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Realness/Netflix Development Executive Traineeship extended to 7 March 2021.

Development Executive Traineeship – The Second Partnership Between Netflix And The Realness Institute

 

The deadline for submissions for the Realness/Netflix Development Executive Traineeship (DET) has been extended to 7 March 2021.

 

The DET is the Realness Institute’s latest initiative, presented in partnership with Netflix, with the Episodic Lab offering the 6 selected trainees a monthly stipend of U$ 2,000.00 for three months to fully immerse themselves in the experience, accompanying the development of 6  potential Netflix African Original series.

 

The purpose of this traineeship is to foster this integral role and expand this expertise across the continent. Creative development is a skill that broadens opportunities for film professionals to work with national film bodies, film commissions, funders, story consultants and critics.

 

The programme was piloted in 2020 in conjunction with the Realness African Screenwriters’ Residency. Producers, Cait Pansegrouw and Ayanda Halimana were part of a group that shadowed the Story Consultants, Selina Ukwuoma and Mmabatho Kau, and contributed to story discussions and one to one sessions with writers. They also had sessions together without the writers, to debrief on the different creative processes and approaches in order to carve a way forward in the development of each project in the residency.

 

“It was refreshing to be exposed to different methods of assisting storytellers to find solutions to some problems in their development process. I particularly enjoyed that we were not only exposed to the usual stories told in the country but to have access to filmmakers from other contexts and countries.” - Ayanda Halimana, Script Consultant and DET pilot programme participant.

 

“As a creative producer who is passionate about working closely with writer-directors, it was really meaningful for me to actively track the development journeys of various projects, engage with several creatives at once and be able to share perspectives and techniques with my peers. I left the experience feeling even stronger in my ability to champion the development of my slate.” - Cait Pansegrouw, Producer and Head of Artistic Operations, Urucu Media and DET pilot programme participant.

 

“The deadline for the Episodic Lab closed with a total of 425 submissions from the three participating countries, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa,” says Asanda Biyana, Project Manager of the Lab.  “The volume and quality of these submissions show that there is a wealth of African stories needing to be told. Story development is a vital part of bringing these films to life. “

 

DET is now open to film professionals from ALL African countries with experience in story development, including but not limited to story/ script consultants, creative producers, commissioning editors or working for a funding body.

 

For more information and to apply, visit realness.institute/det

 

All enquiries can be sent to submissions@realness.institute

 

 

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Realness Institute & Netflix Launch Development Executive Traineeship 

Realness Institute and Netflix  Extend Episodic Lab Entry Deadline and Launch New  Development Executive Traineeship 


Realness Institute’s newest program, Episodic Lab, created in partnership with Netflix, has received an overwhelmingly positive response from members of the industry online and offline. The deadline has thus been extended. submissions. Online submissions will now close upon receiving 150 additional applications or on the 8 February 2021, whichever comes first. 


The Episodic Lab offers African writers from South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria the opportunity to nurture their concepts into the series format, receive feedback and pitch them with the possibility of further production with Netflix. 


As part of the partnership, Realness Institute and Netflix will also run a Development Executive Traineeship (DET). While the Episodic Lab is open to applicants from Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, the DET will be open to applicants from across Africa and the Diaspora. It is aimed at film professionals with an interest of being trained as story consultants or to gain insight into the story development process, working with writers and directors in the development of their stories. 


“Development is a crucial part of the creative process in storytelling. At Netflix, we’re fully committed to partnering with organisations like Realness Institute to achieve our goal of ensuring Africa’s creative professionals are equipped with all the skills necessary to deliver the quality best-in-class stories from our continent,”  - Dorothy Ghettuba, Netflix Manager for African Originals.


Trainees will shadow and work alongside the creative producers and creative consultants as they run the Episodic Lab and be active contributors in the writers’ rooms. They will also engage with guest experts in story development and have separate sessions from the group of writers. 


“The biggest strength of this initiative is the living breathing journey they will embark on. Different writers work in different ways and trainees will have the opportunity to witness and learn from this with projects in active development” - Elias Ribeiro, co-Founder and Head of Creative Studies. 


“No one is thinking about training development executives in Africa yet these executives are critical for increasing the quality and volume of production in local markets. So this program is filling an incredibly important gap in the local media ecosystem.” – Mehret Mandefro, Director of Development and Partnerships 


Trainees will receive a stipend of $2000 a month for the three months, to be able to dedicate their full time to the programme. DET will take place at the same time as the Episodic Lab from 1 June until 31 August 2021.


To qualify for the Development Executive Traineeship, you will need: 

●      Development experience, as a story consultant, creative producer, commissioning editor, reader for a funding body, or a writer interested in becoming a consultant (either in Film or television)

●      Open to holders of an African passport. 


Apply online at realness.institute/DET

-       1 paragraph bio (max. 200 words)

-       CV

-       Note of Motivation - How your work would benefit from participating in this program and how your personality would fit with working with writers (max. 500 words)

-       Max. 2 professional recommendations 

-       List of projects that you have worked on as a development consultant (if applicable)

-       Proof of payment for 30 Euro Application Fee (R550 Wire Transfer fee for South African applicants)


Applications to DET will close on the 28 February 2021, Midnight SAST


 ‘Mission Accomplished’ for the Mzansi Edge Expedition

During these dark days of Covid, an expedition of hope to embrace the outline of South Africa and help those in need.

With adventures and exploits reminiscent of Jules Verne’s 1872 novel ‘Around the world in 80 days’, the Kingsley Holgate explorer team have completed the Mzansi Edge Expedition travelling in new Land Rover Defenders, by mountain bike and even on foot, on a marathon humanitarian mission that delivered over 250,000 nutritional meals to needy families still affected by the Covid-19 lockdown and clocking up more than 16,000 kilometres in 80 days.

Starting at Kosi Bay mouth in northern KwaZulu-Natal in mid-September with the filling of the Holgate’s traditional Zulu calabash that travels on every humanitarian and geographic journey, the expedition achieved the extraordinary feat of tracking South Africa’s total land borders with Mozambique, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia, circumnavigating land-locked Lesotho, and following the entire length of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean coastlines from Alexander Bay in the Northern Cape back to Kosi Bay. 

The expedition ended at Kosi Bay - where it all began 80 days earlier.

The expedition ended at Kosi Bay - where it all began 80 days earlier.

Geographic objectives of the expedition included staying as close to the land borders as possible and reaching South Africa’s most eastern, northern, western and southern geographic points. The team also erected symbolic ‘isivivanes’ (stone cairns) at the six points where South Africa’s border meets two other countries and collected thimblefuls of water from 50 important water sources on Mzansi’s Edge in the Zulu calabash. Staying true to the coastal edge of the expedition’s route, they also reached 50 lighthouses along South Africa’s shoreline.

“This expedition turned out to be one of the most exceptional journeys I’ve ever undertaken without leaving my home country,” said the world-renowned explorer and author Kingsley Holgate, who with his team has completed over 30 geographic and humanitarian expeditions in Africa and beyond, many of them world-firsts. “Every day was a new adventure, and we were constantly amazed at the spectacular beauty, geographic diversity and rich history to be found all along South Africa’s borders and coastline, as well as the kindness and hospitality of people who ‘live on the edge’ of our magnificent country, and who fully embraced the expedition’s mission and pushed us along.”

