SCREEN AFRICA EXCLUSIVE: The launch of the 21 ICONS South Africa multimedia series, comprising short television films and photographs, took place at the Circa Gallery in Rosebank, Johannesburg on 22 July in the presence of Minister of Arts and Culture, Paul Mashatile.
To be broadcast on Sundays for 21 weeks on SABC3 as from 28 July at 18h57, the series was conceived and produced by Australian photographer and filmmaker Adrian Steirn.
Minister Matashile was at the launch to formally endorse the project. He said: “One of my tasks at the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) is nation building, which is all about South Africans appreciating who they are and committing to work together. All of us come from a divided past and from different cultures, yet regardless of our race or creed, we can all be called South Africans. We’ve all seen slogans such as “United in our diversity’ and Archbishop Desmond Tutu long ago coined the term, “The Rainbow Nation’. So, as we build our nation we should always appreciate the people who made a meaningful contribution to change.
“The 21 ICONS South Africa series fits into DAC’s nation building programme and it says to future generations – you can follow in these icons’ footsteps. I always say to my staff at the DAC, that when people come to us for support – we should become their partners rather than supporters. I believe that this series is just the beginning – there are many South Africans whose stories need be told, stories of how they contributed to make the country what it is today.’
Mashatile congratulated the team behind 21 ICONS South Africa as well as the partners in the project, namely Mercedes-Benz, Deloitte, Nikon, SABC3 and The Sunday Times.
He noted that he’d recently presented to parliament a document proposing that South Africans icons be formally recognised.
“Cabinet has now endorsed this document. There are lots of challenges involved in such a project, but no-one should say that nothing has been done to effect change in South Africa,’ commented Mashatile.
Steirn said that the initial inspiration for the series was Nelson Mandela. “Just about everyone on earth has been inspired by Mandela but living in South Africa I came to learn about the intricacies of what he did. I realised that there were lots of other people involved too.’
He decided to take photographs, and make films, of South African icons, commencing with Archbishop Tutu.
“The Archbishop is regarded as South Africa’s moral conscience. He is also known for his sense of humour so I wanted to photograph him with a ballerina tutu and he agreed.
“My next shoot was with former President FW De Klerk. I learnt so many things while doing this series, mostly that none of these extraordinary people know that they’re extraordinary. There are people in the series who I’d not heard of before, such as the anti-apartheid activist Sophia Williams De Bruyn, who marched on the Union Buildings in 1956,’ explained Steirn.
Everyone told Steirn that it wouldn’t be possible to make a film about Mandela, given his age and frailty. But Steirn persisted and the Mandela film is possibly the most poignant of all. It was filmed while Mandela sat for the portrait shoot at his home in Qunu, Eastern Cape, in 2011.
According to Steirn international media giant Newcorp has committed to distributing the series globally, with the result that 250 million people will see it.
“I think it’s significant that people all over the world will get to learn about these South African heroes. We want this content to be shared and to be beautifully curated as it’s a nation building, community project,’ stated Steirn.
SABC3 acting channel head Lefa Afrika added that anyone who has seen the films from 21 ICONS South Africa series will realise why the channel snapped them up for broadcast.
“All the icons portrayed in the series have made it possible for all of us to live in South Africa today. I hope these films will inspire our audiences to go out and do something for the good of the country,’ commented Afrika.
Each week The Sunday Times will publish Steirn’s portrait of the icon featured in that evening’s television film.
Report by Joanna Sterkowicz
