Sarafina to dance again on e.tv on Youth Day for 30th anniversary.

by Thinus Ferreira

To celebrate 2022's Youth Day in South Africa and the 30th anniversary of Sarafina! starring Leleti Khumalo and Whoopi Goldberg, e.tv will roll out the red carpet for cinema showings on Wednesday and broadcast the musical drama film on Youth Day on Thursday.

e.tv first broadcast the Anant Singh produced and Darrell Roodt directed Sarafina! 20 years ago with the movie which was filmed at Morris Isaacson High School in Soweto, telling the story of the 1976 Soweto student uprising in the country, with a local and international cast including Whoopi Goldberg, John Kani, Leleti Khumalo and Miriam Makeba.

Sarafina! will be in South African cinemas again on Wednesday this week, with e.tv doing red carpet showings at Nu Metro in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban, before broadcasting Sarafina! on Youth Day on Thursday on e.tv at 15:05.

"Sarafina! has remained an audience favourite and an important film in South African cinema. We are proud to partner with Videovision Entertainment to bring Sarafina! back to e.tv to celebrate this milestone," says e.tv content specialist, Marisa Hendricks.

Sarafina! had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival 30 years ago and was released shortly thereafter at cinemas in South Africa.

Anant Singh who recently attended the Cannes Film Festival again, says "It was a truly nostalgic moment for me when I was walking on the red carpet at the Palais des Festivals where I met officials of the festival who could scarcely believe that it was 30 years since the momentous world premiere in Cannes".

"My journey with Sarafina! began 35 years ago when I saw the play at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg."

"I was moved and felt that I had to make a film about this amazing play. I was able to secure the film rights from Mbongeni Ngema and the rest is history."

"The important aspect for me was that Sarafina! was based on the watershed event of 16 June 1976 which changed the course of South Africa's history. Sarafina! was made shortly after Nelson Mandela was released from prison and we were fortunate to have had his support to make the film and have him as guest of honour at the South African premiere of the film."

"Today, 30 years later, we are delighted to be sharing our film, which perpetuates the contribution of the heroes of 1976 to our democracy, with the viewers of e.tv."

South Africa's MultiChoice Talent Factory film academy ropes in film biz experts for a 3-day workshop in the Eastern Cape for emerging filmmakers.

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice and its MultiChoice Talent Factory South Africa (MTFza) film academy held a workshop in the Eastern Cape this week from Tuesday to Thursday to help upskill young and emerging filmmakers in the country.

Emerging filmmakers were chosen by South Africa's department of arts and culture to attend the 3-day film workshop that took place at the East London International Conference Centre.

The training workshop consisted out of a series masterclasses, led by industry experts in the field of video entertainment and covered various elements of filmmaking, including, scriptwriting, producing, directing, sound, lighting and cinematography.

Industry experts who helped to present sessions included Mzansi Magic (Dstv 161) commissioning editors Sanele Shiba and Wanda Sondiyazi; the film director, screenwriter and producer Darrell Roodt known for producing Sarafina; as well as Phathutshedzo "Phathu" Makwarela, the scriptwriter and co-founder of Tshedza Pictures.

"The sustainability of the video entertainment industry in the country and on the continent depends on our ability to attract and develop fresh young talent," says Joe Heshu, the MultiChoice group executive for corporate affairs.

"Opportunities such as this, and particularly with the support of regional government and other key industry stakeholders, provide the perfect platform to identify and nurture aspiring young filmmakers."

"Our intention is to immerse participants in the world of filmmaking so that they leave with a better
understanding of the commitment and skills that are required to take this journey to the next level."

Phumeza Skoti, chief executive of the Eastern Cape Provincial Arts and Culture Council (ECPACC) that runs the Eastern Cape Film Office, says "The masterclass has been very informative and inspirational in our journey to develop the film and television industry in the Eastern Cape".

"The specialist skills and experiences shared by renowned industry players will go a long way in empowering local film makers to take up space and seize opportunities that exists in the industry."

