmaker,” Turley concludes.
