by Thinus Ferreira
Netflix South Africa has finally warmed to the Joburg Film Festival with the 7th edition that took place in Sandton and that included a panel discussion session, as well as a swanky rooftop Friday night event where Netflix and festival organisers promised even greater collaboration next year and into the future.
Over the past few years, Netflix SA has been reticent to have a full-show presence at the Joburg Film Festival since MultiChoice is the main sponsor and has its own streaming service Showmax which is a rival to Netflix, and while some Netflix Originals have featured in the screening line-up previously, filmmakers have until now been reluctant to tout their projects during it.
One South African filmmaker told TVwithThinus last year during the 6th festival that she couldn't really talk about her upcoming Netflix film, to adhere to what she was told by Netflix, noting that the streamer "doesn't want to appear MultiChoice-adjacent during the festival".
Now there's clearly been a thaw of sorts, with MultiChoice, Netflix and the Joburg Film Festival all coming to a realisation that greater cooperation is needed from all - even fierce rivals - if South Africa's struggling film biz is to be moved forward, and which filmmakers described as being "in a dire situation".
On the festival's Friday afternoon, Netflix headlined its first-ever panel session at the film festival.
The all-female panel at the JBX Talks discussion circuit, which ran concurrently with the film festival, was called "Redefining roles for women" with Connie Ferguson, Gail Mabalane, Dawn Thandeka King and Nina Swart on stage.
The foursome talked about woman empowerment before and behind the camera and shared personal anecdotes from their career climbs in the industry over the past few decades.
This was followed that Friday evening by a glitzy, invitation-only "Netflix in Gold" VIP party as another Netflix SA first for the 7th Joburg Film Festival.
Here, on the Artistry-rooftop, bathed in red and gold, Netflix execs, some of the country's most high-profile showrunners and producers, directors, agents, actors, writers, industry reps and festival guests all mingled, sipped champagne and did shop-talk.
Timothy Mangwedi, Joburg Film Festival founder and executive director, said "we've been trying to build this festival brand, and the content as an important platform for filmmakers".
He thanked Netflix for coming onboard in a bigger way at the 7th JFF and said the festival is looking forward to even bigger inclusion and collaboration with the streamer from next year.
"We're a premier film festival, so the relationship is how do we work together and add and showcase new directors, new actors, actresses, new producers, but also importantly how do we bring technology into this wonderful industry."
Ben Amadasun, Netflix vice-president of content for the Middle East and Africa, called his local content execs to stage, which included Kaye-Ann Williams who made her public debut as a Netflix exec following her appointment since February.
As director of scripted content for Netflix Africa, Kaye-Ann Williams will now oversee the video streaming service's scripted films and series in sub-Saharan Africa.
"This is our first participation at the Joburg Film Festival as Team Netflix so we're happy that you could make it to this great event and I'm sure we'll be here for many more versions of this in the future," Ben Amadasun said.
"Johannesburg plays a vital role in the growth of our industry, so it makes sense for Netflix to be part of this festival going forward," he said.
He noted the various Jozi-set scripted series and films already on the streamer like Number, Number: Jozi Gold, Soweto Love Story, Seriously Single and Kings of Jo'Burg that helped bring Johannesburg and Gauteng to a global Netflix audience.
There is also the school-athlete drama GO! from Ten30 Films and produced by Kutlwano Ditsele and Thuli Zuma also set in Johannesburg and starring Thandolwethu Zondi, Wonder Ndlovu, Dawn Thandeka King and Vusi Kunene.
"We've seen first-hand the power of African stories - not just on the continent but across the world. The global audience is very hungry for authentic, bold, fresh stories from Africa."
"Our approach is very simple as Netflix - we want to make sure that we collaborate with the most amazing local creators and continue to expand the frontier of what's possible in storytelling".
Ben Amadasun noted that Tuiskoms, produced by Infinity Films with Louis Pretorius and Albert Snyman as Netflix's second Afrikaans drama series, "is one of many more I hope - this title is really delivering for us. We're very excited about how our audiences are receiving Tuiskoms".