Another Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) and Durban FilmMart (DFM) has come and gone. Screen Africa reports on the trends and dominant themes at the 37th edition of Africa’s biggest film festival.
Opening night
The tone of opening night at DIFF was rather subdued compared to previous years, perhaps as a result of the furor that had erupted a few months previously over the choice of the opening film. Although controversial, the move from the Suncoast CineCentre to the Playhouse Theatre actually benefitted opening night, offering a somewhat more elegant venue with stronger cultural connections. More controversial than that move was the final choice of opening film. This is always a big talking point at DIFF and this year was no different, with the documentary Journeymen getting reactions that were mixed, to say the least.
The opening night event and film screening was, as always, well attended with barely a seat in the house to spare. Acting festival director Peter Machen welcomed attendees and thanked, by name, the organisation team behind the festival as well as contributing industry organisations and media partners. Machen also took the opportunity to welcome and introduce David Maahlamela, the new director of the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
As for the film itself, audience reactions were extremely varied. Some praised the picture for its sharp humour and unconventional editing, as well as for the unbiased way in which it showcases South Africa’s vast, differing landscapes and people. While other audience members, still acknowledging the former, found the film incohesive in its structure and dialogue, and unnecessarily longwinded.
For our part, it seems that if the opening film is to set the tone for the festival then this documentary was an unfortunate choice. Although entertaining in places, Journeymen does not achieve what it sets out to do and comes across as poorly structured, has a first-draft feel to it, is decidedly subjective in its view of 22-year-old democratic South Africa, and spends far too much time on trivialities that seem to have little to do with the film’s stated purpose. Many of the vignettes in the movie are amusing but they don’t seem to tie up into a cohesive whole. Thankfully, the festival programme was filled with some fine documentaries that offered better examples of how to exploit the format – such as Finding Freedom and Nobody’s Died Laughing.
The industry programme got underway the following day at DFM, with a series of panel discussions that, while tackling many ongoing issues that arise every year, still managed to bring something new to the dialogue. Among the main themes were international co-production, pitching techniques, authentic storytelling and micro-budget filmmaking.
Storytelling and story-selling
On the first day of DFM, Marie Lora-Mungai of Restless Talent Management presented a session titled ‘How to pitch like a pro and not fall flat on your face.’
“A pitch is a concise verbal, sometimes visual, presentation of an idea for a film or TV series generally made by a screenwriter or a director to a producer, financier or a distributor in the hope of generating interest in the project and getting it off the ground,” explained Lora-Mungai. She went on to emphasise that there are two elements in the aforementioned definition that are particularly important to remember when developing a successful pitch and the first is that a pitch should be concise – it is not a synopsis, it is a well thought out idea that needs to grab attention. The second is that the goal of a pitch should be to generate interest in the project.
Lora-Mungai advised that when delivering a pitch, one should always be aware of what the jury is thinking. She went on to outline the dos and don’ts of pitching and gave delegates the chance to practise their pitches in front of the other attendees.
Storytelling and story selling with the Business Model Canvas was discussed by a panel of four industry professionals from Cape Town, Kenya and Canada. The Business Model Canvas is a strategic management tool for content producers to make the transition to content entrepreneurs. The discussion showed how this canvas can be used to build a team of people to help take an idea completely through to fruition. They discussed how to get your story to the world, how to get your story making money, and how this canvas can ignite the passion that content entrepreneurs need.
International co-production
In addition to signing a memorandum of understanding with the Namibia Film Commission, the National Film and Video Foundation also presented a discussion on the recently concluded co-production treaty with the Netherlands.
Terrence Khumalo from the NFVF, Frank Peijenburg and Pieter van Huijstee from the Netherlands, and South Africa’s Marc Schwinges presented an open dialogue between industry professionals on how to make the most of the treaty. “The greatness of storytelling is that everyone can relate it to themselves,” said van Huijstee about working on a South African story with a target audience in Holland. Answering a question about whether the film needs to be shot entirely in South Africa or can be shot throughout Africa, the panel explained that any spend outside of SA would be precluded from funding. However, if shot within the country the story could come from any nation, as long as it has a South African interest along with a strong artistic and international appeal. It was further advised that should a South African wish to be in a co-production, to contact the NFVF first and they will further advise on co-producing and how and whom to contact.
