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Independent Filmmaking Workshop, 7 May 2016

MEDIA RELEASE

INDEPENDENT FILMMAKING WORKSHOP

AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN FILM INDUSTRY PRINCIPLES

 

Since its launch in 2011 the EThekwini Filmmakers Association has been offering a set of skills-based monthly workshops that are aimed at equipping and uplifting local emerging filmmakers within the eThekwini Municipality. This month’s workshop will take place on Saturday, 7 May from 9am – 4.30pm at the Bat Centre in Durban.

The Independent Filmmaking Workshop, a developmental initiative between the Durban Film Office and non-profit organisation, the eThekwini Filmmakers Association (EFA), covers the basics of filmmaking. Award winning filmmaker Lehlogonolo “King Shaft” Moropane who graduated with BA film degree from AFDA film school in 2003 will facilitate. Moropane has over 15 years experience in the film industry working as a director, writer and producer and he will be sharing his experiences with film-makers.

Moropane, who owns production company Sunrise Entertainment, has directed and produced numerous short films, TV dramas and music videos. Some of his notable work includes SABC 1 dramas such as Skeem Saam and Uzalo 2015, 360 a feature film  and music videos for artists such as HHP, Proverb, Flavour and Mafikizolo. He is currently studying for his Masters of Fine Arts in Motion Picture, and working on his next feature film June 16.

The workshop is free and all filmmakers from the eThekwini Municipality are welcome to attend.

 

For bookings or more information on the workshop contact eThekwini Filmmakers Association Chairperson Andile Buwa on 072 994 343 or via email at efa031@gmail.com.  Alternatively contact Ntuthuzelo Gentse on 083 498 9580.

 

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 Sharlene Versfeld

Versfeld & Associates

031-8115628

083 326 3235

sharlene@versfeld.co.za

GG Alcock to present Masterclass at DFM 2016

 PRESS RELEASE

GG ALCOCK TO PRESENT MASTERCLASS AT DFM 2016

South African author and entrepreneur, GG Alcock, will present an unusual Masterclass at this year’s edition of Durban FilmMart, which takes place from June 17 to 20 during the Durban International Film Festival. Under the banner of "Authenticity is Key – Building Credibility with Audiences”, Alcock will talk about the vital necessity of engaging with an audience on their own terms through an authentic understanding of local narratives.

The author of Third World Child and Kasinomics (which explores the economics of South Africa’s townships, or ‘lokasies’), Alcock is uniquely placed to talk about accessing local audiences. Having grown up in Zulu culture, he is keenly aware how easy it is for external narratives to be imposed unsuccessfully on indigenous cultures. Alcock has been a shebeen owner, a political activist, a community worker, and an African adventurer, and runs a successful communications company - Minanawe Marketing. Born in Zululand and raised in the heart of rural Msinga area of Kwazulu-Natal in the local Zulu community Alcock is fluent in isiZulu and still has a deep physical and spiritual connection with his home village where his mother still lives.

As the founder of Minanawe Marketing, he has built an impressive reputation as a creative and strategist – his upbringing having given him the ability to unearth unique insights and apply these to marketing solutions in the African context. Given how important it is to establish an authentic narrative and convincing context when delivering a message, Alcock says that “these lessons can have just as much relevance for filmmakers looking to engage local audiences as for those wishing to sell products.”

 

“I think it’s important to note up front that I am not a filmmaker. What I am able to share, however, is an understanding of audiences, particularly in the mass market, townships and rural areas.” His business specialises in developing themes, concepts and marketing campaigns that have a strong connection with the cultures and identities of these audiences. At the DFM he will be discussing some simple – but often ignored – rules, which he applies when communicating with audiences, and illustrating them with case studies.  While these case studies are located in marketing rather than in filmmaking, the value of his research extends to anyone who is trying to tell African stories. “I think the fact that marketers are often able to access audiences successfully indicates the importance of these lessons,” says Alcock.

Alcock plans to use some of the cultural and business case studies from Kasinomics to explore concepts that are seldom discussed outside of predominately verbal cultures. Core lessons and themes that filmmakers will be able to take away include an understanding of the role of culture and how audiences tend to “modernise rather than westernise”, the ways in which visual and verbal language can be misinterpreted, and the importance of the spiritual and intangible in touching the emotions of an audience. Alcock will also explore the power and significance of social networks and viral communication in a non-online world.

Ahead of DFM, Alcock together with Feyi Olubodun, COO of Insight Nigeria have been invited to Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity to present a session entitled “The African Consumer, Let My Enemy Live Long” on June 18.

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This unique addition to DFM’s packed roster, which will be presented on June 20, is sure to be both entertaining and eye-opening, and will no doubt inspire new ways of thinking about local audiences.

 

To register for DFM and to find out more about the delegate registration process, visit the official website at www.durbanfilmmart.com.  An Early Bird registration discount for the 4-day event is available to delegates who book before 30 May at a cost of R1 485, which includes access to allocated sessions, a daily luncheon, DFM networking events, entrance into festival screenings (subject to ticket availability), listing in the DFM Industry Manual, and access to Masterclasses and the Africa in Focus programme. After 30 May 2016, the cost is R2035. Daily passes to the event cost R605. (This does not include tickets to the DIFF screenings or access into the opening and closing events.)

 

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Note to Editors:

The Durban FilmMart (DFM) is a co-production and finance market and is a joint programme of the Durban Film Office (DFO) and the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF). DFM provides filmmakers from across Africa with a valuable opportunity to pitch projects to financiers, distributors, sales agents and potential co-producers, and to participate in meetings, project presentations and a series of master classes and workshops on the latest industry trends. www.durbanfilmmart.co.za

 

The Durban Film Office (DFO) is the film industry development arm of the eThekwini Municipality, mandated to position Durban as a world-class film production destination and facilitator for the development of the local film industry. The DFO drives activity and development in the sector in order to boost tourism, job creation and the development of core skills and SMMEs in the region. www.durbanfilmoffice.co.za.

 

The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) presents over 200 screenings from different countries and cultures with a special focus on Africa. The festival includes development programmes such as Talents Durban and a rich schedule of workshops. DIFF is a flagship project of the Centre for Creative Arts, University of KwaZulu-Natal, which facilitates creative platforms and economic opportunities for artists and related industries, intercultural exchange and network development, training, audience development and strategic Pan-African and international cooperation in the cultural sectors. www.cca.ukzn.ac.za

Blue-chip cinema on the red carpet at 2016 European Film Festival

Media Release

Blue-chip cinema on the red carpet at 2016 European Film Festival

The Oscar-winning documentary Amy, an intimate portrait of late British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse, is among the gems on offer at the European Film Festival, which heads to Cinema Nouveau screens in four cities from 6 to 15 May 2016.

Ster-Kinekor will be screening 11 feature length films from across the continent at Cinema Nouveau theatres in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban during the festival. These multi-awarded films, which have been the toast of the international film festival circuit, have never been screened before in South Africa.

This, the third local edition of the European Film Festival, sees the introduction of documentary films, with three non-fiction offerings on the programme.

Festival Director Katarina Hedrén says: “We wish to contribute to the ongoing story of Europe. This story is one of a diverse continent in an interconnected world, which seems to be spinning faster and not always in the right direction.”

Topping the list of films at the 2016 European Film Festival is Amy (UK), directed by Asif Kapadia, which won the 2016 Academy Award and BAFTA for Best Documentary Feature. The documentary tracks the life of the gifted but self-destructive jazz-soul singer until her tragic death from alcohol poisoning in 2011, aged just 27.

Other decorated offerings on the European Film Festival menu are the dramas Macondo (Austria), Body (Poland), Montanha (Portugal), Flowers (Spain), Something Must Break (Sweden) and Labyrinth of Lies (Germany).

Also gracing the silver screen during the festival are the musical comedy Belgian Rhapsody (Belgium), biopic Chocolat (France) and documentaries Fire at Sea (Italy) and A Family Affair (the Netherlands).

The European Film Festival is coordinated by the Goethe-Institut South Africa, hosted by Ster-Kinekor Cinema Nouveau, and organised in partnership with the European Union and 11 other European cultural agencies or embassies in South Africa: the General Representation of the Government of Flanders, the French Institute, the Italian Cultural Institute, the Camões Institute, the British Council, and the Embassies of Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden.

Says Norbert Spitz, Director of the Goethe-Institut, on behalf of the European partners:  “Katarina Hedrén has put together a selection of feature films and documentaries that allows us to discover unconventional, surprising and moving portraits of life in the multifaceted place that Europe is.”