The challenging route was also the first long-distance test for the recently launched Land Rover Defender on South African soil, with Kingsley and his son Ross Holgate putting two expedition-kitted new Defenders through their paces over some of the most difficult conditions on the continent. This included following the entire length of the Kruger National Park’s fence line with Mozambique; tracking the 500-kilometre straight-edge border with Namibia from Union’s End in the north of the Kalagadi Transfrontier Park to the Orange River; steep ascents and descents along the Lubombo and Makhonjwa mountain ranges and the high-altitude Drakensberg border with Lesotho; and navigating the precipitous cliffs of the Wild Coast.

“As a family, we have had the incredible opportunity to have adventured in every country in Africa but we never expected this homegrown Mzansi Edge expedition to throw so much at man and machine,” said expedition leader Ross Holgate. “Following a fence line day after day and week after week, is not easy. The road conditions were a complete mishmash: deep sand ruts, sharp jagged rocks, high Kalahari dunes, overgrown tracks and wash-aways were part of our everyday journey. We also experienced intense heat up to 50 degrees Celsius and days of endless mud and torrential rain.” 

At the Kruger National Park Mozambique border

At the Kruger National Park Mozambique border

Joining the adventurous father and son duo were Kingsley’s partner Sheelagh, Ross’s wife Anna, Kingsley’s 19-year-old grandson Tristan who is learning the ‘expedition ropes’, and expedition veteran ‘Shova Mike’ Nixon, one of only four people in the world to have completed every Absa Cape Epic, said to be the toughest mountain bike race in the world. He cycled over 4,500-kilometres of the Mzansi Edge expedition route, including a gruelling, solo 300-kilometre journey along the beaches and cliffs of the Wild Coast from Cintsa to Port St Johns. Other South African adventurers who joined the expedition for short spells included Project Rhino ambassador Richard Mabanga and mountaineers Andre Bredenkamp and Sibusiso Vilane, the first African to successfully summit Mt Everest.

Staying so close to South Africa’s borders created some interesting moments for the team. “With travel bans still in place, some of the fence lines were heavily guarded by the SADF and we had to get permission from the top military brass beforehand,” recalled Ross. “They were always supportive of the expedition’s mission, but sometimes the message wouldn’t get all the way down the line and we’d have to do some fast talking.  On one occasion, Shova Mike on his mountain bike was nearly shot when he crested a hill ahead of the Defender team and surprised a patrol unit on the lookout for border jumpers and vehicle smugglers.”

The expedition witnessed the illegal cross-border trade, particularly along the Limpopo border with Zimbabwe, where innumerable holes in the fence, well-worn tracks and a busy bush-taxi service showed it was alive and kicking. They also saw first-hand the devastation that Covid-closed border posts have wrought on local communities who rely heavily on tourism and the continent-wide trucking industry. 

“It was disturbing to see border posts like ghost towns,” said Kingsley. “No business at all – from the empty shisanyama and fruit stalls lining the road, to short-stay motels and upmarket game lodges – everything closed. The loss of income must be terrifying; it really brought home the severity of the Covid-19 lockdown and how people in these outlying areas are still struggling to put food on the table.”

“Building on our motto of using our adventures to improve and save lives, this expedition wasn’t just a geographic mission – it also had a strong humanitarian focus,” explained Ross. “Supported by Land Rover, the DoMore Foundation and our partners at Goodbye Malaria and Project Rhino, we were able to distribute well over 250,000 meals-worth of vitamin-enriched DoMore nutritional porridge, as well as thousands of facemasks, sanitizing soap and digital thermometers to early childhood development centres, orphanages and needy families all along the route, especially to those living close to game reserves who have been particularly hard-hit by the loss of tourism. It was a mammoth team effort, and we were amazed at the inner strength of so many South Africans, who seem more determined than ever to improve the lives of others during these difficult Covid times.”

SA Adventurer Sibusiso Vilane helping with humanitarian work near Songimvelo NR on Eswatini border

SA Adventurer Sibusiso Vilane helping with humanitarian work near Songimvelo NR on Eswatini border

On the final dash from Durban Harbour to Kosi Bay, the expedition’s well-travelled Zulu calabash was borne up the coast on the National Sea Rescue Institute’s state-of-the-art ‘Alick Rennie’ vessel to Umhlanga Rocks and then flown by microlight from Ballito to the Tugela River mouth. Reuniting with the Defender convoy, it journeyed up the KwaZulu-Natal north coast, still collecting water from key river mouths and lakes in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. To mark the end of its Mzansi Edge odyssey, expedition members then carried it on a 14-kilometre beach trek from Bhanga Nek to Kosi Bay Mouth, where it was symbolically emptied at the exact point where the expedition started from 80 days previously, in a jubilant end-of-expedition ceremony. 

The expedition’s Scroll of Peace and Goodwill is full of inspirational messages from hundreds of remarkable people we met all along Mzansi’s Edge,” said Kingsley. “Especially in these difficult times, it’s been good to be reminded of the unique diversity of nature, culture and community that make up our country. Wherever possible, let’s get out there and enjoy the incredible adventure destinations South Africa has to offer, staying Covid-safe of course.”

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Shabnam Palesa Mohamed reviews Mogul Mowgli - directed by Bassam Tariq, starring Riz Ahmed (European Film Fest SA)

MOGUL MOWGLI- reviewed by Shabnam Palesa Mohamed

(12 November - 22 November - online and free at European Film festival SA)

Making a film that has both art and commercial appeal is a stand-up and applaud feat. In fact, if I wasn’t watching this film from the comfort of my home, I might stand up in the cinema, and slow clap.

Riz Ahmed in Mogul Mowgli

Riz Ahmed in Mogul Mowgli

Mogul Mowgli nails this Holy Grail appeal with authentic, out-the-box imagination. It’s a film about Zaheer Anwar – a British-Pakistani rap artist whose slam poetry speaks to being a POC, identity, the challenges of immigration, assimilation, and love - certainly some of the best rap lyrics written for screen. I was reminded of Eminem film, 8 Mile. Except this time, I could relate to the character better.

Anwar’s mother adores him, but it is his loving father who is his champion. On a trip home to visit his doting parents, who he hasn’t seen in two years, there are relatable scenes where he is called a “coconut” for changing his name from Zaheer to Zed. Just one week before he goes on a dream rap tour to Europe, Anwar increasingly loses feeling in his legs, gets into a scuffle with a fan, and collapses outside a mosque that he hasn’t been to, in years. There’s also an amusingly ridiculous debate scene involving a marijuana joint that Muslims and non-Muslims may understand. You decide who is right!

Still from Mogul Mowgli

Still from Mogul Mowgli

His hospital chapter is fascinating. From discussions about chilli rituals to ward off nazr or the “evil eye” that made him sick, to his father arranging traditional cupping (hijama) treatment to heal his legs. But the scenes that stand out - because we are never told who he is - are Anwar’s hallucinations of a mysterious man with a flower veil who bizarrely stalks him.  As a child, Anwar saw this man at a Qawaali (Sufi style singing) event at his father’s modest restaurant. These scenes are interspersed with surreal, almost time travel-like scenes of Anwar on a train his father fled in after the British colonial partition of India. Because of this pain, Anwar seeks POC unity with African-American rappers.