Authentic storytelling
The final talk on this year’s DFM programme was presented by marketing guru GG Alcock, who offered some answers to the question of how to tell authentic stories and build credible bonds with target audiences.
Although not coming from a film background, Alcock was able to offer considerable insight into a problem facing the majority of South African filmmakers and storytellers of all kinds: how to create content that is relevant to an audience. In an industry constantly caught between the need to create authentic, specifically relevant content and the (conscious or unconscious) notion that such content must follow a Western model in some way, it is little wonder that South African storytellers often become confused, bogged down in restrictive ideas of what locally relevant content should constitute, or inclined to abandon their cultural authenticity in favour of something with “global appeal.”
Alcock set out, with his talk, to eliminate these conflicts and to try and bring to light the unlimited storytelling resources to which South Africans have access, by focusing on the difference between two concepts that are distinct from one another but often conflated: culture and tradition.
Alcock was raised in rural KwaZulu-Natal and is thus a fluent Zulu speaker with a strong knowledge of Zulu culture and history – unusual among white South Africans. This cultural background has put him in a powerful position to identify South Africa’s cultural resources. At the heart of his thesis is the idea that culture is not tradition – while tradition is stationary, culture is dynamic. South African storytellers may wish to steer clear of their own culture based on the idea that it is stagnant, restrictive and dictates that only certain types of story may be told. In Alcock’s view, it is tradition that is being spoken about here, not culture. By avoiding culture, storytellers sacrifice their authenticity and cut themselves off from a wealth of narrative resources.
The main take-out from Alcock’s talk are:
- Modernisation is not Westernisation
- Culture is not tradition
- Story is found, not in stagnant tradition but in the rich textures and contexts of everyday real experiences, humour and people, where longstanding tradition and modern trends meet.
- Current sociocultural experience in South Africa remains anchored in local heritage and culture regardless of how modernised it may be. On the other hand, it continues to modernise and absorb new elements rapidly.
The shoestring lobby
A panel discussion on micro-budget filmmaking saw a number of passionate guerilla-style filmmakers advocating for the importance of their methods in the building of the South African industry.
“It is essential that we find ways to make the industry accessible to emerging filmmakers and that we close the gap between established, aspiring and emerging filmmakers,” said independent writer-director and chairperson of the eThekwini Filmmakers Association, Andile Buwa, who opened the discussion.
Micro-budget filmmaking is a fiercely independent practice, championed by a handful of the most dogged emerging filmmakers in South Africa. They have recently found important platforms for their work via television channels like Mzansi Magic, and are even making inroads into the various state funding institutions, which are now starting to see the value in guerilla film production. The filmmakers in question, such as Buwa, Mr B and Lehlogonolo Moropane, aka ‘King Shaft,’ have been determinedly plying their trade since long before such opportunities became available, producing films in a short time on R100 000 or less, and are in a perfect position to advise incoming filmmakers on how to make the most of scant resources and just go out and get films made.
Although not entirely in line with the work of Buwa or King Shaft, one of the films on the festival schedule, Last Ones Out, written and directed by Capetonian Howard James Fyvie, perfectly exemplified the ethos of micro-budget filmmaking. The zombie thriller demonstrated what can be done with a small amount of money and a resourceful and dedicated team.
On the whole, a varied festival programme, while not leaving everyone completely satisfied, certainly stimulated debate and offered a kind of ‘state of the industry’ for South Africa and its neighbours. The DFM industry programme, as always, offered useful information for novices and pros alike, from the speakers to the journalists to the audience. It was, as usual, a hub of creativity, inspiration and culture. Despite the controversy that surrounded the festival in the weeks prior to the 37th edition, delegates from across Africa and the world came together with the common goal of celebrating and elevating the film industry, the filmmakers that contribute to it and the films that make it.