Adds Lola Gallant, Brand Manager of Cinema Nouveau: “As the festival exhibitor, we are delighted to be partnering with the Goethe-Institut and its partners to host the third annual European Film Festival. As Cinema Nouveau, we pride ourselves on providing a platform to screen a wide variety of foreign-language films. We believe the eleven films, lined up for this year’s festival, which would otherwise not be accessible to local cinema audiences, are must-see content for any film lover.“

The European Film Festival screenings will take place at Cinema Nouveau Rosebank, Brooklyn, Gateway and V&A Waterfront. Bookings open on 15 April 2016, with tickets priced at R55. Secure your seat by visiting www.cinemanouveau.co.za or www.sterkinekor.mobi, or call0861 668 437. For more information, visit www.eurofilmfest.co.za or join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook: #EuroFilmFestSA.

Festival Trailer: https://youtu.be/zraEw3_KByM

Bookings:
 
www.eurofilmfest.co.za   
www.cinemanouveau.co.za 
sterkinekor.mobi
0861 668 437

Standard ticket price: R55
Normal benefits and ticket discounts apply to members of SK Club, Discovery Vitality and Edgars Club.
 

Venues:

Cinema Nouveau - Rosebank Mall, Johannesburg
Rosebank Mall (Level 1), cnr Bath & Baker Streets, Rosebank

Cinema Nouveau - Brooklyn, Pretoria
Brooklyn Mall (Lower Level Shop 12), Bronkhorst Street, New Muckleneuk

Cinema Nouveau - V&A, Cape Town
King Warehouse, Red Shed, Victoria and Alfred Waterfront

Cinema Nouveau - Gateway, Durban
Gateway Theatre of Shopping (Expo/Explore Floor), 1 Palm Blvd, Umhlanga Rocks

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ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE GOETHE-INSTITUT SOUTH AFRICA

MEDIA QUERIES:

National Publicity:  Bridget van Oerle / BUZ PUBLICITY: 

buz@buz.co.za / 083 263 6991 / 011 673 0264 / 011 477 0923

Durban Publicity: 

Sharlene Versfeld : Versfeld & Associates

sharlene@versfeld.co.za 083 3263235/ 031 8115628

 

Note to editors:

Media Preview Screenings:

Johannesburg
Venue: Rosebank Nouveau, Cinema 6

12 April / 14.00       
Welcome by the Festival Director
Preview of AMY
(additional screenings same day 18.00 and 20.00)

19 April / 14.00 & 18.00 & 20.00
Preview of LABYRINTH OF LIES

Cape Town
Venue: V&A Nouveau, Cinema 3         

12 April / 18.00 & 20.00
Preview of LABYRINTH OF LIES

19 April / 14.00 & 18.00 & 20.00
Preview of AMY

Durban
Venue: Gateway Nouveau, Cinema 3

12 April / 18.00 & 20.00
Preview of AMY

19 April / 14.00 & 18.00 & 20.00
Preview of LABYRINTH OF LIES

PLEASE RSVP TO Bridget van Oerle / BUZ PUBLICITY: 
buz@buz.co.za / 083 263 6991 / 011 673 0264 / 011 477 0923

 

FILM SELECTION - SYNPOSES

MACONDO (Austria)

Director: Sudabeh Mortezai
Cast: Ramasan Minkailov, Aslan Elbiev, Kheda Gazieva
Genre: Drama
98min ½ German & Chechen with English Subtitles (2014)

Following the death of his father, 11-year old Ramasan and his family live in the Macondo refugee settlement outside Vienna. As the oldest child and the only male, he is the head of the household – a role which comes with more responsibility and autonomy than Ramasan is equipped to handle. The arrival of his father’s best friend, Isa, allows Ramasan to be a child again, but it also means losing some of the freedom he has gotten used to.

Macondo was part of the official competition of Berlin International Film Festival 2014 and won Sudabeh Morezai the award for best emerging filmmaker at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCs3qOL5eqE

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BELGIAN RHAPSODY (Belgium)

Director: Vincent Bal
Cast: Amaryllis Uitterlinden, Arthur Dupont, Jos Verbist, Tom Audenaert
Genre: Musical comedy
95min ½  Flemish & French with English Subtitles (2014)

’50% Flemish, 50% Walloon, 100% Belgian’, is the tagline of this musical take on the divide between Dutch-speaking and French-speaking Belgium. The Flemish brass-band Saint Cecilia and their Wallon counterpart, En Avant, compete for the title of Europe’s best brass-band. The sudden loss of Saint Cecilia’s soloist just before the finals, prompts the conductor’s daughter, Elke, to recruit En Avant’s star-soloist, the self-absorbed Hugues. What follows is a hot mess of grudges, stereotyping, good music and a budding love story.

 

Seasoned filmmaker Vincent Bal started out as an actor, before shifting to directing for film and TV. His 2012 film, The Zigzag Kid earned him the European Film Academy’s Young Audience Award.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zoUYll9Ft8

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CHOCOLAT (France)

Director: Roschdy Zem,
Cast: Omar Sy, James Thierrée, Clotilde Hesme
Genre: Drama
110min ½  French with English Subtitles (2016)

Starring Omar Sy from The Intouchables (2011) and Swiss circus-artist (and Charlie Chaplin’s grandson) James Thierrée, this bio-pic tells of Cuban-born Rafael Padilla, who rose to fame in France in the late 1800s. Under the stage-name Chocolat and together with the white clown Footit, Padilla gains popularity with racist circus-routines that reduce him to a buffoon. When he tries to carve out a more dignified niche for himself, the same audiences that loved the racist cliché turn their back on him.

 

Roschdy Zem has explored the theme of racism both as an actor and director. He continues to do so in this bio-pic, praised for its historically accurate feel. 

 

(Courtesy of Ster Kinekor)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=692hOJq1KJE

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LABYRINTH OF LIES (Germany)

Director: Giulio Ricciarelli
Cast: André Szymanski, Alexander Fehling, Friederike Becht
Genre: Drama
122min ½  German with English Subtitles (2014)

Johan Radmann is a newly appointed public prosecutor in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1958. Through a journalist, he learns that many Nazis returned to ordinary life with impunity after the war. Inspired by the memory of his late idolized father, Radmann decides to make sure that justice is done. The young idealist soon realizes that many of the war-criminals occupy powerful positions in society, and are prepared to go to great lengths to make sure that he does not succeed in his quest.

Labyrinth of Lies was Germany’s submission for the 2016 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

(Courtesy of Ster-Kinekor)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5ovcBGMLEs

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FIRE AT SEA (Italy)

Director: Gianfranco Rosi
Cast: Samuele Pucillo, Pietro Bartolo
Genre: Documentary
108 min ½  Italian with English Subtitles (2016)

Gianfranco Rosi moved to Lampedusa, where he documented not primarily the catastrophe lived by those who seek refuge in Europe, but the curious absence of disruption in the lives of ordinary Lampedusans. Rosi follows Samuele, the precocious 9-year old son of a fisherman, who goes to school, loves hunting and suffers from sea-sickness. Parallel to the boy’s life, Rosi invites us into that of Pietro Bartolo, a medical doctor, who does not only attend to Samuele’s lazy eye, but also to the fleeing women, men and children arriving at Lampedusa.

 

Rosi’s gentle, poetic and unprejudiced touch won him the Golden Bear for Best Film at the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCEsWslaLKw

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A FAMILY AFFAIR (Netherlands)

Director: Tom Fassaert
Cast: Marianne Hertz, Rob Fassaert, Rene Fassaert
Genre: Documentary
120min ½  Dutch & English with English Subtitles (2014)

When his 95-year old grandmother – a former model and socialite – invites Tom Fassaert to visit her in South Africa, he seizes the opportunity to find out more about the dynamics and events that have left his father greatly disillusioned and his uncle Rene scarred for life. During his time with the conflicted and divisive matriarch, Fassaert gains insight into a history and psyche more complex and surreal than he could have imagined, and into the inner workings of a woman who challenged preconceived notions of motherhood long before it was fashionable to do so.

 

Fassaert’s family document opened the 2016 edition of the prestigious International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvBsyh6d4sY

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BODY (Poland)

Director: Malgorzata Szumowska
Cast: Janusz Gajos, Maja Ostaszewska, Justyna Suwala
Genre: Drama
90min ½  Polish with English Subtitles (2015)

A fascination for bodies (“physical, astral and dead, objectified, adored and hated”) lies behind Szumowska’s sombre comedy about three people trapped in individual universes of pain and absence.  Olga’s unprocessed grief over her dead mother manifests in self-hatred and severe anorexia. Her distant coroner father - a coroner - seems as unaffected by his daughter’s distress and the loss of his wife as by the dead bodies he deals with on a daily basis. Anna is a kind but lonely physical therapist with psychic abilities, who seeks to help the reluctant family to heal.

 

Body won Malgorzata Szumowska the awards for Best Director at Berlin International Film Festival and the European Film Awards in 2015.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cOAHoj327Q

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MONTANHA (Portugal)

Director: João Salaviza
Cast: David Mourato, Maria João Pinho, Rodrigo Perdigão  
Genre: Drama
91min ½  Portuguese with English Subtitles (2015)

The death of David’s grandfather is imminent, yet the 14-year-old does not feel prepared to visit him in hospital. This mature coming-of-age drama unfolds during the course of a couple of days in Lisbon, during which David severs ties with his childhood. He roams around aimlessly as if he is looking to dissolve, killing time with a friend and his crush Paulinha - the only one David cares to hold on to. The further he drifts from his past, the closer he connects with the present and the notion of a future he never used to think of.