It turns out Anwar has a hereditary auto-immune disease, which he is angry at his father for not telling him about. Meanwhile, his father does everything, from bathing him, to pray for him. His manager becomes stressed about the rap tour and brings in a replacement, a typical “Gucci gang” mumble rapper, who Anwar despises for polluting the art of conscious lyrics. Anwar is forced to sell one of his songs to the third eye tattooed fan, almost as painful for him as his mom working at a grocery store.

Riz Ahmed

Riz Ahmed

Bismillah, Anwar has a biopsy. He is told his disease is degenerative and chronic. There is an experimental treatment, but it comes with chemo-like side effects and possible infertility. He is advised to save his sperm before the infusion treatment. His ex-girlfriend Bina phones just as he awkwardly stares at the ‘material’ intended to motivate him to release sperm - to be frozen just in case he wants kids. Bina doesn’t want to get back together; Anwar’s career has always been a priority.

Nelson Mandela makes an appearance, well, his name anyway. RPK the sex lyrics rapper says “Without apartheid, there would be no Mandela. Without you, there would be no me”. Ahmed’s acting is so brilliant, I could sense him wanting to mentally vomit. Gaunt and weak, there is a heart-breaking scene where Anwar, on the floor, has his stressed, arguing parents removed from his hospital room. Having recovered from a rare form of leukaemia myself, I could relate to his anguish, and his parent’s grief.

The closing scene, of his traditional father rapping with him as he sits on the toilet, is probably my favourite. But it’s the last shot that lingers in my mind. He looks towards the camera, and his expression changes. Did he see the veiled man again? Was it him or his father hiding on that train? Who was laying on the floor in the hospital? What was on his face after his seizure? The EUFF organisers chose the perfect film to whet my appetite to watch the other eleven! Bravo to the writers Riz Ahmed and Bassam Tariq. Does Zed recover? You will have to watch, and like me, will him to walk.

Catch this and 11 other films at the European Film Festival (12-22 November - online - click on this link to book - https://films.eurofilmfest.co.za/

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Shabnam Palesa Mohamed is an award-winning activist, author, poet, radio journalist, and former documentary filmmaker. She manages the Centre for Fine Art, Animation and Design in Durban.

Shabnam Palesa Mohamed

Shabnam Palesa Mohamed

Durban holiday fun? Try eNanda Adventure Park!

Durban: It has been a long tough grind for those in the tourism industry hard hit by the COVID-19 regulations and travel bans. So it is not surprising that one small exquisite spot in Durban has begun to capture the imagination of local tourists, and things appear to be on the rise. 

 

Nestled in a far corner of the expansive Inanda Dam is the Green Corridors eNanda Adventure Park – a 30-minute drive from central Durban, and an ideal spot to enjoy now that holidays are upon us. This is one of the many “green spaces” managed by this NPO, which has as its vision for people and nature to connect and thrive together.  And an ideal spot to enjoy

GC Aerial view of Inanda Dam with park in the bottom right corner 48017432372_bcaefd8c12_o.jpg

 

This particular spot, with secure parking, is easily accessed via the M25, which runs east to west from the N2. The park boasts a picturesque picnic site on the dam for day-trippers, with accommodation in either rustic cabins, glamping-style tented camp, or in the Ezweni Lodge self-catering establishment set up on the hill overlooking the park. There are many exciting activities to choose from with trained and experienced local guides, including hiking and MTB trails, canoeing, and birding-watching. There is also a fast-action bike pump-track for the die-hard cyclists wanting to test their mettle on a world-class developed tarred circuit. There is something for the whole family here.

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The Inanda Adventure Park is managed by businessman and owner of Ezweni Lodge, Futhi Sibiya, who says he has been “surprised at how local tourists have been discovering the beauty of their back yards.”

 

“The Green Corridors ethos is to act as an enabler for people to work within green spaces, and this goes hand in hand with the development of local skills and businesses which key to the community’s well-being,” says Sibiya. 

 

Recently Sibiya has introduced a small craft market, which operates every Saturday from 8am to 2pm, where one can get takkies/ sneakers washed, buy locally made jewellery, clothes, and food, and even get a back massage.

DSC_0188.jpg

 

Seeing a gap in the corporate market for authentic adventure team building in nature, Sibiya has introduced several packages in which companies and organisations can spend a day in a beautiful rural setting, learning team-work skills and bond, with everything from catering to the programme included.

 

‘We have seen an incredible increase in local visitors booking hikes and enjoying the park, much more than in the past. I think people have become tired of being locked away in their homes. This is great news for us - the more people that visit this community, the more the local economy in this rural heartland will benefit.”

 

There is a nominal fee of R30 for day visit to the site which is falls away when guests pay for any of the other activities in the park. Hikes, trails, and canoeing also attract a nominal fee. There is no bike hire, so bring your own bike, and helmets must be worn. All Covid-19 protocols are adhered to. 

 

For more information go to https://durbangreencorridor.co.za/ or to book contact 031-3226062 or 073 189 6780.

 

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European Film Festival 2020 Goes Virtual - 12-22 Nov

European Film Festival 2020 Goes Virtual - 12-22 November 2020

This year’s European Film Festival goes virtual with an excellent line-up of twelve brand new films, all of which are premiere screenings in South Africa. Of these eleven films are screened free of charge and one will collect a fee towards a worthy cause.  

Emphasising her support for the festival’s continuity despite the challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic, EU Ambassador to South Africa, Dr Riina Kionka, said: “Twelve films in eleven days shows the determination of this European partnership to overcome difficult circumstances. Since my arrival in South Africa this is my second European Film Festival:  I can tell you that it is a cultural highlight not to be missed. In addition, I invite you to participate in the various special events lined up during the Festival!”  

Old Worlds and New 

Invoking a moment of reflection, and the opportunity to reset our attitude to the world and our 2020 circumstances, this year’s 7th edition of the European Film Festival, is about Then and Now, with the films inscribing an arc from Old Worlds to New. 

Narcissist and Goldmund

Narcissist and Goldmund

Starting in the Middle Ages, this year’s Austrian film is based on the story of Narcissus and Goldmund, written by Nobel-prize winning author Hermann Hesse, and directed here by Oscar-winning Stefan Ruzowitzky (The Counterfeiters). It examines the powerful bond between two very different characters, amidst the dichotomy between religious monastic life and the passion and adventure of secular life. 

Moving forward a few hundred years, there are two reflections on wars of the 20th century.  

Homefront

Homefront

After World War 2, when most countries around the world were focused on recovery and rebuilding, the small country of  Lithuania remained in a war situation as locals resisted Soviet occupation for about another 15 years. Sharanas Bartas’s film In The Dusk dramatically takes us into that desperate time and place.  From the same era, but focused in a different part of Europe and Africa, Home Front is a Belgian film directed by Lucas Belvaux, where painful memories of the time of the French colonial war in Algeria explode into the present, opening up chapters of a toxic past which is still not fully spoken of today.

In the Dusk

In the Dusk

Marco Bellocchio's award-winning film The Traitor takes us into the 1980s when a whistleblowing  mafia boss-turned-informer triggers the largest prosecution of the Sicilian mafia in Italian history. A riveting insight into the operations of one of the world’s most notorious crime syndicates. 

The Traitor

The Traitor

The German film Curveball, directed by Johannes Naber, is a thriller that catapults viewers into the 21st century. In a sober warning about how terribly easy it is to slip into war, this is a fact-based story about how a lie regarding chemical weapons, sets in motion a chain of events that results in the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, forever changing the global political landscape.

