The fourth-year television students from the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University will host the10th RUTV Documentary Film Festival at the Rhodes University Theatre on Wednesday 14 October.
The fourth-year television students from the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University will host the10th RUTV Documentary Film Festival at the Rhodes University Theatre on Wednesday 14 October.
The event premieres three 24-minute documentaries produced by the TV class. These documentaries form a collective conversation about social issues in South Africa. There is a story about gangsterism in Cape Town and how this tears families apart, another dealing with xenophobia where African foreigners are discriminated against and attacked because of their nationality and a third that explores the evolving and strident issue of privilege at Rhodes University, the colonial name change and other transformation processes at the institution.
"Close to Home" Close to Home tells a story of a Cape Flats family through the eyes of ex-gangster Grant, his mother Sharon, and his sister Jill. Their memories are pieced together to tell the story of a family that has made it through a tough time. Although Grant became a drug dealer, left his family and ended up in jail, their three lives remain intertwined. We watch Grant, Sharon and Jill as they delve into the past and give an insight into what it’s like to grow up on the Cape Flats and try to regain positivity in their lives.
"Amakwerekwere"
South Africa’s cyclic dirty secret is xenophobia or Afrophobia. This is not a new phenomenon but is a growing issue that has festered nationally with periodic explosions bringing about horrific deaths, violence and frequent expulsions of those from migrant communities.‘Amakwerekwere’ is filmed on location in Port Elizabeth and uncovers the daily struggles foreigners face. We look at vulnerable lives through the eyes and perceptions of foreign nationals living in South Africa
. "#Rhodesowhite"
#RhodesSoWhite is a conversational narrative that explores the contrasting experiences of seven students within the institution. The issue of the Rhodes University name change of serves as a springboard for each character to reflect on their experience of privilege, whiteness and race within the institution. The film uses the seven voices to capture some of the differening opinions, value systems and clashing ideologies that are present within the campus microcosm. The Conversations mini-series is produced by award-winning independent filmmaker and documentary mentor, Catherine Winter, for the Rhodes School of Journalism and Media Studies.
(Tickets are available at The Africa Media Matrix (AMM) reception from d.moriarty@ru.ac.za For more information contact Paddy Donnelly, p.donnelly@ru.ac.za, 076 916 1166 or visit www.rutv2015.wordpress.com for press kit, trailers, production blogs and further information.
"Close to Home"
Gangsterism and drugs are issues that continue to plague people living on the Cape Flats of South Africa. The effect on the lives of inhabitants knows no bounds – whether they are directly involved or watch as it destroys the lives of their loved ones. Many children grow up in single parent households.
On the streets of Athlone, little boys grow up idolizing gangsters standing on street corners and jump at the chance to become one of them – a township celebrity. Grant Porthen was one of those boys.They long for the security of a family through ‘brotherhood’ but gain it at the expense of constantly staring death in the face.
At the age of 16, his mother kicked him out of the house in the hope that he would outgrow his bad behaviour, but he didn’t care about her. He only cared about himself and his growing drug empire. Grant endured prison, the wrath of the Numbers gang, and crystal meth addiction, but nothing stopped him. His mother eventually had to let him go. The grief of watching her only son destroy his life was simply too much to bear.
"Close to Home" tells a story of the strength of a family through the eyes of Grant, his mother – Sharon, and his sister – Jill. Each person’s memories of events and opinions of what happened help to piece together the story of a family that made it through a tough time. Though Grant left his family to become a gangster, the three of their lives remained intertwined, through distance and sorrow.
Take a walk with Grant, Sharon and Jill as they delve deep into the memories of the past and give you a taste of what it’s like to grow up on the Cape Flats. Character Biographies
Grant Porthen
Grant grew up in the suburb of Athlone on the Cape Flats of South Africa. His early years were troubled by the divorce of his parents and the lack of attention from his father. A lover of soccer from a young age, Grant played any chance he could get. When his teenage years hit, he started getting involved with the wrong crowds and trouble was never far behind him.
Soccer took a back seat to hanging out on the corner with his ‘crew’. Things quickly spiralled out of control and Grant got completely wrapped up in his life in the underworld. He served time in prison, had close contact with the Numbers gang, and ended up with nothing to his name due to crystal meth addiction.