 

João Salaviza’s award-winning drama, which follows David’s transition into adulthood, is regarded by the filmmaker as his farewell to cinematic adolescence.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kKTc8qkrH3g

 

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FLOWERS (Spain)

Director: John Garrano & Jose Mari Goenaga
Cast: Nagore Aranburo, Itziar Ituño, Itziar Aizpuru
Genre: Drama
99min ½  Spanish with English Subtitles (2014)

One day a bouquet of flowers appears at Ana’s doorstep, the subsequent week another bouquet arrives, and the week after that, yet another one. The anonymous sender upsets Ana’s partner, with whom she shares her flat and meals, but not much more. He holds the flower shop accountable for allowing just anybody to send flowers to anyone. After the death of a crane operator, his mother and his ex-wife are equally surprised to regularly find fresh flowers at the spot where he succumbed.

Flower bouquets at the sites of road accidents, as anonymous love letters or as mere proofs of existence, inspired this award-winning film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFZYvh7uT2A

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SOMETHING MUST BREAK (Sweden)

Director: Ester Martin Bergsmark
Cast: Saga Becker, Iggy Malmborg, Shima Niavarani
Genre: Drama
81min ½  Swedish with English Subtitles (2014)

Based on an auto-fictional novel by Eli Levén, who co-wrote the movie-script, Something Must Break, tells of Sebastian, a passionate, but self-destructive gender-queer 20-something. About to be beaten up, Sebastian is saved by Andreas. Despite Andreas identifying as straight, a complicated and intense love story develops between the two. Though a provocateur defiant in the face of conformity, Andreas is still troubled by his feelings for Sebastian. Sebastian struggles to not be overcome by the feelings for a non-committal, anxious lover, and also gets ready to let Ellie out – the woman inside, who is growing stronger every day.

Ester Martin Bergsmark’s debut feature has screened at festivals across the world and won numerous awards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXeZ0y4SAic

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AMY (UK)

Director: Asif Kapadia
Cast: Amy Winehouse, Mitch Winehouse, Yasiin Bey
Genre: Documentary
128min ½  English (2015)

Asif Kapadia’s much talked about documentary follows Amy Winehouse from the early days of her extraordinary career, until the heart-breaking end. Relying mainly on never before shown footage, this intimate document traces the journey of the talented jazz-singer/songwriter until she achieved levels of fame no one could have dreamed of and the impacts on Winehouse and her family. Where media headlines focused on the drug-addict, who was a singer, Kapadia’s attention is on the extraordinarily gifted artist, who got stuck in drug abuse and self-destruction.

 

Among the many awards Asif Kapadia has won, are the 2016 Academy Awards for Best Documentary and the British Academy Film Awards equivalent.  

 

(Courtesy of Ster Kinekor)

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2yCIwmNuLE

 

Images permission to use: Getty Images

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ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE GOETHE-INSTITUT SOUTH AFRICA

MEDIA QUERIES:

National Publicity:  Bridget van Oerle / BUZ PUBLICITY: 

buz@buz.co.za / 083 263 6991 / 011 673 0264 / 011 477 0923

Durban Publicity: 

Sharlene Versfeld : Versfeld & Associates

sharlene@versfeld.co.za 083 3263235/ 031 8115628 

Registration opens for 7th Durban FilmMart

Media Release

Registration opens for 7th Durban FilmMart

The 7th Durban FilmMart (DFM), Africa’s premier film finance and co-production forum will open for early bird delegate registration on April 4, 2016.

The dates for this year’s DFM, a joint project of Durban Film Office (DFO), the eThekwini Municipality’s industry development unit, and the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) are from June 17 to 20, earlier than in previous years, to co-incide with the DIFF (June 16-26), which was moved to an earlier slot for this year.

“The aim of the DFM is to increase the visibility of African cinema, kindle the creation of film on the continent, and to stimulate the development of project collaboration between African filmmakers through a dynamic networking programme,” explains Durban Film Office’s Toni Monty. “The objective of the Mart speaks to the need for African film makers to be creating their own content and telling their own stories to their own markets. By driving the development of local content, we believe that it lays a bedrock for business and employment within the sector to thrive and look towards its own models for success.”

This year, the Mart, will provide delegates with access to prominent film industry experts, financiers, content directors and broadcasters from around Africa and the world, and other industry specialists attending both the DFM and DIFF as independents to connect and develop business associations

The DFM is structured around three programmatic pillars – Master Classes, a Finance Forum and Africa in Focus – a series of industry workshops, which offer networking and social opportunities for industry representatives.

Master classes are led by well-known industry experts and will unpack issues and challenges in concept development, project packaging, co-production development, new media, finance, marketing, distribution, and other related themes.

The DFM’s co-production market, which called for submissions of film projects last year, has roughly ten feature films and ten documentary films selected for mentorship. These will be presented to industry experts during the Mart, and following thorough sessions with experts, projects are awarded grants for further development.

Partners of this year’s DFM include the International Film Festival Rotterdam's (IFFR) CineMart, the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), Sundance Film Festival, AfriDocs, the Berlinale Film Festival, HotDocs - Blue Ice Documentary Film Fund, Produire au Sud, Restless Talent Management, Sørfond, French Embassy South Africa, , National Film and Video Foundation, KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, Durban Film Office, VideoVision Entertainment, Goethe Institute and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie.

For registration or for more information view the delegate registration process online at the official website: www.durbanfilmmart.com.  There is an Early Bird registration discount for those booking before 30 May 2016. Fees are R1 485 (ZAR) for the 4 day event which includes access to allocated sessions, lunch, access to DFM networking events, entrance into the Durban International Film Festival screenings(subject to ticket availability), listing in the DFM Industry Manual and access to Masterclasses and the Africa in Focus programme. After 30 May 2016, fees areR2035. Daily passes areR605 (this does not include tickets to the DIFF screenings or access into the opening and closing events.)

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Flatfoot Dance Company presents Homeland - 6 - 10 April

 

FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY presents HOMELAND

6 – 10 April 2016

Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre

Durban’s FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY, offers a new season of dance work from the 6 - 10 April 2016 at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre. Provocatively titled Homeland, this season sees long-time friends and dance making colleagues Lliane Loots and Sbonakaliso Ndaba join choreographic forces once again. These two formidable award-winning South African choreographers last worked together in 2005 on a dance work poetically titled Side by Side for the Playhouse Women’s Arts Festival.

Homeland offers two works separated by a short interval. Both Loots and Ndaba have chosen to work on the evocative title of Homeland and given the recent xenophobic attacks, the continued rise of racism on social media, and the huge increasing levels of gender violence, both choreographers begin to look into the meaning of home. Interestingly enough, and despite the painful political and social backdrop of current South Africa, both choreographers have moved into the deeply personal and deeply interior landscapes of “homeland”. The work is strangely gentle, strangely feminine and very very beautiful; it is as if these two women artist have fought against the violence and terror inherent in the contemporary body and found another language to speak truth to power.

The first work is crafted by Sbonakaliso Ndaba and is a powerhouse of African contemporary dance rhythms that sees Ndaba’s indomitable style of energy and declaration take root with the 6 resident FLATFOOT dancers. Ndaba says, “Homeland for me speaks about where I come from, where my umbilical cord lies, where I speak my mother tongue with pride and no fear of shame. Homeland is where my great great grandmothers fought wars so that I can walk, speak and dance in freedom. Homeland is loving my own brown skin and waking up each morning to see another day despite so much.”

The second work sees Loots collaborate with the 6 FLATFOOT dancers on a work that looks at Homeland from the pain of the global refugee crisis that sees millions of people forced to leave or evacuated their homes due to war and political, social or natural disasters. With 2014 UN figures siting that a new refugee or an internally displaced person is created every 5 seconds somewhere on the planet, Loots and the dancers respond to false notion of belonging to a nation state and of feeling safe at ‘home’. With a deep resonance towards the pain of South Africa’s own xenophobia and continued racism, Loots’ Homeland begins to claims back the internal safety of a resistant (dancing!) self that seeks community in other ways; ways that talk back. Powerful and feisty work that, in Loots’s resolute dance making style, is sure to be controversial.

Artistic director of FLATFOOT, Loots says; “Sbo is like family to me, a sister, and so the chance to sit in a rehearsal space and work with her again feels like an enormous artistic and personal gift. We work very differently and make very different work aesthetically and I love this – I am pushed and forced to re-evaluate what I create”. Guest choreographer to FLATFOOT, Ndaba says, “coming back to Durban and to FLATFOOT is like a home-coming to me. This is one of the first company’s I created work with as a young independent choreographer and I am very excited to be invited back. The FLATFOOT studio still has my ancestors and so I am going to greet them again and work with some familiar and wonderful Durban dancers”.