Curveball

Curveball

On a much lighter note, the Spanish film directed by Bernabe Rico, One Careful Owner, tells how a woman buys a new home with a certain ‘inconvenience’, namely that the 80-year old current owner will remain living in it until she dies. The two very different women in this story will form an unlikely friendship filled with tenderness, emotion and much laughter. 

ONE CAREFUL OWNER photo1 re.jpg

Another film focusing on female relationships, and in this case a mother-daughter relationship, is the French film Proxima, by director Alice Winocour, about a French woman astronaut who is forced to consider her priorities of family versus career. 

Proxima 0Y1A4219 re.jpg

There are two stories of unique emancipation and self-discovery – the first is the Dutch film, Becoming Mona, directed by Sabine Lubbe Bakker and Niels van Koevorden,  in which we follow, from childhood through to adulthood, Mona’s struggle to break free from the stifling constraints of a life lived in service of other people’s egos.  

Becoming Mona

Becoming Mona

The UK film this year is Bassam Tariq’s Mogul Mowgli, starring Riz Ahmed as a rapper on the verge of a big international tour when he gets cut down with a severe illness, causing him to confront his Pakistani/English culture, and himself. 

Mogul Mowgli

Mogul Mowgli

The Polish film Sweat by director Magnus van Horn focuses on a fitness motivator who has become a social media celebrity and influencer - it’s about how she wrestles with the nature of her popularity and what loneliness and intimacy mean in her world, all highly pertinent issues in this modern digital era.

Sweat

Sweat

The festival also includes two powerful documentaries.   The Irish representative, The 8th, is about the highly emotive and divisive topic of abortion and women’s reproductive rights.  Here, three award-winning women directors, Aideen Kane, Lucy Kennedy, and Maeve O’Boyle, follow the grassroots activism of the campaign to repeal the 1983 8th amendment (which criminalised abortions) in a defining moment of Irish history. 

The 8th

The 8th

Finally, bringing us right up to date, is a film which focuses our attention on one of the greatest crises humanity has ever faced, climate change. Nathan Grossman’s deeply personal Swedish documentary I am Greta follows the teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg from her one-person school strike to her astonishing wind-powered voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to speak at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York City. 

I am Greta

I am Greta

 “These films give us much to think about, a common theme in all of them being Relationship,” says Peter Rorvik, curator of the festival. “The wide range of relationships deal with antagonism, dominance, and dependency; with competition and conflict; with cooperation, friendship, and love; with class, race, and culture.  It is also about relationship with ourselves, and with our environment, and the eco-systems of which we are a part. We cannot always control our circumstances, but how we manage these exchanges will mark our place in the world.  This selection will not just entertain, but contribute to our awareness of relationships, guide our actions, and inform our ongoing journey of discovery of the world and ourselves.”

Free Screenings

The 2020 edition of the European Film Festival is virtual and accessible online across South Africa only.  The film screenings are free, except for I am Greta, whose entry fee of R50 serves as a fundraiser for a climate action group who will be awarded screening proceeds after the festival.

Look out for the full programme of screenings and special events on https://www.eurofilmfest.co.za/

Bringing the best of European film to South Africa’s home screens, the European Film Festival 2020 is a partnership project of the Delegation of the European Union to South Africa and 12 other European embassies and cultural agencies in South Africa:  the Embassies of Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Wallonie-Bruxelles International, the French Institute in South Africa, the Goethe-Institut, the Italian Cultural Institute, and the British Council. The festival is organised in cooperation with CineEuropa and coordinated by Creative WorkZone. 

 

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Sharlene Versfeld

Versfeld & Associates

Public Relations and Communications

Email: sharlene@versfeld.co.za

Trailers:

Curveball: https://www.eurofilmfest.co.za/portfolio-items/curveball/?portfolioCats=52

Homefront: https://www.eurofilmfest.co.za/portfolio-items/home-front/?portfolioCats=52

I am Greta:https://www.eurofilmfest.co.za/portfolio-items/i-am-greta/?portfolioCats=52

In the Dusk: https://www.eurofilmfest.co.za/portfolio-items/in-the-dusk/?portfolioCats=52

Narcissus and Goldmund: https://www.eurofilmfest.co.za/portfolio-items/narcissus-and-goldmund/?portfolioCats=52

One Careful Owner https://www.eurofilmfest.co.za/portfolio-items/one-careful-owner/?portfolioCats=52

Proxima https://www.eurofilmfest.co.za/portfolio-items/proxima/?portfolioCats=52

Sweat https://www.eurofilmfest.co.za/portfolio-items/sweat/?portfolioCats=52

The 8th https://www.eurofilmfest.co.za/portfolio-items/the-8th/?portfolioCats=52

The Traitor https://www.eurofilmfest.co.za/portfolio-items/the-traitor/?portfolioCats=52

The Body Politics remembered during Women’s Month through Dance at JOMBA

Media Release

The Body Politics remembered during Women’s Month through Dance at JOMBA

 

South Africa honours and celebrates the role of women in society during this Women’s Month and on Women’s Day (9 August), in commemoration of the 1956 march of about 20,000 women to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to petition against the country's pass laws. In this remarkable show of solidarity, women gathered together in defiance to make change. 

 

“64 years later our annual JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, taking place in August, women’s social, economic, and political struggles, challenges, hopes, and joys, are exposed and expressed through their work and bodies,” says Lliane Loots, Artistic Director of JOMBA. “Dance is a visceral art form that gives space to a body politics and what better way to image defiant and powerful women than those dancing”. 

 

JOMBA! is especially pleased to feature some of Africa (and the world’s) most powerful female voices in dance and especially Senegal’s award-winning choreographer and dancer, Germaine Acogny, considered as the “mother of Contemporary African dance”. Her 2015 work Somewhere at the beginning will be streamed during the festival and is a remarkable solo featuring a 73-year-old Acogny dancing and narrating a journey of self-identity as black, female, and African.

 

Flatfoot Dance Company choreographer and dancer Jabu Siphika’s solo piece Ya kutosha, created for JOMBA, is an intimate and terrifying exploration of gender-based violence and what it means to be trapped in the home.

 

Twelve-year-old Lethiwe Zamantungwa Nzama teams up with her father Sifiso Kitsona Khumalo as she makes her professional debut in a piece called Walls, which is a deeply intimate exploration of a father-daughter relationship set against the separation imposed by COVID-19 and the lockdown.

 

Chicago, USA-based Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre, under the direction of Nicole Clarke-Springer will feature in Parallel Lives a dance narrative inspired by poor, working women who have shared life-changing events, both beautiful and tragic. Danced with robust power, this is a must-see of this year’s festival. 

 

From India Anita Ratnam, a highly respected as a performer, writer, speaker, arts entrepreneur, and culture mentor features in Stone ... once again that reveals the facets of gender through misrepresentation and misogyny. This work was made after Donald Trump’s election as USA president.  Ratnam’s main area of focus is in the re-interpretation of traditional tropes from myth and legend using a feminist lens.

 

Robin Orlin , a power-house dance-maker, known for her incisive wit and ability to confront issues head-on in the dance space, presents a work created for Johannesburg-based Moving into Dance Mophatong called Beauty remained for just a moment then returned gently to her starting position ...”

