By Mel Cooke, Freelance WriterWESTERN BUREAU:
SOUTH AFRICAN High Commissioner Thanduyise Chiliza was happy to see the first Festival of South African Films officially off on Monday, but he sees next week's event as more than the screening of some movies.
Speaking at the South Africa High Commission's offices in New Kingston, St. Andrew, along with the CPTC's Hopeton Dunn, Mr. Chiliza put the festival in the context of South Africa's 10th anniversary of democracy, after decades of the apartheid regime.
"What happened then is something that we must not forget, but we must concentrate on what is going to be our future. The future is what is important for us and we must not lose sight of what happens in our future," Mr. Chiliza said.
There are lessons to be learnt from that past, however.
"The challenge that took place before 1994 and the challenge we face now are similar. If we are to accomplish the outcomes of what happened after 1994, we need to make efforts similar to those which we made before 1994. What the struggle brought to us was political independence. What we need now is economic independence," Mr. Chiliza said.
"It is important to know the reality of the continent Africa. Most people know Africa in the perspective that has been shown. We now want to show the real situation that exists in Africa," Mr. Chiliza later said.
He used the example of films about Chaka Zulu, saying "The interpretation was made by people who do not know Africa. Most people thought he was just a savage, that it was bloodthirsty killing and did not give the
perspective that Chaka Zulu was building a nation that in South Africa today is the biggest nation."
PRESENTATIONS
Hopeton Dunn, chairman of the Creative Production Training Centre (CPTC) which is putting on the festival with the South African High Commission, said that some of the films to be shown give not only a cinematic view of the country, but also insight into its history and culture.
The inaugural Festival of South African Films in Jamaica runs from Tuesday, November 23, to Thursday, November 25, at the Palace Cineplex, Sovereign Centre, Liguanea, St. Andrew, ending on Friday, November 26, at the Neville Hall Lecture Theatre on the University of the West Indies, Mona campus. Admission to the screenings at the Cineplex is $200 (all proceeds will go to charity) and the show starts at
8:00 p.m., while the final day
is free, that film beginning at
7:00 p.m.
The first film in the festival is Cry The Beloved Country, which is billed as 'powerful and uplifting'. It stars James Earl Jones and Richard Harris as two fathers one a man of peace, the other a man of power and
privilege, whose lives seem
destined for a violent collision. But instead, in the wake of a tragic killing, these extraordinary men form an unlikely union and, together, find the kind of
understanding that could heal a nation.
The following day will feature Sarafina, starring Whoopi Goldberg. Goldberg plays a teacher who dares to instil in her students lessons not found in schoolbooks. In doing so, she challenges their freedom and hers.
Kofifi, along with Ubuntu's Wounds, is one of two short films slated for Wednesday, November 25. Kofifi is billed as the story about that South African dream, realised through the love shared between two
people; two star-crossed lovers who share a brief romance which is rapidly torn apart by the vicious hatred that existed at the time.
The Festival of South African Films goes to the UWI campus next Friday with Ipi Tombi, which is based on a play of the same name. It is billed as 'the very heart of Africa', with the magic, the rhythm and mystique,
monarchy and rituals of a
continent of changing mood and character, rich in cultural tradition. Music and stunning scenery
combine in a film that goes from Victoria Falls to the Canyon of Joy, explores the veld and the 'City of Gold', Johannesburg, as well as taking a trip to Beverly Hills, Los Angeles.