Loots has, once again, collaborated with Karen Logan for filmic images and installations which further layer her Homeland, and Wesley Maherry has designed the lighting for both works.

FLATFOOT dancers for this season are, Jabu Siphika, Zinhle Nzama, Kirsty Ndawo, Kim McCusker, Sifiso Khumalo, Tshediso Kabulu and Sanele Maphumulo.

The Thursday 7th April 7.30pm show offers a rare treat for dance audiences when arts journalist, Adrienne Sichel (The Ar(t)chive, Wits School of Arts) hosts a special on stage after performance discussion with both choreographers and members of the dance company. This is a chance to get up close and personal with the dance makers and ask questions.

Performances are on 6, 7, 8  and 9 April at 7.30pm and on 10 April at 3pm at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre. Ticket prices are R85 and R65 for (student, pensioner and group booking of more than 10 tickets)

Booking is through Computicket.

 

2 April is Autism Awareness Day: Pledge to be Silent

Media Release

Action in Autism:

2nd of April is Autism Awareness Day: Pledge to be Silent

People with autism experience difficulty with verbal and non-verbal communication and social interaction. Over 50 % of people with autism struggle with verbal communication and spoken language. For people who cannot express their basic needs or experiences in a way that the rest of the world understands, life can be isolating and extremely lonely.

Action in Autism has committed to acknowledging World Autism Day on April 2 by asking people to make their pledge to be non-verbal for one hour – from 10am to 11am. To respect, acknowledge and accept difference, we ask you to join us and thousands of our people with autism, and pledge to use an alternative means of communication – signs, gestures, pointing, typing or drawing – during this time.

“Speaking is not the only form of communication. Honour those who are different from you and experience their world.” says Liza Aziz, Chairperson of Action in Autism. “Our organisation does not receive any funding from government, so we would like to encourage people to us either in cash, kind or through volunteering time.”

Action in Autism will host a fundraiser on 30 April at 7pm at St. John’s Hall.  Tickets are R70 and are available from our offices.  For more information about Action in Autism and the support to parents and families provided by the organisation, please call 031 207 4858 or emailinfo@actioninautism.org.za.

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Further information:

Kirsten Miller

ACTION IN AUTISM

031 207 4858/083 7774468

info@actioninautism.org.za

Independent Filmmaking Workshop - Saturday March 19

 Independent Filmmaking Workshop

This month’s Independent Filmmaking Workshop – a developmental initiative between the Durban Film Office and the eThekwini Filmmakers Association (EFA),  takes place on Saturday, March 19 from 9am to 4.30pm at the BAT Centre.

These workshops, which cover the basics of film making, are aimed at empowering aspiring film industry practitioners with essential knowledge about film and the multi-faceted nature of the industry.

Award winning director, writer, producer Lehlogonolo "King Shaft" Moropane will facilitate this month’s workshop.  

The workshops are free to anyone interested  in film-making but booking is essential.

Contact eThekwini Filmmakers Association Chairperson Andile Buwa via email at efa031@gmail.com ; call 072 994 343 or contact Ntuthuzelo Gentse on 0834989580.

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Partnerships at this year's Time of the Writer Festival

Time of the Writer

14-19 March 2016

Partnerships

The 19th edition of the Time of the Writer festival is presented by the Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN) in partnership with various organisations this year.

The eThekwini Municipality Libraries department has partnered with the Centre for Creative Arts, in supporting the community engagement programme of the festival in which a series of events entitled Conversations that Matter will take place in public libraries around the City. The City will also be purchasing two copies of each book by each writer featured at the festival which will be distributed to 92 eThekwini Municipal Libraries. The festival together with eThekwini Municipality has organised a park and ride shuttle service to the various venues. The shuttle will pick up passengers from Durban Centrum Park where you will be able to securely park your car, from Tuesday through to Saturday at both 10:00 and 17:30 each day.

The Festival has also partnered with the Etisalat Prize for Literature, the first ever pan-African prize celebrating first time writers of published fiction books. Etisalat, will bring three shortlisted writers for a reading at the Time of the Festival as well as donation of 1000 books to one of the City’s local libraries.

Independent news agency The Daily Vox will be live streaming the festival and providing a platform for online engagement from audiences.

This year’s Festival Book Drive received support from Independent Newspapers and Gcina Mhlophe’s Nozincwadi: Mother of Books Project, which promotes a culture of reading throughout the country. Through this partnership a rural school will be awarded books collected at events hosted by the Centre for Creative Arts.

Time of the Writer has partnered with the KZN Music Imbizo to present Notes on Music. Each evening a different musician will take to the stage before the nightly panel, to perform a new piece of music based on the artist’s interpretation of the festival participants’ written work. There will also be a short discussion facilitated by Salim Washington (UKZN) and Sphephelo Mbhele (KZN Music Imbizo), with the artist providing some insight into what went into composing that piece of music.

All events are FREE to library or student cardholders. For members of the public without either card, a nominal fee of R20 will be requested at the box office one hour before the event. The eThekwini Municipal Libraries along with The Centre for Creative Arts will be on hand at each venue in order to aid those without library cards to sign up for one on the spot, all that it requires is a valid ID document and proof of residence.

For more details on this years' Time of the Writer, visit www.cca.ukzn.ac.za or call (031) 260 2506

Organised by the Centre for Creative Arts (University KwaZulu-Natal), the 19th Time of the Writer is supported by the City of Durban, the National Department of Arts and Culture, The Goethe-Institut and Alliance Française de Durban. The Centre for Creative Arts is housed in the College of Humanities at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and is a special project of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Cheryl Potgieter.

 

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New Director for African Art Centre - Durban

Media Release

New Director for African Art Centre

Over the past 56 years the African Art Centre has earned the reputation of being the longest surviving South African organization involved in the development and promotion of African artists and crafters.  Following on this rich history the Centre is proud to announce fresh impetus as it welcomes Magdalene Reddy as its new Executive Director.

Magdalene Reddy holds an Honours Degree in Music and has been a manager in a number of sectors within the arts and culture industry over the past 10 years. 

Most recently, Reddy worked with the SA Seasons’ team on promoting South African arts and culture in both France and the United Kingdom in the SA-UK Seasons and the SA-French Seasons, which were projects of the Department of Arts and Culture that saw thousands of South African artists perform and exhibit their work across these countries.  Prior to this, she worked at the Centre for Creative Arts playing a vital role in the implementation the CCA’s four iconic festivals – the Durban International Film Festival, Poetry Africa, Time of the Writer and the Jomba! Contemporary Dance Experience.

“Although my first love for the arts was through music, my work at the Centre for Creative Arts developed my interest and experience across all artistic genres of  African culture.  I was privileged to have been part of creating a platform for African and international artists to share the beauty of their expertise with Durban audiences.  This intercultural exchange of artists and arts practitioners had helped me appreciate all forms of art in a special way,” says Reddy.

Reddy now brings her passion and experience to the African Art Centre helping to steer the ship into the next era.   “The wealth of local South African art needs to be shared with the world, we need to create processes and platforms for our artists to thrive.  The African Art Centre is here to help grow South Africa’s creative economy by developing market access and professional exhibition platforms for cutting-edge and relevant work by the artists and crafters of KwaZulu-Natal.”

“Our vision is to create an enabling environment for the sustainable development, promotion and preservation of  African arts and crafts with special focus on KwaZulu-Natal.  Our focus now is to strengthen the economic benefit for local KZN artists.   This will be achieved through three primary pillars – local and international exhibition platforms, development programmes focusing on the creative and business aspects of the art and the provision of a retail and wholesale outlet for artists and crafters.”

Part of freshness at the Centre is its new, energetic and diverse board lead by Yanni Vosloo, Merchandise Director for Mr Price Home, “It is an immense privilege for us to be able to provide a safe and nurturing platform for the emerging creatives of KZN, at the African Art Centre. The challenges we face are common to many businesses and non-profit enterprises where budget and funding for creative endeavours are limited, commitment is scarce and participation intermittent, BUT we remain focused on the needs of our artists and crafters, determined to ferret out true talent and develop those eager for knowledge and experience. It is for these qualities that we appointed Magdalene and the Board is delighted in her delivery and for the development she’s achieved in a very short time.”

To kick off the 2016 exhibition programme, the African Art Centre recently released a call inviting local KZN artists to be part of a Human Rights exhibition themed 20 Years Later:  A Fresh Look at the Bill of Rights.  This group exhibition, curated by Carol Brown, will be opened by the Hon. Justice Albie Sachs.

Twenty years ago South Africa was full of hope looking towards a new future.  The Bill of Rights, which was the cornerstone of the Constitution of SA, was widely celebrated as being one of the most progressive in the world.  Justice Albie Sachs (one of the architects of the Constitution) launched the Images of Human Rights Print Portfolio at the Durban Gallery in 1996.  A proud moment. Where are we now? Much has improved while much remains a work in progress. 