 

From New Orleans, Leslie Scott and BODYART Dance Company return to the JOMBA “stage” with several works, all of which show huge courage and bravery in pushing the boundaries of the dancer’s relationship with audiences.

 

Other women dance-makers on the programme include Kristi-Leigh Gresse, Leagan Peffer, Nomcebisi Moyikwa, Tegan Peacock, Zinhle Nzama presenting works on the opening night which have been commissioned by JOMBA.

 

Digital JOMBA will stream online from jomba.ukzn.ac.za from 25 August to 6 September 2020.

 

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Durban Girls' College Wins Durban Central Regional - 7 March 2020

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge

Durban Central Regional

Durban Girls’ College: Saturday 7 March

 

Maintaining their 100% record, Durban Girls College was crowned the Durban Central Regional winners of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge for the tenth time on Saturday 7 March.

 

College is the only team in the tournament to have a 100% appearance at the Grand Finals, which takes place later this year at St Mary’s DSG. College has an illustrious history in the ten years of the SPAR tournament notching up three golds, three silvers, a bronze and two fourths in their ten runs at the Grand Finals.

 

The victorious defending champs were made to work for their success in the regional final, meeting the lioness Durban Girls’ High School team. It was the second time the two teams met each other at the regional, with the first meeting going College’s way with only a solitary goal scored by Olivia Sharratt for the host school. Durban Girls’ High School’s defence stood solid only allowing 2 goals in with a barrage of attempts. Led by Girls’ High’s keeper, Nkazi Cele who commanded her troops tirelessly from the back. The first was on a back-to-back short corner, with the clock ticking past 2 and a half minutes played. The first short corner was awarded, with a heroic charge down by Girls’ High giving College another shortie attempt. The ball got pushed to the castle and Jenna Stichelbout’s shot deflected twice before slotting neatly into the goals.

 

Their second goal went in near mid-time. Livewire, Bulelwa ‘BB’ Mzimela pierced Girls’ High School’s circle and quickly passed the ball to a perfectly placed Amanda Holmes who easily tapped the ball across the line, giving her team a 2 nil advantage.

 

With endless surging into the DGHS circle, the visiting team managed to turn the game around and get into College’s circle as the clock ticked down with 2 and a half minutes remaining. The strong College back line didn’t allow the last minute breaks to amount to anything.

 

Leading up to the final College defeated St Henry’s. Early in the game, College earned a short corner and capitalized with a low flick finding the back of the box in the only goal in the first semi-final. In the second semi-final Girls’ High took on a determined Maris Stella. In a level pegged game, the score was nil nil. The game rolled into a penalty shoot-out, which Girls’ High secured in their third round. Scores remained unmoved for the first 5 attempts taken by both teams, but a determined run in by Tameka Pillay, followed by a quick release saw her shot fly into the net and earning an opportunity to dethrone Girls’ College.

 

In the bronze game between St Henry’s and Maris Stella. The game ping-ponged between the two 22s. The first time a team got into a circle, 7 minutes of play had ticked away. St Henry’s were the first team to take a crack at the goals after 12 minutes of play. A minute later Maris Stella had their first shot on the opposite end, with their chance being halted by a diving keeper.

 

With just over 3 minutes left, play was sent down the right with a number of crisp, sharp passes finding Sarah Proctor camped out mid-circle. Proctor calmly cashed in directing the pass neatly into the St Henry’s box scoring the game winning goal and securing third place for Maris Stella.

 

Umpire of the Day was awarded to the young Melissa Calitz from St Henry's.

 

College is the second team to secure a spot at the Grand Finals, first to earn a place are newcomers Hoerskool Pionier from Northern KZN. On Sunday Our Lady of Fatima from Durban North Regional were the third team to gain a berth at the Grand Finals that will take place at St Mary’s DSG in July.

ENDS

 

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge Northern KZN Regional Pionier High School: Saturday 29 February

SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge

Northern KZN Regional

Pionier High School: Saturday 29 February

 

Getting a jump on the hockey year, the tenth SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge gets underway with the first of its ten regionals taking place at Hoërskool Pionier on Saturday 29 February.

 

The Northern KZN Regional hosts eight first teams from its expansive outlying areas. The teams will be split into two pools, with the host school having a tough task taking on one-time winners, Sarel Cilliers who placed second overall last year; Dundee High School will hope to improve on their fourth from last year and Vryheid Landbou which makes a welcome return to this tournament,  in Pool B.

 

In Pool A, defending champs Ferrum High School hope to retain their dominance in this regional, with eight crownings out of nine regional tournaments. The tight outfit will meet St Dominics School who finished in third last year. Rounding off the teams in this pool are Vryheid High School and Newcastle High School.

 

Games lasting 20 minutes one way will take place on one field. A win in the pool games will earn a team 4 points, a draw with goals notches up 2 points, a goalless draw only 1 point and zero points for a loss. 

 

Tipping off the 100th overall tournament, defending champs Ferrum High School will match up against St Dominics School at 7.30am. Next to square off are Vryheid High School versus Newcastle High School. The third pool game will be the 2016 regional winners, Sarel Cilliers who take on Dundee High School. Pionier will meet Vryheid Landbou in their first match of the day.

After 12 games of action-packed skills, the tournament proceeds to a cross pool play-off. The positional games begins with the seventh and eighth play-off, rolling into the first semi-final at 13.25. Twenty minutes later the second team to earn a spot in the regional final will be revealed after the second semi-final. The fifth and sixth placed game will give the four top teams a breather before the penultimate third position game followed by the concluding regional final.

 

If scores are level in the semi-finals, third and fourth place game and the regional final, the game will be decided by a three players penalty shoot-out. 

 

The SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge heads to the coast for the Durban Central Regional hosted by Durban Girls’ College on Saturday 7 March followed by the Durban North Regional taking place at Ashton International College in Ballito on Sunday 8 March.

 

For more info like the tournament’s Facebook page or follow the tournament on Instagram.

 

Cape Town : Social Justice Documentary "Push" Special Screening and Discussion  at Tshisimani Centre for Activist Education in Mowbray, Cape Town during European Film Festival

Media Release

Social Justice Documentary "Push" Special Screening and Discussion 

at Tshisimani Centre for Activist Education in Mowbray, Cape Town during European Film Festival

CAPE TOWN: The social justice film Push by Swedish director Fredrik Gertten will have a special screening at the Tshisimani Centre for Activist Education in Mowbray, Cape Town, on Thursday, 5 December at 6pm.

The film is one of 12 award-winning films screening at Cinema Nouveau Theatres during the 6th European Film Festival, which runs in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town from 29 November to 8 December.

Gertten's documentary explores how the acquisition of urban property by financial institutions is becoming a global trend and making living in cities unaffordable. His previous documentary Jozi Gold precipitated great public interest during its showings at Encounters and the Durban International Film Festival earlier this year and his new offering Push is expected to generate new debate about the very topical housing challenges in this country.

Discussion featuring Leilani Farha, UN Special Rapporteur for Adequate Housing

The screening of the film at the Tshisimani Centre will be followed by a discussion led by Mandisa Shandu, the director of public interest law firm Ndifuna Ukwazi that specializes in urban housing rights.  Ndifuna Ukwazi is leading the campaign to stop the sale of the Tafelberg School in Sea Point, Cape Town, a case which reaches the courts during the last week of November.