That, however, is now long in the past. These days, instead of gangsters, he runs with Christians from the Jubilee Church, or ‘Jubilites’ as he fondly calls them. Grant and a team of Jubilites are working with youth in the Salt River area of Cape Town, helping to raise them out of the grip of gangsterism and drugs.
Sharon Porthen
Sharon is Grant’s mother. She is filled with an undying love for her two children. When Grant started getting into trouble in his teen years Sharon tried everything to help curb his behaviour, but nothing seemed to work. As Grant got more involved in gangsterism, Sharon watched as her son slipped through her fingers, straight into darkness.
After hearing he was going to prison, the pain overwhelmed her and she realised there was nothing left that she could do. She had to let go. Years later, Grant has turned his life around and Sharon has moved in with him and his wife, Steph. Sharon now needs her son’s help more than ever as she fights stage 4 cancer.
Sharon will continue to fight the cancer for as long as she can.
Jill Porthen
Jill is Grant’s younger sister. Growing up Grant was not involved in her life as he chose to leave his family in favour of a life of gangsterism and drugs. Jill was kept sheltered from this life by her mother Sharon, who kicked Grant out of the house at the age of 16 in an effort to protect her. Jill wishes growing up that she had had an older brother to guide her and protect her but Grant just wasn’t around to do this. When Grant decided to turn his life around they began to rebuild their relationship and make up for lost time.
Crew bios
Louise Fuller
I am an aspiring journalist with a love for editing and a need for adventure. I am half Kenyan and half English but I grew up in Botswana. Having family and friends on different sides of the world I had the opportunity to travel quite a bit which allowed me to develop a love for travel and a wish to become a travel journalist. My dream is to travel all over the world documenting different places and cultures and immersing myself in them.
Rhea MacDonald
I didn’t think I would end up a filmmaker. When I was little, I wanted to be a dentist. I am so glad that is not my reality today! Now I can’t imagine my life without filmmaking. It is my one true love – something I spend hours doing and never get sick of, something that I dream of, something that I crave. I hope my films can spread knowledge and help people to empathise with others who experience the world differently to them.
Laura Skippers
"Amakwerekwere"
1998, 2008 and 2015, South Africa’s dirty secret is exposed-Xenophobia. Xenophobia – termed by pan-Africanists as Afrophobia – is not a new phenomenon. It has been a growing issue within our society that has been festering, with periodic explosions that have led to many horrific deaths such as that of Mido Macia and Emmanuel Sithole.
The victims of these violent attacks are often targeted as scapegoats for the socio-economic inequalities faced by the black population South African. Thus, the violence manifests itself as black-on-black violence. As Andile Mngxitama once wrote, ‘whites are tourists, blacks are ‘makwerekwere’.
The attacks earlier in 2015 resulted in many South African migrants in other African countries, also being attacked. It meant South Africans having to face the reality that, indeed, xenophobia is an issue that South Africa needs to address. But why do black South Africans attack foreign nationals and why is there so much hatred directed at them? “Amakwerekwere” is a documentary that aims to uncover the daily struggles that foreigners face and to look at life through the eyes of different foreign nationals living in South Africa
. “They’re taking our jobs; corrupting our country”. These are just some of statements foreign nationals are all too familiar with. They hear these statements almost every day along with words such as “kwerekwere”. For some foreign nationals living in South Africa each day is a struggle. They are robbed, killed or denied basic services simply because they are not South Africans. "Amakwerekwere’ is a film that shares the stories of victims and survivors of xenophobia. It takes you on a journey where you see first-hand what it’s like, living in a foreign land.
Characters
Phillip Matabba is a Ugandan foreign national, who left his home in search of ‘greener pastures’ in the ‘Friendly City’ that is Port Elizabeth. His positive attitude and street smarts help him navigate his way through the hate crime directed towards him and his fellow international brothers. Alfred Munemo is a Zimbabwean tradesman who works in the tourist hub of Summerstrand in Port Elizabeth. Specialising in arts and crafts, Munemo's long stay in South Africa has enabled him to provide for his family back home in Zimbabwe. Abdi Hashi Farah is a Somalian refugee salesman, who recently celebrated the birth of his first baby. Farah left ‘the fire in Somalia’ in search of a better life for him and his, then pregnant, wife. Farah provides for his young family and his family back home. Mukhtar Maalin Noor is a Somalian refugee who owns a spaza shop with his brother in Port Elizabeth. Noor and his brother left Somalia out of fear of Al-Shabaab, and the ever raging political and social unrest in Somalia. Despite being constant victims of xenophobic related attacks, Noor continues to work hard to provide for his parents back home. Crew Director: Siyavuya Makubalo is a fourth year journalism at Rhodes University. She is an ambitious, bubbly individual, who one day aims to own her own media company. Her passion and strength lie in broadcast journalism. She is interested in media development and social injustice. Director of Photography: An aspiring cinematographer, Tebo Ramosili is currently in her final year at Rhodes University. Tebo’s career goals revolve around obtaining a master’s degree in filmmaking/cinematography internationally, in hopes of strengthening the South African film industry. Her passion for filming is evident in all of her work, particularly in this documentary.