South Africa today is a beautiful but complex country and this exhibition aims to celebrate this beauty whilst bringing some of the complexities to the fore.  A group of artists, who attended a workshop on the Bill of Rights, will be showing new works highlighting how artists envision the present which is built on the past.

Justice Albie Sachs will launch this exhibition of prints, drawings, paintings and photographs, all created especially for the exhibition by well known artists as well as unknown young talent. The exhibition opens on Thursday 10 March at 17:30 at the African Art Centre, 94 Florida Rd, Durban, and will run for 3 weeks.

For more detail contact the African Art Centre on 031 312 3804/5,  email africanartcentre@afri-art.co.za or go to www.afriart.org.za .

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Photo : Magdalene Reddy : Director of the African Art Centre by Val Adamson.

Programme Announcement: Time of the Writer 14 - 19 March 2016

Media release

Programme Announcement

19th Time of the Writer

14 -19 March 2016 

The Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN) has announced the lineup and programme for the Time of the Writer festival, as well as new partnerships for its 19th edition.

Ten writers from South Africa and Africa will meet for a week of stimulating literary dialogue and exchange of ideas. Audiences can engage with award-winning writers, from a variety of political and social contexts, on the creative and technical processes and perspectives which shape their writing. Evening readings and discussions will take place at 7pm at eKhaya Multi Arts Centre (KwaMashu), Ohlange High School (Inanda), Umkhumbane Hall (Cato Manor), Umlazi Cinema and Clermont Hall.

This years panel discussions couples authors whose writings share semiotic marrow and are loosely titled after books and papers that echo their literary sentiment.

The evening panels are:

The Madness of History – Tuesday 15th March (eKhaya Multi Arts Centre -KwaMashu)

Ashwin Desai and Mishka Hoosen will have a conversation on the importance of retrospective meditations on self, historical figures and the family. 

Why Must a Black Writer Write About Blackness? – Wednesday 16th March (Ohlange High School)

In this Dany Laferrière inspired panel discussion Panashe Chigamudzi and Eusebius McKaiser share their experiences as writers who write without curiosity’s gaze.

They Write What They Like – Thursday 17th March (Umkhumbane Hall - Cato Manor)

Crossing the borders from short stories to novellas to poetry to essays, writer Niq Mhlongo gives insight into his unique take on the world across genres and mediums.

Tuning In... – Friday 18th March (Umlazi Cinema)

Writing for listeners is an art that requires its own stage, a stage of which Christa Biyela and Mandla Ndlovu are accomplished masters. These two audio drama maestros open their lyrical vaults and with it the history and depth of the Zulu audio drama. 

The Alchemy of Fiction – Saturday 19th March (Clermont Hall)

How pliable is truth? Can one measure the elasticity of the human imagination and if pushed, would one ever erase the self from one’s own story? In this panel, musician turned author Nakhane Touré and Nikhil Singh discuss the roles fantasy, biography and imagination play in the erection of the worlds they create. 

As part of the festival’s focus on decolonizing South African literature the festival will gather leading voices from every facet of literature in the areas of writing, editing, publishing, translation, marketing, bookselling and promotion (including events), to interrogate the central question of how to go about decolonising literature in South Africa, from writing to readership.

Conversations that Matter is a daytime programme of roundtable discussions, led by experts across the various fields of literature, that provides a space for people to share and contribute towards this vital topic ofdecolonisation within literature.

The following topics will be under discussion during the day from 11am.

Conversations That Matter: The Book & Knowledge Production – Tuesday 15th March 2016 (KwaMashu Library)

Writers Niq Mhlongo, Panashe Chigamudzi, TO Molefe, Percy Zvomuya, Nakanjani Sibiya and poet Mputlane wa Bofelo meet to expose the landmines that await writers who render text that challenges literary traditions and their inherent exclusion of certain voices.

Conversations That Matter: The Book & GateKeepers – Wednesday 16th March 2016 (Ohlange Library)

To probe the accessibility of literary institutions and the tribulations of those tasked with creating that access, this conversation culls from the experiences of both publishers and distributors. Has the South African literary landscape shifted to accommodate previously poorly documented and valued contributions? Which attitudes delay decolonising access? To open the discussion are Prof. Sihawu Ngubane, Thabiso Mahlape, Kholeka Mabeta, Duduzile Mabaso, Mandla Matyumza, Siphiwo Mahala.

Conversations That Matter: The Book & Readership – Thursday 17th March 2016 (UmKhumbane Hall – Cato Manor)

To explore questions on readership often posed to booksellers, librarians and festival organisers are Cedric Sissing (Adams Books), Benjamin Trisk (Exclusive Books), Fortescue Helepi (African Flavour Books), Sinenhlanhla Buthelezi (Goethe Library), Tebogo Mzizi (eThekwini Municipality Libraries), Mignon Hardie (FunDza Literacy Trust), Frankie Murrey (Open Book Festival), Dr. Maria Van Driel (Jozi Book Fair) and Jennifer Platt (Sunday Times). This conversation draws on the challenges of pricing, public expectations and historical misconceptions on reading cultures in South Africa.

Conversations That Matter: The Book & Language – Friday 18th March (Umlazi Library)

An interrogation of the notion of linguistic hierarchies in print media, literature and academic institutions requires contributions from academics and cultural producers whose careers are dedicated to the preservation and promotion of marginalized languages. This conversation will be initiated by Eric Ngcobo, Dr. Mpho Monareng, Dr. Gugu Mazibuko, Dr. Pamella Maseko, Prof. Nobuhle Hlongwa and Wangui Wa Goro.

Conversations That Matter: The Book & Intersectionality – Saturday 19th March 2016 (Qashane Library)

As a result of recent shifts in the quality of contributions produced outside the academy, the topic of Intersectionality has relocated academics and social commentators alike. The youth are proving to be the aorta of the argument and keeping pulse with contemporary readings on Intersectionality demands the voices of those who bravely tackle this pertinent and inflammatory subject. To open the discussion are Eusebuis McKaiser, Milisuthando Bongela, Nakhane Toure, Lindokuhle Nkosi, Mputlane Wa Bofelo, Mbali Matandela and Zethu Matebeni.

The 19th edition of the festival is presented in partnership with various organisations including the eThekwini Municipality Libraries department whose involvement supports the community engagement programme of the festival by hosting Conversations that Matter in public libraries.

All events are FREE to library or student cardholders. For members of the public without either card, a nominal fee of R20 will be requested at the box office from one hour before the event. The eThekwini Municipal Libraries along with The Centre for Creative Arts will be on hand at each venue in order to aid those without library cards to sign up for one on the spot, all that it requires is a valid ID document and proof of residence.

For more details about this years' Time of the Writer, visit the www.cca.ukzn.ac.za  or call (031) 260 2506.

Organised by the Centre for Creative Arts (University KwaZulu-Natal), the 19th Time of the Writer is supported by eThekwini Municipality, the National Department of Arts and Culture Alliance Française de Durban. The Centre for Creative Arts is housed in the College of Humanities at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and is a special project of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Cheryl Potgieter.

 

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eThekwini Municipality Launches GO!Durban Cycle Academy in partnership with Kargo PRO Cycling Team

 

eThekwini Municipality Launches GO!Durban Cycle Academy in partnership with

Kargo PRO Cycling Team

In an unprecedented move to support the growing need for increased mobility, connectivity and dignity for all citizens in the metropole, the eThekwini Municipality, today (February 11), launched the GO!Durban Cycle Academy in a public-private partnership with the Kargo PRO Cycling Team with support from the City’s Durban Green Corridor.

The inaugural intake of young cyclists from the eNanda area, where the first site for the Academy at eNanda Adventure Park is being developed, were introduced as well as the 2016 Kargo PRO Cycling Team: its riders, coaches, mentors and managers who have designed and will implement the Academy’s development strategy and operational programme to be used as the template for 7 other sites around the city.

The GO!Durban Cycle Academy provides an environment for local cycling training which also aims to bring young people together to meet, play and engage with each other using the sport of cycling as the common focus, whether it be for recreational, commuting or sporting purposes.

Importantly the Academy, which will focus on individual growth, is linked as an official feeder for professional cycling teams like the Kargo PRO Cycling Team, and provides a developmental opportunity for potential cycling talent.

The programme planned for Academy members will include requisite athletic training, but will also include important life skills-, mechanical- and technical training. The recruits will be required to sign a pledge to commit to the programme, adhere to a code of conduct, and will be expected to set a good example for their peers. Training will take place after school, and the young athletes will be required to complete their homework at the Academy site, as well as ensure their equipment and cycling kit is clean and maintained at all times.

The Durban Green Corridor has identified locations that have potential as Academy sites, and eight are confirmed in KwaMashu, KwaDabeka, eNanda, Cornubia, South Beach, Glenwood, Umlazi and Amanzimtoti.