Special participant in the discussion will be Leilani Farha, UN Special Rapporteur for Adequate Housing, who plays a central role in the documentary as she investigates the phenomena, which are literally pushing out people from inner cities around the world. Ms Farha will Zoom into the discussion from Toronto where she is based. 

In developing countries such as South Africa the massive housing challenges, the infringement of human rights and displacement of peoples are drawing increasing pushback from affected communities and activist groups working to open access to affordable, well-located land and housing.  This screening and discussion session aligns with Tshisimani’s focus on addressing and finding solutions to injustices faced by the poor and marginalised people of our society.

As Leilani Farha says: ‘‘I believe there’s a huge difference between housing as a commodity and gold as a commodity. Gold is not a human right, housing is.’

The screening and discussion is free and open to all at the Tshisimani Centre, Bertha House, 69 Main Road, Mowbray, Cape Town at 6pm on Thursday 5 December. Enquiries can be made on 021 685 3516.

See http://www.eurofilmfest.co.za/ for festival info, film synopses, trailers, screening schedules and ticket bookings!

The European Film Festival is a partnership project of the European Union’s Delegation to South Africa and twelve European Member State cultural agencies or embassies based in the country. They are: the General Representation of the Government of Flanders, the French Institute in South Africa, the Goethe-Institut, the Italian Cultural Institute, The British Council, and the Embassies of Austria, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. The project is organised in cooperation with Ster-Kinekor Cinema Nouveau and Cineuropa and is coordinated by Creative WorkZone.

 

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CLiP'S STOMP (Stamp Out Marine Plastics) Awards – Public Voting Has Started

Media Release

CLiP'S STOMP (Stamp Out Marine Plastics) Awards – Public Voting Has Started

Public voting has started for the inaugural Commonwealth Litter Programme's STOMP (Stamp Out Marine Plastic Pollution) Awards, which was initiated to discover and encourage innovations to reduce and eliminate marine plastic pollution.

Duncan Pritchard, Project Manager of Green Corridors, the Durban-based non-profit organisation tasked with managing the awards programme, reports that over 60 submissions have been made.

"We are pleased with the number of entries we have received in this first year of the awards," he says. "The entries have varied in terms of category, and in terms of the kinds of individuals and organisations making submissions. For us, that is a positive start, as we want to use the awards to inspire South Africans to finds solutions to the plastic crisis."

Entries have been made in five categories: technology or technical design, consumer products, youth and adult inspire through creativity and action and special recognition category for organizations and individuals doing great things to find solutions. "As expected we have had entries from Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban, but we have also seen a significant number of entries from the Eastern Cape, and inland areas."

"What is particularly interesting is the number of entries by young people, who are doing significant work in trying to find solutions to the plastic crisis. We have also seen some interesting tech innovations, giving us enormous hope that people are thinking of the future, and this certainly speaks to the overall vision of the awards."

Public voting is open until Friday 15 November, thereafter, a panel of judges will start their judging, with finalists announced on Friday 22 November.

Representatives of the final entries in the Technology or Technical Design and the Product Development categories will be hosted, and their innovations showcased at the CLIP Innovation Conference: STEM the tide of plastic waste in Africa in Cape Town on 4 and 5 December 2019. Other entries will also be showcased at this conference, which is co-hosted with the Sustainable Seas Trust.

CLIP is led by the United Kingdom through the Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), funded by the UK's Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

All voting takes place online. To view the entries go to https://www.stompawards.co.za/index.php/vote

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Caption to photo 1603 by Val Adamson:

Marine Environmentalist Aphiwe Notshaya (left) reveals to young eco-warriors, Shridhar Ramlagan, Matthew Jolley, Zoe Paige van Niekerk and Nhlamulo Khosa, how plastic nurdles, small plastic pellets, end up in the ocean and on the beaches affecting our marine life and the environment. With plastic  pollution in the oceans creating major environmental and health challenges, the STOMP Awards aims to encourage people to come up with creative  and innovative solutions to stem the flow of litter into the sea. Entries to the awards are open online at www.stompawards.co.za and close on 8 November. Winners will be announced at the CLIP Innovation Conference: STEM the tide of plastic waste in Africa in Cape Town on 4 and 5 December 2019.

Flatfoot Dance Company Presents “Stand By Me” With The Flatfoot Downie Dance Company

FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY presents “STAND BY ME” with the FLATFOOT DOWNIE DANCE COMPANY

 

The Flatfoot Dance Company presents its third annual integrated dance programme working with dancers with Down Syndrome titled Stand by Me at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre on Tuesday 12 November at 6.30pm.

 

This landmark once-off performance will feature the unique partnering of the professional Flatfoot dancers with the fondly-referred to “Flatfoot Downie Dance Company”. This unique dance programme is unprecedented in South Africa and is a celebration of the power of dance to shift lives and to negotiate difference and inclusivity.

 

Flatfoot celebrates its 16th anniversary this year and has - as one of its core values - the practice of dance (in education and in performance) as a tool towards what it calls “living democracy”. This dance programme celebrates community across the divides of race, gender and disability.

 

This programme began in August 2017 with the visit of Dutch choreographer Adriaan Luteijn of INTRODANS and his collaboration with Flatfoot. The company has continued this work over 2018 and 2019 and this performance is the culmination of this year-long programme.

 

“Stand By Me will not only move and delight audiences but will challenge the very core foundations of who we think can and should dance professionally,” says Lliane Loots Artistic Director fo Flatfoot. “This dance journey is about learning to stand next to our neighbours and acknowledging their humanity.”

 

Four Flatfoot dancers (Sifiso Khumalo, Siseko Duba, Jabu Siphika and Zinhle Nzama) partner up with their counterparts, Karl Hebbelman, Charles Phillips, Kevin Govender and Michaela Munro in a dance explosion that is an affirmation of faith, courage and the joy of dance.

 

Loots, who is the company’s award-winning choreographer, says “creating this work has been a journey into discovering community and into discovering what it means to engage a firm and loving assertion of self and identity. All nine of us in the rehearsal room have been forced to look inward and to find the spaces inside ourselves that embrace the true meaning of ubuntu, and I have been humbled every day by what these eight dancers bring to our process”. 

 

As two very special curtain-raisers for this evening, Flatfoot will also showcase work it has been doing in its unique 2019 “Junior ADD: Girls to Women” dance programme. In this programme 10 young girls between the ages of 11 and 14 years were identified from Flatfoot community dance programmes run in KwaMashu and Umlazi. “They have been working with the company every Saturday during 2019 for special technical dance skills training as we believe that these amazing girls are the next generation of Durban (and Flatfoot’s) dancers,” says Loots. “They will perform a work choreographed for them by Flatfoot’s Zinhle Nzama called Kivuli.”

 

The second work called Fire in Me! features four Flatfoot Junior Company members (Mthoko Mkhwanazi, Siseko Duba, Nondumiso Dube and Sbonga Ndlovu). This is an athletic and magical foot-stomping work created for them especially for this event by Flatfoot’s Sifiso Khumalo who continues to grow a technical style that combines his own African dance roots with contemporary technical training.

 

The season promises, as always, to be one of the highlights on Durban’s dance calendar and this once-off performance is being offered as a fundraiser to help support the Flatfoot Down Syndrome Dance programme for 2020.

