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How did you get into film making? Where did you study?
I’ve always been fascinated with images for a very young age until I started doing job shadowing at the of 15 at a local newspaper, there I worked closely with the photographer revelation came to me that film-making this what I would like to do as a career. I went on to study at Monash University in South Afrika.
What inspired you to do film?
Growing up in the Ghetto Streets of South Afrika I was confronted with many social ills like gangsterism, drug and alcohol abuse I realized that media can play a major role in raising awareness about these issues effecting people not just in my ghetto about but all over the world.
How long have you been in this business?
Ive been working in the film and television industry for over 7 years.
What do you think of the film industry in South Africa? How important is it’s role?
I think the film industry in South Afrika is still in a infant stage with the emerging young talent come up the future of it looks amazingly bright. Regarding the role of it on a historical, cultural, political it plays a critical role in terms raising consciousness of the important of knowing our history and where we as a people come from.
How does it compare with the American and European film industry?
I think it’s still riding on the influences of the west in terms style and formats of telling stories also we’ve been fed lots of media propaganda via the West of years and still is and as a result of this we tend to fall in the trap of constantly comparing our work the Hollywood, but whats fresh about it is the type of content that’s coming out of the country.
What type of film is preferred by South African youth? Is this reflected in the society?
Well many youths are still caught up the at fantasies of Hollywood so alto of the film they watch come is Hollywood propaganda also what’s sad about all this is the issue around them wanting to actually portray these images that’s been fed to them.
If they have a negative impact, what do you think should be changed to address this problem?
That’s where we as role filmmaker have a major role to play to change the negative stereotype and start telling local story to reeducate the masses about our great Afrikan legacy.
What are some of the challenges you face as a filmmaker in South Africa?
The major one is always trying to raise funding for my films because of the lack of interest for the arts from the corporates and government entities. The other challenge is that of the kind of story I’m telling and still want to tell masses are not really interested in culture/history and political issues I think these issue derives being brainwashed on the so called Western journey.
Has the film industry changed since the abolishing of apartheid? And if so how?
Transformation has not yet manifested within the industry because u find that many of the old white folks that come from the wicked regime are still running the industry and getting all the big project deals and big budgets even tough we the black folks are being hired. It is a really slow transformation process.
Why do you prefer to produce documentaries?
While I feel that documentary forms of storytelling has a major role to play in terms of education the masses about where they come from but more so I love it because its in your face and tells it like it is straight up.
What is your favourite film? Why?
It’s a Brazilian film called called City of Men because of the realism and the fact that it’s based on a true story also it raised the issue of Social ills on the Fellas. I could relate to this film on many level because the issues affecting them is exactly the same we face in the ghettos here in South Afrika.
Do you think their are roles in film that u think black people should not take, and why? Give me an example of actor and role.
I think if a black actor plays role he or she knows will be bad for our community I think they as guilty as the white folk for spreading propaganda. I think the role they should not play is that of stereotyping black people negatively.
If you had to produce one major earth shattering piece of work, who or what would it be about ,and why?
It will be about showing the Great legacy of Afrika how we lived as Kings and Queens and how we build the first the first University in Mali, Timbuktu. More importantly in the film to show the world who taught the world civilization.
Tell me more about your award,what it means to you? Is that your greatest work to date?
It was a award for best documentary I received from the Atlanta hip hop film festival is 2004 for my first feature length documentary called Definition of Freedom. I cant really say that’s my best work so far because change is constant.
How strong do you think the South African film industry is? Explain. Where do you see it going in the future?
Its really strong from a content perspective because South Afrika has not yet bee explored that much yet and the only thing the world really know about South Afrika is Apartheid and social problems like AIDS, Poverty,Violence and so on…… The future will look great if we become more conscious of the role media plays where transformation is concern.
What opportunities for studying film are their in South Africa?
While there is few for studying film but the numbers are growing slowly because I think institution are realizing the important role film plays in society in terms of educating and raising awareness of social problems we face on a daily basis.
What has been the response to Black Film by the youth in South Africa?
I think they becoming more and more important because the more we show black film which they directly can relate to, this means these stories and images be fashionable in a positive way.