In partnering with the Durban Green Corridor, GO!Durban is able to reach into local communities throughout eThekwini in a practical and sustainable way to promote recreational and commuter cycling for a healthy lifestyle and to reduce the transport related carbon footprint of the eThekwini population. The Durban Green Corridor is mandated to develop outdoor adventure sports and related tourism through natural open spaces in order to promote local economic development and job creation in the neighbouring communities, and as such makes a natural partner to develop cycle parks to support the development programme of the Academy, as well as providing safe spaces for citizens to learn to ride.

Put in context, the GO!Durban Cycle Academy forms the foundation for the creation of a robust cycling culture, as the City forges ahead with its planned GO!Durban integrated rapid public transport network. Intrinsically linked to this is the provision of walkways, pedestrian bridges and cycling lanes primarily as a means to provide access to public transport, but also to make provision for those, who, through circumstance, were unable to afford it.

It was out of this that the Non-Motorised Transport  (NMT) network plan was born, and the City’s engineers have an extensive plan to create cycle lanes and walkways throughout the urban and peri-urban sectors of the city as part of the overall public transport plan.

In 2014, as part of a plan to promote the NMT network at the Sustainable Living Expo, GO!Durban created a Believe Tree – a tree made from old bicycle parts, asking visitors to the expo to write their hopes and wishes for the future of the City, on a paper leaf and hang it on this tree. GO!Durban promised to plant a tree for every wish hung, to offset for the negative impact that infrastructure may have on the environment such as the tons of concrete and asphalt laid, or the need to remove trees to make way for roads. More than 2000 leaves “wishes” were hung, with most expressing a desire for safer, greener, more sustainable and liveable City.

On the back of these wishes, a Ride for Life concept arose which would lead to the creation of cycle parks, in which these trees could be planted, fulfilling the promise GO!Durban had made, and at the same time providing citizens with the space and opportunity to cycle and learn to cycle.

From this foundation and thinking arose the GO!Durban  Cycle Academy. “To this end a number of green environments will be re-configured for the homing of Academy facilities and riders, to fulfill that original promise and to fully realize the goal that the City takes sustainability, and importantly, takes the creation of a better life for all very seriously.”  said the Speaker Cllr Logie Naidoo speaking on behalf of His Worship the Mayor Cllr James Nxumalo.

“One of the important cogs towards building a successful Non Motorised Network, is having it adopted and used.  As we do not have a rigorous culture of cycling, the GO!Durban Cycle Academy development programme speaks directly to addressing this obvious gap. And that is why through our Ride for Life programme, eight such spaces are being created to home the Cycle Academy in a variety of communities to encourage people to cycle.”

“These pioneering young Academy cyclists herald a bright future for others that will come after them. As they are mentored, coached and nurtured with dignity and respect, they will learn skills that will hold them in great stead for their adulthoods. 

But it is not only this. As with the ethos of GO!Durban, which aims to bring dignity and connectivity to all through mobility, the Academy also aims to provide connectivity for young people by linking them with a professional cycling team so that they are able to cross the historical barriers of the past, and have access to a world and environment that would ordinarily have been inaccessible.”

“If we are indeed to be Africa’s most caring and liveable city by 2030, we need to ensure that there is improved mobility for all, and that transport is an integral part of the economic and social functioning that will move us all forward socially and economically. This is what GO!Durban seeks to address.”

“As other cities around the world have experienced, the growth of a cycling culture impacts positively on communities as not only does it provide an affordable means of commuting, but it promotes a healthy lifestyle and contributes towards creating a more sustainable city.”

“From an empowerment point of view, it is hoped that the Academy will create employment opportunities as well as stimulate entrepreneurial economic growth within the areas where they are established, as people recognize the need for repair shops, eateries, training schools and attendant services related to cycling both from a commuter and recreational perspective.”

“The GO!Durban Academy promises to create an environment for entrepreneurship and the stimulation for small business growth. We urge the eNanda community to get involved, and not to watch from the sidelines. Look at this as an opportunity to develop a vibrant economic and socially satisfying node. At the same time, we encourage other communities where sites are planned to think how they can get involved.”

“We hope to, through this partnership, inspire young people to focus on achievable goals in their life, as we develop their self-confidence through sport, and in doing so develop in them a mind-set of success.” says Shaun Peschl, Manager of the Kargo PRO Cycling Team. “We believe that it is through development programmes such as this, that we can truly level the playing fields for those who have had many barriers to entry into the sport. The success of the partnership will be evident in how the children fare at school, at home and on the track as they develop their skills as young athletes. And we look forward to witnessing the entrepreneurial economic knock-on effect that these Academy sites will stimulate as the culture of cycling catches on.”

The Kargo PRO Cycling Team, as the inaugural partners in developing the GO!Durban Cycle Academy template and programme, have been gathering other partners and sponsors into the fold that will provide transport, nutritional and mechanical support, hardware and kit to help sustain the Academy.

The Mayor called on the private sector to “seize the opportunity to get on board now to be part of what promises to be a phenomenal social legacy, a potentially lucrative economic springboard for entrepreneurs, as well as new markets for formal business that will benefit in the long term from a developed culture of cycling in the city.”

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Bow Music Jam at the opening of the 1st International Bow Music Conference at UKZN

 BOW MUSIC JAM at the opening of the 1st INTERNATIONAL BOW MUSIC CONFERENCE at UKZN

The First International Bow Music Conference, opens at the University of KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday 24 February. Running until 27 Februaryover three venues (The Innovation Centre and Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre at University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Howard College Campus as well as the KZNSA in Bulwer Road, Glenwood), events include several academic paper presentations, an evening of film screenings, as well as bow music performances – all of which are open to public participation and attendance.

The Innovation Centre (Gate 9 - Rick Turner Road) will be the platform for the presentation of a number of research papers gathered from the call for proposals late last year, and will feature presenters from South Africa, Germany, USA, Brazil and United Kingdom. Registration takes place on Wednesday (24 February) from 08:00 – 10:30 and an optional fee of R200 will include tea and lunch.

The exciting performance programme kicks off on Wednesday with the staging of a Bow Jam in partnership with the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music regular Wednesday night concert series at the Centre. The Bow Jam will feature Grupo Percussao, a berimbau ensemble from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Led by percussionist, composer and Northern Illinois University academic Gregory Beyer, the group will perform excerpts of works from its Arcomusical Project for sextet, quintet, quartet, trio, duet and solo berimbau. Part of the evening’s entertainment will see conference delegates introducing themselves and their favourite musical bows in song.

The Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre on Thursday (25 February) will host screenings of the films “The Traditional Music of Mali, West Africa” by Salil Sachdev and 'Jogo de Corpo' (Body Games) - The Angolan Roots of Capoeira, directed by Richard Pakleppa, tickets are R10. Friday and Saturdayevening (26 & 27 February) will see an extensive bow music performance programme, with Xhosa bow legends Madosini Mpahleni and Mantombi Matotiyane sharing the stage with other veteran exponents of the rich southern African bow music traditions: such as Lesotho’s Mme ‘Matlali Kheoana and Makhetha Setlaba, Sekuru Muradzikwa from Zimbabwe, Bhemani Magagula and Khokhiwe Mphila of Swaziland, Bavikile Ngema of Zululand and Mozambicans Ernesto Mathusi and Maneto Tefula. Friday will see another presentation of Brazilian berimbau ensemble Grupo Percussao. Tickets are R50 and available from Computicket or at the Box Office.

On Saturday 27th, the KZNSA is the venue for an interactive session of bow music workshops, a Capoeira Angola Roda led by Mestre Cobra Mansa (Brazil) and an exhibition of musical bows curated by the conference convenor Dr Sazi Dlamini. All are welcome to attend. Workshops start at 10am. Early arrival is recommended to ensure availability.

For further details, programme and updates on the Bow Music Conference and Concerts visit www.bowconference.com

 

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Flatfoot Dance Company presents "love is cruelty" at the KZNSA Gallery

MEDIA RELEASE

“loves own cruelty”

FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY @ the KZNSA Gallery

Friday (one night only!) 19th February 2016

6pm

 Durban’s inimitable FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY forges a wonderful new partnership with the KZNSA Gallery and starts its 2016 performance calendar with a one-off specially conceptualised performance work that uses all the spaces of the KZNSA to evoke a journey through a site; a journey through the tricky inner and outer terrain of love relationships that echo in the big and small spaces of the gallery.  

Titled “loves own cruelty”, FLATFOOT take as wry, fierce and sometimes humorous look at love relationships that never backs down from honestly and truth; and all the grey area in between that is the very fabric of human connections. FLATFOOT has a reputation for offering politically charged dance theatre and this work is no exception. Small site-specific relationship vignettes play our between dancers who seamlessly move and flow between one another in close encounters. The gallery space allows for a more intimate engagement with the dance work and is ideal for a slightly voyeuristic look into the lives of others.