 

Tickets are limited and cost R80 each. To pre-book contactflatfootdancecompany@gmail.com .

Pre-booked tickets can be collected at the Sneddon box office from 1 hr before the start of show on the 12 November.  This is cash payment only as no card facilities are available.

 -ends

Search is on for the next great 21st century science, technology and technical innovation that will help reduce and eliminate plastic waste

Search is on for the next great 21st century science, technology and technical innovation

that will help reduce and eliminate plastic waste in South Africa

 

The search is on for science, technology and technical innovations that will help reduce and eliminate plastic waste, and be the next great 21st century innovation that could change the world, as the UK-based Commonwealth Litter Programme (CLIP), introduces its STOMP (Stamp Out Marine Plastic Pollution) Awards in South Africa.

 

The awards, which are open to all South African residents, are grouped into four categories: Technology or Technical Design, Product Development, Inspire through Creativity, and Action. 

 

Finalists in the Technology or Technical Design category will present their ideas or projects at CLIP’s Innovation Conference co-hosted by the Sustainable Seas Trust, titled STEM the tide of plastic waste in Africa, in Cape Town in 4 and 5 December. The winner will also receive a trip to the UK in 2020, to attend the London CLIP Conference, along with winners from across the Commonwealth, where they will showcase their project. They will also receive further research and development mentoring and support from industry experts at South Africa’s  Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

 

With 90% of marine litter made up of plastics that originate from land and sea-based sources, it is one of the most widespread problems facing oceans, and key to coming up with solutions to this plastic pollution problem, are the science, technology and technical innovators. 

 

Speaking about their involvement in the awards Jerome Andrew, Senior Researcher and Project Manager at the CSIR said, “With the ever-increasing challenges around marine plastic that has a direct impact on the quality of life for the people of this country, and its marine life, we are very excited about the possibilities and potential of some ideas that may come through this initiative. It is our organisational objective to undertake directed, multidisciplinary research and technological innovation that contributes to the improved quality of life of South Africans. So we look forward to seeing the submissions and hopefully there will be one brilliant innovation that we can support in becoming a sustainable solution to the plastic problem.”

 

‘While we are encouraging people to enter into any category in the awards, we are particular interested from a long-term and sustainable point of view, in those studying, researching and working in the science, technology and technical sectors who are the thinkers and creators that are finding new ideas, inventions and innovations that cut across so many aspects of our 21st century lifestyles,” says Duncan Pritchard, from Green Corridors in Durban, the Project Manager of the Awards. “This a global problem and we are looking for those individuals or institutions in South Africa who may have the solutions the world needs. Wouldn’t that be awesome to have a South African innovation blaze the trail in stamping out marine pollution?”

 

 

All categories are important to a holistic approach to dealing with the plastic pollution problem and will be awarded and acknowledged. CLIP, however, recognizes that innovations in the technology or technical design category will be where the practical solutions will emanate. 

 

CLIP is led by the United Kingdom through the Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), funded by the UK’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), and has partnered with Green Corridors, a Durban based non-profit organisation to roll out the awards programme in South Africa.

 

For more information about all the categories and prizes or to enter go to www.stompawards.co.za. Entries close on 8 November after which there is a public voting period for one week until 15 November.

 

Kingsley  Holgate expedition team off on a ‘Vision Mission’ to the Zambezi Delta

Media Release

 Holgate expedition team off on a ‘Vision Mission’ to the Zambezi Delta

The Kingsley Holgate Foundation, in partnership with Doctors for Life and in celebration of the Land Rover Discovery’s 30-year anniversary, has  launched their biggest humanitarian expedition ever. Taking their Mashozi’s Rite to Sight programme to a different level, the team has set off for the wildly remote and malaria-infested Zambezi Delta to perform over 200 life-changing cataract operations, in a campaign called ‘Vision Mission’.

 

Just imagine hundreds of elderly people travelling long distances on foot, donkey and by dugout canoe; they have heard about the Foundation’s Rite to Sight work and the possible opportunity for better eye sight; a simple pair of spectacles could mean instant gratification and the gift of sight.  An old woman waits in the scorching African sun and finally it is her turn.  However, her hope turns to utter despair when she is turned away; her eyes are glazed over with cataracts and there is nothing the team can do to help – until now!

 

This is why the Kingsley Holgate crew has loaded up their expedition Land Rovers and have headed for Mozambique with their sturdy ‘Ma Robert’ inflatable pontoon boat in tow, to assist the non-profit Doctors For Life International (DFL) team conduct free-of-charge cataract operations in the Zambezi Delta, as part of DFL’s Aid to Africa programme.

 

According to the World Health Organisation, 246 million people are estimated to have low vision worldwide and about 90% of the world’s visually impaired live in developing countries.  Globally, uncorrected refractive errors are the main cause of visual impairment and just a simple pair of spectacles can help. 

 

In keeping with using adventure to improve lives, the Kingsley Holgate Foundation’s focus on poor eyesight was started more than a decade ago by Mashozi (Gill) Holgate.  “I remember the day clearly,” said Kingsley.  “We were on our 23° 27 Capricorn round-the-world-by-Land-Rover Expedition, in South America close to the Piranha River, in the company of a team of rangers.  They told us that they were about to evict an old man who had lived all his life in a local village because he was becoming a danger to himself and others – he’d nearly burned down his hut several times whilst trying to light his stove.  We went with them to the old man’s hut and sure enough, there he was, fumbling with a box of matches.  The problem was – he couldn’t see properly. 

 

“I don’t know what made Mashozi think of it, but she suddenly rummaged in her big expedition bag, brought out a pair of her own basic readers and popped them on the old man’s nose.  Miraculously, they were the perfect strength.  A look of complete surprise came over his face, followed by a big, toothy grin as for the first time in years, he could see clearly again.  There were claps and cheers from the rangers as the old man confidently struck the match, lit his stove and made us each a cup of coffee.  The rangers allowed him to stay in his home and that was the start of our Mashozi’s Rite to Sight programme, named in her honour.  Since then, it’s gone from strength to strength; after careful eye tests, we’ve distributed over 200,000 pairs of reading glasses to poor-sighted, mostly elderly people in remote areas all over Africa and beyond.  The instant gratitude from the recipients and the immediate difference it makes in their lives is heart-warming.”

 

DFL has performed 2500 eye surgeries over the past decade throughout Africa, helping to reverse blindness and dramatically change lives.  This Zambezi Delta Vision outreach is in response to a call for help to assist blind people in the Marromeu, Luabo and Chinde areas.  DFL and the Kingsley Holgate Foundation are transporting two mobile operating theatres to Marromeu on the banks of the Zambezi River, along with a team of volunteer doctors and nurses from South Africa and eSwatini, with the aim of conducting at least 200 cataract surgeries during August.

 

“We are incredibly honoured to be a part of this humanitarian mission,” said expedition leader Ross Holgate.  “We know the Zambezi River well and our role will be to provide ground support.  Using our three Land Rovers and the ‘Ma Robert’ boat, we’ll be criss-crossing the Zambezi Delta, conducting our normal malaria prevention and Mashozi Rite to Sight spectacle-distribution work, and at the same time, assessing patients that need more stringent, corrective eye surgery.  The DFL doctors will train our expedition team on what cataract symptoms to look for and we will transport patients and their family members by water and road to the operating theatres, and then return them home after their eye surgery. It’s going to be a lot of hard work in difficult conditions with tricky logistics; just the amount of expedition kit, including the bolt-together ‘Ma Robert’ boat and medical equipment that’s being transported 2,000 kilometres to the Delta is quite unbelievable.”