#RHODESSOWHITE
#RhodesSoWhite explores systematic white privilege within Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. Students talk through the current controversies and share their ideas of transformation in this 24 min documentary. The production deepens the conversations around #BlackLivesMatter, #RhodesMustFall and #Luister, looking at the racial experiences of students on campus in a time of change.
Earlier this year, students at the University of Cape Town (UCT) decided to take transformation into their own hands by declaring that the statue of Cecil John Rhodes was an unwelcome reminder of the suffering inflicted by Rhodes’ vision. The controversy surrounding the removal of the statue opened up often raw debate around the need for tangible transformative actions within institutions.
Rhodes University students stood in solidarity with the #RhodesMustFall movement and overnight #RhodesSoWhite posters emerged all over campus. Students took to the SRC page and various social media platforms to express their experiences of injustice and racism within the institution. #RhodesSoWhite is a conversational narrative that explores the experiences of seven students within the institution.
The topical issue of the name change of the university served as a springboard for each character to reflect on their experience of privilege, whiteness and race within a space like Rhodes. The film uses the seven voices to try and capture some of the many different opinions, value systems and ideologies that are present within the campus microcosm.
The film hopes to conscientise students to their position within Rhodes and the greater community. It tries to bring awareness, not only to overt racism but also the pervasiveness and subtlety of whiteness and white privilege.The conversation challenges us to take off our privilege-tinted glasses. #RhodesSoWhite explores systematic white privilege within Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. Students talk through the current controversies and share their ideas of transformation in this 24 min documentary.
The production deepens the conversations around #BlackLivesMatter, #RhodesMustFall and #Luister, looking at the racial experiences of students on campus during a time of change. Characters Ameil Harikishun Ameil is in his second year of Masters in Marine Biology at Rhodes. He is a recipient of the Nelson Mandela Rhodes scholarship for 2015. Athenkosi Nzanzeka Athenkosi is a second year journalism student at Rhodes University.
Her other major is Dramatic Arts. Brad Pieter Brad is a third year Business Economics student majoring in management and economics. Christian Stroud Christian is in his first year at Rhodes University. He plans on majoring in Journalism and Media Studies and Drama. Jonathan James Jonathan has recently completed his Masters in History and is currently working in the United Kingdom. Lihle Ngcobozi Lihle is in her first year of Masters in Politics and is a member of the Black Student Movement (BSM). Lumumba Mthembu Lumumba is in his second year of Masters in English Literature. He is a recipient of the Nelson Mandela Rhodes Scholarship for 2015.
Crew
Director – Campbell Easton Campbell originally planned on pursuing an Honours degree in philosophy, but decided to do his BJourn in television when he realised that not many business hire on the basis of one's level of self-knowledge. He is very interested in issues of social justice and how he, as a developing media producer, can work to produce socially responsible content. He is obsessed with the films of Werner Herzog and hopes to one day get paid to make documentaries.
Editor – Jenna Lillie Jenna is a fourth year television student at the university currently known as Rhodes University. Originally she believed herself to be a lawyer at heart, fighting the good fight from within the legal system. But once she started her BJourn, she knew that her passion for documentary filmmaking was greater. Her primary role in the documentary was to edit the piece into a coherent narrative, weaving each thread together. She hopes to be an ethnographic documentarian with a strong sense of wanderlust and enthusiasm to document the stories of people she meets along the way.
Director of Photography – Nikho Mageza Nikho is a fourth year television student at Rhodes University. Growing up, she always wanted to be in media especially television. Her most greatest passion is drama, particularly acting and applied theatre. Her role in the documentary was doing all the camera work and she hopes that the documentary will spark a much needed debate between the different key players in the sphere of white privilege. Next year she hopes to venture into the entertainment industry.