Choreographed by Lliane Loots in collaboration with the 5 resident dancers (Sifiso Khumalo, Jabu Siphika, Tshediso Kabulu, Sanele Maphumulo and Zinhle Nzama), catch this award winning dance company up close and personal.

The cast also includes UK guest dancer, and artist in residence with FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY, Iona Waite on exchange from Birmingham’s ACE MUSIC and DANCE COMPANY. Iona has a BA in Dance and Professional Practice from the University of Wolverhampton (UK). She holds the positions of Youth Co-coordinator with ACE and dancers with the professional company. She comes to FLATFOOT as part of an on-going collaboration between the two companies and has spent the month of February 2016, working, teaching and dancing alongside FLATFOOT and all their various KZN based arts development programmes. She is a gifted and beautiful dancers and shines in Loots’s new work “loves own cruelty”.

As Loots says “it is always great getting new guest dancers in the company as they bring with them another history, another kind of body and another kind of movement; all of which we learn and grow from. Iona has been great as she is incredibly open and, at heart, is a dancer who takes huge risks; so for me as choreographer, this has been fantastic!”

“loves own cruelty” is for one night only so don’t miss it! The Performance begins at 6pm on Friday the 19th February at the KZNSA Gallery and tickets can be purchase up to one hour before the show.

 

The KZNSA coffee bar will be open!

 

 

PICS:

#1: FLATFOOT dancers Jabu Siphika and Sifiso Khumalo in “loves own cruelty” KZNSA GALLERY 19 Feb 2016 @ 6pm

#2: FLATFOOT dancers Jabu Siphika, Sifiso Khumalo and Sanele Maphumulo in “loves own cruelty” KZNSA GALLERY 19 Feb 2016 @ 6pm

 

19th Time of the Writer 14 - 19 March 2016

19th Time of the Writer

14 - 19 March 2016

The Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN) is proud to announce a change in venues and a special programme for the 19th Time of The Writer, which takes place from 14 to 19 March in Durban, under the theme Decolonising the Book.

A nationwide conversation on inclusiveness in the South African literature landscape began at the 2015 edition of Time of the Writer, sparked off by South African writer Thando Mgqolozana. In order to provide a platform for conversation and debate on this issue, this year’s edition of the festival will gather the leading voices from every facet of literature in the areas of writing, editing, publishing, translation, marketing, bookselling and promotion (including events), to deliberate on the salient issues pertinent to the transformation and growth of literature in South Africa. This theme aims to interrogate the central question of how to go about decolonising literature in South Africa, from writing to readership.

Conversations that Matter is a daytime programme of roundtable discussions, led by experts across the various fields of literature, that provides a space for people to share and contribute towards this vital topic. The nightly evening panels will then feature a summative discussion on the day’s deliberations.

The 19th edition of the festival is presented in partnership with the eThekwini Municipality Libraries department in whose libraries the day programme will take place.

This year’s edition of the festival features a shift in venue for the evening panels as each day the festival will take place in a different location across the surrounding areas of Durban; venues are located in Clermont, Cato Manor, Umlazi, Inanda and KwaMashu.

“We are very excited about the plans for this year’s festival, which came about as a result of a growing call from within the literary world and South Africa as whole for increased diversity, access and inclusiveness. The Centre for Creative Arts would like to acknowledge one of South Africa’s leading writers Thando Mgqolozana who has been very vocal about change in our society and has assisted in the programming of this edition of the festival,” says Tiny Mungwe, festival manager at the Centre for Creative Arts. “The change is very big for us and by breaking from years of tradition we will have another set of operational challenges, but it is something we believe is absolutely crucial for the festival and for the face of literature in South Africa if we are to effect some kind of shift in our thinking.”

The line-up of writers and venues will be announced in a few weeks time.

All events FREE to library or student cardholders. For members of the public without either card, a nominal fee of R20 will be requested at the door one hour before the event.

For more details about this years' Time of the Writer, visit the festival web page or call (031) 260 2506

Organised by the Centre for Creative Arts (University KwaZulu-Natal), the 19th Time of the Writer is supported by the City of Durban, the National Department of Arts and Culture, The Goethe-Institut and Alliance Francaise Durban. The Centre for Creative Arts is housed in the College of Humanities at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and is a special project of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Cheryl Potgieter.

 

1st International Bow Music Conference at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, 24 - 27 February 2016

University Of KwaZulu-Natal

1st INTERNATIONAL BOW MUSIC CONFERENCE 

24 – 27 February 2016

The Music cluster within the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s School of Arts is hosting the 1st International Bow Music Conference from 24 to 27 February. Convened by a team led by Dr Sazi Dlamini, UKZN lecturer and well-known township jazz exponent, the event has garnered a wave of passionate interest from local and international bow music practitioners, as well ethnomusicological research academics from as far afield as the US, Brazil, Europe, and neighbouring SADC countries of Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

The Bow Music Conference, while it is an academic gathering, it will be opening its doors to public attendance at paper presentations, workshops and discussions which will focus on diverse topics on global bow musical practices. The conference acknowledges the widespread indigenous occurrence of musical bows both in Africa and in far-flung areas of the globe, as well as the growing research and public interest on bow music.

The keynote address at the conference will be given by the eminent bow music professor David Dargie, a retired monk who brought to the world’s attention Xhosa women’s umrhubhe mouth-bow playing and the mesmerizing overtone singing techniques of Ngqoko village women of the Lady Frere area in the Eastern Cape.

The Bow Music Conference will include a progrmamme of musical performances that will showcase Southern African musical bows such as uhadi and ikatari (Xhosa); the Sotho lesiba, sekhankuri and lekope; the Venda thomo; chizambi and chipendani mouthbows found in Mozambique and eastern Zimbabwe; sitolotolo, makhoyana, umqangala and makhweyana (Zulu & Swati). During the conference some of these musical bows will be displayed in a curated exhibition of indigenous musical instruments at the KZNSA Gallery.

A significant presence in the conference is that of the the Afro-Brazillian musical bow the berimbau, the calabash-resonated musical bow closely associated with capoeira, the worldwide popular physical game-dance-martial art that resulted from the presence of African slaves in Brazil. Several scholarly presentations will focus on the berimbau’s African origins as well as the instrument’s relationship to widespread Bantu bow cultures of Africa’s sub-Saharan region. The programme will include screenings of director Richard Pakleppa’s documentary film ‘Jogo de Corpo’ [Body Games] – which traces the roots of capoeira and of the berimbau to Angola. 

Conference presentations will take place at UKZN’s Innovation Centre (Gate 9, Rick Turner Road) on 24, 25 and 26 February. Entrance is free upon registration. The film and concerts series take place at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre at Howard College Campus UKZN from 25 - 27 February. Tickets will be available through Computicket. Daytime events at the KZNSA on Saturday 27 February include a workshop on musical bow-making, an indigenous musical instrument exhibition and a capoeira Angola roda conducted by Mestre Cobra Mansa from Salvador, Bahia-Brazil.

For more information go to www.bowconference.com or facebook.com/bowconference, or email info@bowconference.com.


The 1st International Bow Music Conference is a Sources of Creativity Catalytic Project, funded through a research grant from The National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences.

 

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Realness Welcomes New Partner + Spotlght at World Cinema Fund Day at Berlinale 2016

REALNESS – An Africa Screenwriter’s Residency

 REALNESS WELCOMES NEW PARTNERS + SPOTLIGHT AT WORLD CINEMA FUND DAY AT BERLINALE 2016

In November 2015, Urucu Media announced the call for submissions for REALNESS, a Pan African screenwriter’s residency. Thus far over 80 submissions have been received, with 40% of them coming from outside of South Africa. The scope of writers ranges from established writer/directors to self-taught, emerging talent. Realness recently partnered with EAVE and Torino Film Lab.

The aim of REALNESS is to provide the continent's best emerging writing talents with the necessary time, space and support to develop their unique cinematic vision. Residents will receive a stipend of R15,000 and all food and accommodation expenses will be covered for the duration of their stay. Realness claims no rights over the developed work. They stay with the writers.

EAVE is Europe’s leading training, development and networking organization for audiovisual producers. EAVE has committed to selecting one of the five projects and its producer to participate at the EAVE 2017 PRODUCERS WORKSHOP, consisting of three one week residential workshops in Europe. The EAVE scholarship would cover the participation fee, room and board for all three workshops.

Torino Film Lab is a year-round, international laboratory that supports emerging talents from all over the world – with a special attention to those working on their first and second fiction feature films – through training, development, funding and distribution activities. TFL has come on board with an award for one of the projects’ producers to attend their co-production market in November 2016. Torino Film Lab will provide accommodation, meals and accreditation for the participating producer and a representative of Realness.

Next March Elias Ribeiro, founder of Urucu and Realness, will attend TalentX, Realness was awarded a scholarship to attend this conference held in Amsterdam hosted by Creative England in partnership with the Danish Film Institute, the Irish Film Board and Netherlands Film Fund, and with the support of the Creative Europe - MEDIA Programme of the European Union. Talent developers will take part in a learning and ideas exchange focusing on the challenges and opportunities facing feature film talent in the ‘real world’. Elias will be part of discussions with other development initiatives about how the industry can collectively shape a fresh approach to supporting film talent from first feature to second, third and beyond.