 

Also supporting this humanitarian effort is the non-profit Mercy Air group, which recently played a vital role in providing emergency air support after Cyclone Idai devastated central Mozambique, rescuing hundreds of victims and transporting tonnes of food, drinking water, medical supplies and personnel to flood-stricken communities.  For this Zambezi Delta mission, Mercy Air is providing a helicopter and aeroplane to transport cataract patients living in inaccessible villages to the operating theatres by air.

 

“The capabilities of our tried-and-tested Land Rover Discoverys and faithful old Defender 130 are really going to be needed,” continued Ross.  “These are the same vehicles that took us safely to Africa’s extreme easterly point in dangerous Somalia in 2017 and completed the 17,000-kilometre transcontinental Cape Town to Kathmandu expedition last year, making short work of below-freezing, high-altitude and snow-filled mountain passes.  Then in April this year, they delivered tonnes of malaria prevention supplies and clean drinking water to flooded communities near Gorongosa National Park that were badly affected by Cyclone Idai. 

 

“Now, with over 70,000 kilometres of rough expedition work already on the clock, they’re again going to be tackling some tough off-road conditions – sand, mud and many river crossings – to safely transport patients to DFL’s operating theatres.  It’s a great way to continue to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Land Rover Discovery and we’re looking forward to improving the quality of life for many people.”

 

Zambezi Vision Mission at a glance:

3 Expedition Land Rovers

2 Mercy Air aircraft

2 Doctors For Life mobile operating theatres

1 large, inflatable pontoon-type ‘Ma Robert’ boat and tender

22 personnel

10 tonnes of equipment

2,000Km of rough roads

230Km of coastline and 18,000Km² of swamps, floodplains and savannah in the Zambezi Delta.

200+ cataract operations

1,000 recipients of Mashozi’s Rite to Sight eye-testing and spectacle distribution

 For more information follow the expedition on Facebook Kingsley Holgate Foundation.

 

New Netball Challenge for Schoolgirls - thanks to SPAR

SPAR Schoolgirls’ Fast 5’s Netball Challenge

KwaZulu-Natal

 

Building on the highly successful hockey tournaments, SPAR KZN are proud to announce, in association with SchoolgirlSport (SGS), the exciting and brand new SPAR Schoolgirls’ Fast 5’s Netball Tournament that tips off this August.

 

The hockey tournament that got rolling in KZN nine years ago is now a popular highlight on the national schools sporting calendar. Complementing it, this netball challenge will begin with four tournaments this year in four regions, with the intention of twelve teams taking to the courts in each area.

 

Netting the first tournament, Amanzimtoti will be hosting at the Kuswag High School courts, which will have teams from around Durban on Saturday 3rd August, followed by Southcity Christian School in Margate hosting teams in the Southern KZN areas on Saturday 24th August. Empangeni High School will host Northern Coastal area on Saturday 31 August, and Voortrekker will host the final tournament with the Pietermaritzburg schools on Saturday 5th October.

 

The running of the programme will differ slightly from region to region, depending on the number of schools and if the hosts will run games in a round robin or pool game format. In the first tournament, Toti’s games will last an action packed 15 minutes each with the 11 teams playing a round robin, the match will have two 6 minute halves with a 2 minute break and 1 minute change over time allocation.

 

The coaches can give instructions from the sideline during play, and they have an unlimited allowance for substitutions. Ten players can represent each team, with coaches ensuring five players are constantly on the court – Goal Shooter (GS), Goal Attack (GA), Centre (C), Goal Defence (GD) and Goal Keeper (GK).

 

Schools participating in the inaugural tournament are Hillcrest High School, Kuswag High School, Amanzimtoti High School, Northlands Girls’ High School, Rossburgh High School, Durban North College, Durban Girls’ High School, Kingsway High School, KwaMakhutha High School, Gelofte High School and Ridgepark College.

 

This new tournament rides the crest of the wave of excitement around netball in SA as after the Proteas finished fourth in the 15th Netball World Cup after a sensational and thrilling world cup campaign. During the World Cup, the Mayor of Liverpool handed over the Netball Federation Flag to the upcoming host for the 2023 Netball World Cup, Cape Town.

 

Max Oliva, MD of SPAR KZN stated, “Signaling the start of an exciting journey for young netball players around South Africa, tournaments such as our SPAR Schoolgirls’ Fast 5’s Netball Tournament opens up a whole world of potential for so many talented, unearthed players from outlying areas that dream of wearing the green and gold.”

 

Director of SchoolGirlSport, Les Galloway enthused, “We are so looking forward to getting this tournament up-and-running, it has the opportunity to grow and make a real impact on our future netball stars. Who knows, young women participating in the inaugural Fast 5’s could be representing our country at the 2023 World Cup.”

 

For more info like the tournament’s Facebook page.

 

#SPARKZN #CenterPass #ThisIsNetball #MakeYourMove

 

ENDS

 

 

Elite Runners at this year's SPAR Women’s Challenge 10km / 5km - Durban 23 June 2019

SPAR Women’s Challenge 10km / 5km

Durban: Sunday 23 June

 

As thousands of women gear up to participate in the 30th SPAR Women’s Challenge 10km/5km, attention falls on the front runners who will be making great strides towards yet another quick pace in the hopes of an impressive pay out in this milestone event.

 

To celebrate 30 years on, SPAR will award the winner of this race R30,000, as well as the usual cash category prizes. Leading the charge is Helalia Johannes from Namibia, running in the colours of Nedbank.

 

Johannes has accumulated 60 points in the SPAR Grand Prix, including earning 10 bonus points in the two events leading up to the Durban race. She clocked an impressive 31.50 in the Port Elizabeth race and knocked off 5 seconds from her PE time to record a lightning quick 31.45 in the Cape Town race.

 

Colleen de Reuck’s impressive 19-year-old record, a time of 31:38 set in 2000, looks like it might be in jeopardy of falling with a fast international field expected. 11 runners crossed the finish line, all recording times under 34 minutes in the Cape Town SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge.

 

Donning the number two, Ethiopian junior Tadu Teshame is currently placed second overall on the Grand Prix log, sitting 3 points behind the Namibian, Johannes. This exciting runner is also part of the Nedbank team topping the log in the Junior category.

 

Well known South African middle-distance runners Kesa Molotsane (M&R FS) and Irvette van Zyl (Nedbank CG) are flying the flag. Molotsane is lying in third position on the Grand Prix log with 53 points and van Zyl in fourth with 50 points.

 

Local runner, Makhosi Mhlongo (Hollywood Bets) is the only Durbanite currently featuring on the Grand Prix leader board, sitting in joint 17 place with a tally of 9 points.

 

The main event gets underway this Sunday at 8am, followed by the 5km fun event setting off at 9.30am. Race Registration takes place at Hall 6 at the Durban Exhibition Centre on Thursday 20 June and Friday 21 June from 10am until 5pm, and on Saturday 22 June from 10am until 3pm. Manual registration is still open, until the 15,000 capped number is reached.

 

For more info visit www.sparwomensrace.co.za/durban or like the Facebook page.

 

ENDS