The final selection of the 5 residents will be announced at an event hosted by the pavilion Les Cinemas du Monde in Cannes, 2016. Residents will prepare to present their projects in the framework of Durban Film Mart, starting on the 16th of June. And then settle into the idyllic Nirox Artist Residency in the Cradle of Humankind, where over 6 weeks, they will work on a new draft their feature screenplays.

Submissions close on the 31st of January. More information regarding submission materials can be found at www.urucumedia.com/realness

 

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19th Time of the Writer - Schools Short Story Competition

19th Time of the Writer

14 - 19 March 2016

Schools Short Story Competition

The 19th Time of the Writer hosted by the Centre for Creative Arts, University of KwaZulu-Natal invites South African high school learners to submit their short stories for the annual Schools Short Story Competition by Friday 26 February 2016.

Held in conjunction with the Time of the Writer Festival, the Schools Short Story Competition is open to all South African high school learners and aims to encourage creative expression in young people while functioning as a springboard for the future writers of South Africa. With the festival’s long standing commitment toward nurturing a culture of reading and writing, this competition has received a wide appeal that continues to grow with each edition of the festival.

Winners will be awarded cash prizes, book vouchers and complimentary tickets to the festival.

The Time of the Writer takes place from 14-19 March 2016. As one of the country’s longest running literature festivals, Time of the Writer brings together some of the best authors, publishers, and editors from around the world, while focusing on providing a platform to KwaZulu-Natal talent.  In addition to the nightly showcases at the various community based venues, the festival also organises a broad range of free daily activities including an educational and entertaining programme of workshops, reading sessions and panel discussions. This includes engagement with teachers, on the implementation of literature in the classroom and with members of the public interested in literature as well as visits to schools by the festival participants.

For more information on the festival or the competition, go to www.cca/ukzn.ac.za or contact the Centre for Creative Arts on 031 260 2506/1816 or email:  schools@cca-ukzn.co.za

 

Terms and Conditions

·       The competition is open to all South African high school students.

·       There is no particular topic for the short stories.

·       The short stories can be written in English or isiZulu.

·       Illegible entries will not be considered (Typed entries preferred).

·       Short stories are to be a maximum of 5 pages in length.

·       Deadline for submissions is 26 February 2016. (16:00)

 

How to Enter

Entries can be submitted by one of the following methods:

Email: schools@cca-ukzn.co.za

Fax: 031 260 3074

Hand Delivery: Centre for Creative Arts, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College Campus, Mazisi Kunene Avenue, Durban, 4041, South Africa

 

All entries must include:

·       Name of School (Contact and physical address)

·       Name of submitter (Grade, age and contact details)

·       Ensure that all pages are numbered.

 

Organised by the Centre for Creative Arts(University KwaZulu-Natal), the 19th Time of the Writer is supported by the City of Durban, the French Institute of South Africa and Alliance Française, the KZN Department of Arts and Culture and the National Department of Arts and Culture and the Goethe-Institut. The Centre for Creative Arts is housed in the College of Humanities at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and is a special project of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Cheryl Potgieter.

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CAPTION:

Last year’s schools’ short story competition winners.

 

SPAR donates R1.9 milion make-over to CANSA's Mkhuhla Care Home

Media Release

SPAR donates R1.9 million make-over to CANSA’s Mkhuhla Care Home 

This week, SPAR and friends officially opened CANSA’s re-vamped Mkhuhla Care Home in Umbilo, Durban, which was given a R1.9 million make-over.

This revamp followed the passing of Liz Hook, the wife of SPAR Group Director, Wayne Hook.  The SPAR KZN DC, with Wayne’s consent, dedicated a day of their Golf Tour to Liz’s memory and to raise funds in aid of cancer.  The funds raised on the day amounted to R11000 on one of the holes which the SPAR team agreed was insufficient and launched an impromptu  telethon on the verandah of the golf club contacting suppliers and SPAR owners alike and managed to raise R1 000 000 in an hour of serious cajoling.  MD of SPAR, Rob Philipson then contacted Wayne to advise him of the sum raised and Wayne in turn undertook to find a worthy Cancer cause to assist.

Wayne Hook and his 3 children, whose late mother and wife underwent cancer treatment, was looking for an opportunity to help support others in similar situations, and was advised that the CANSA Mkhuhla Care Home had been offering an excellent service to the public and was a worthy cause to support. . He and his family, on visiting the facility, were impressed with the care the home and Care Clinic provides for people who come to Durban for Cancer treatment but have no where to stay during this time.  The thumbs up was given and the 3 month project commenced.

With a team of motivated and dedicated SPAR staff, some professional support provided by contractors, the home now has been given a bright new look with new furniture, furnishings, and décor, but also much needed repairs and maintenance were also carried out.

“The home which was established in 1975 ensures a warm and welcome stay for our patients and their care-givers in well equipped, comfortable bedrooms with access to a secure garden setting or a communal lounge.” says Cara Noble, Divisional Manager Service Delivery KZN of CANSA. “We also provide three meals a day for the 29 people in our care on a daily basis. Our funds and time is spent primarily on caring for the people here whilst they undergo treatment, and with funds always being a challenge, things like furniture and furnishing and even maintenance have to take a back seat. It is overwhelming that SPAR and their suppliers and staff and retailers and many other friends of theirs have all gathered together to raise money and give so much of their personal time to revamp our Care home and offices. We are so proud of the finished product!”

At the handing over ceremony, Rob Philipson, said “We managed to raised R1 million in cash from various sources at our Golf Day , which was great, but the actual value achieved was over R1.9 million after we had managed to “squeeze” our SPAR friends even more as they saw the benefit of the home and the need for the revamp”

Philipson also handed over the keys to a CANSA branded Mercedes Vito to Cara Noble in addition to the refurbishment, a much needed upgrade to their current fleet, to be able to transport patients to the various treatment centres in Durban. Plus, he announced that SPAR has further pledged R20000 per month for twelve months for the home to purchase groceries at the local Queensmead SUPERSPAR.

“Liz would be very proud of all the effort that has been put into this make-over.” said Hook. “Our family would like to thank SPAR and everyone involved in this project for honouring her memory in this way.”

For more information about CANSA and Mkhuhla Care Home go to www.cansa.org.za/cansa-mkhuhla-care-home/ and like the Facebook page CANSA Durban. Anyone in need of counselling, screenings, a wig or any support during their journey with cancer, or would like to join a support group or need guidance as a caregiver contact CANSA on 031 205 9525 or email Vanitha Naidoo on vnaidoo@cansa.org.za.

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DIFF 2016: Call for Submissions

Media Release

DIFF 2016: Call for Submissions

The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) invites filmmakers from across the world to submit their Short-, Documentary- or Feature Fiction films to screen in the festival from the 16 to 26 June 2016. The 37th edition of the festival is organized with key partnerships with the Durban Film Office, eThekwini Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission, National Film and Video Foundation and other valued funders and partners.

With screenings of cutting-edge cinema from around the world, containing as always a special focus on both South African and African films, the festival exhibits films in a range of diverse venues in and around the city of Durban. DIFF is the premiere platform for the launch of African films and a key gateway to the African film industry. The festival also includes an annual local and international awards component.

Only films completed in 2014, 2015 and 2016 will be considered, and there is no charge for entry. Submissions will be accepted via an ONLINE SCREENER. All submissions must be entered via the DIFF Visitor Page online at vp.eventival.eu/cca/diff2016 . In order to submit a film, an account needs to be created if this has not already been done in previous years. The deadline for all entries (short films, documentaries and feature fiction films), including delivery of screeners, is 29 February 2016. 

This year’s festival will feature a focus on the important issue of HIV and Aids within film; DIFF invites filmmakers with films on this subject to submit for consideration in this category.

Each edition of the festival features an extensive Industry Programme with seminars and workshops comprised of both local and international filmmakers and industry professionals. The programme is made up of the 9th Talents Durban (17 to 21 June 2016), presented in co-operation with Berlinale Talents, and the 7th Durban FilmMart (17 to 20 June 2016), presented in partnership with the Durban Film Office, as well as various other streams of programming.

For more information check out the festival Submission FAQs or visit: www.durbanfilmfest.co.za or email diff@ukzn.ac.za.

Follow the festival on Twitter (@DIFFest) and on Facebook.

Enquiries can be dircted to Mitchell Harper on Tel: (+27) 0312601650 or email: harpercca@gmail.com

The festival is hosted by the Centre for Creative Arts, University of KwaZulu-Natal and is supported by the KwaZulu–Natal Film Commission, EThekwini Municipality, the National Film and Video Foundation, the German Embassy, Goethe Institut, the Gauteng Film Commission and the Film and Publication Board.

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