Fezeka Bayeni, the Eastern Cape MEC for sports, recreation, arts and culture, says "Film has great potential to contribute to the development of the Eastern Cape economy and as such, we have made it one of the priorities of the department".

"The Eastern Cape has a rich heritage, great stories to be told and amazing locations for film. This partnership with MultiChoice is therefore a very important platform in helping to develop and train filmmakers as part of our effort to grow the film industry in the province."

Sarafina! shown for free on Youth Day, 16 June, at cinemas across South Africa and on e.tv - but not on the SABC.

The film Sarafina! will be shown for free in cinemas and on e.tv on Youth Day on Thursday - but not on the SABC.

For the 40th anniversary of the "Soweto Uprising" on 16 June 1976, e.tv will broadcast Sarafina! on Thursday at 20:30 and repeated on Friday morning at 00:15, with another showing on the eMovies+ channel on OpenView HD chanel 107 on Saturday 18 June at 18:00.

"Sarafina! is a movie that best portrays the significant history and role of the youth of 1976. Our viewers should expect to be empowered and educated," says Marlon Davids, the acting managing director of e.tv's channels division.

The film, set in Soweto, will also be shown for free at cinemas on Thursday across South Africa at 12:00.

e.tv, VideoVision Entertainment, United International Pictures, Ster-Kinekor, Nu Metro and Times Media are working together to screen Sarafina! with Leleti Khumalo, John Kani and Whoopi Goldberg, and directed by Darrell Roodt.

Sarafina!, made in 1992, follows the story of a group of students who publicly protest against police presence in their schools during South Africa's Apartheid. The film contains scenes of violence, public protests and damage of property during protests.

The SABC's chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng controversially announced at the end of May that the SABC will censor with immediate effect all visuals on SABC TV News of public protest as it pertains to the destruction of property.

"Sarafina! has been an inspiration to me, firstly in getting the film made, and then being inspired by how it was embraced by the people of South Africa and the rest of the world," says producer Anant Singh in a statement.

Cinemas that will show Sarafina! on 16 June include: Baywest, Bedford Centre, Blue Route, Bridge, Brooklyn, Canal Walk, Carlton Centre, Clearwater, East Rand Mall, Eastgate, Eikestad, Galleria, Gateway, The Glen, Key West, Kolonnade, Loch Logan Development, Maponya Mall, Menlyn Park, Mimosa, Mooi River, Newtown Junction, Northcape (Kimberley), Parow, The Pavilion, Sandton, Southgate, Sterland Centre, TygerValley, Vaal Mall, Nu Metro V&A and Walmer Park.

In Kwa-Zulu Natal, Videovision Entertainment has teamed up with the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission for community screenings from 20 to 26 June in Umlazi, Clermont, Chesterville, KwaMashu and The Bat Centre.

In Johannesburg the The Soweto Theatre will show Sarafina! until 19 June and at the Jo’burg Theatre between 20 and 25 June. In Cape Town the film will be screened for school children from the Athlone and Mitchells Plain areas on 22 June.

TACKLING THE TOKOLOSHE: Will Room 9, South Africa's new sci-fi paranormal drama series, be District 9 - or a laughable failure on SABC1?

This is going to be epic either way - epic awesome, or epic terribly terrible. Room 9 is either going to work like South Africa's sci-fi movie attempt District 9, or it will be an abysmal new television failure.

Room 9, by Dv8 Films and Urban Brew Studios is set to start on Thursday 8 November at 20:30 on SABC1 for a first season of 13 episodes and is billed by SABC1 as "the first of its kind for South African television".

Filled with many injokes from a reference to "Captain Harkness" to even a visual joke reminiscent of District 9, SABC1 proudly raises the bar and expectations super high by preselling Room 9 as "South Africa's answer to global television hits like The X-Files, Fringe, The Walking Dead and Lost".

Whether this will indeed be the case, remains to be seen. Neither SABC1 nor the production company has sent any advance screener episodes to South African TV critics for possible review for the show which will have, as SABC1 calls it, its "world premier" on 8 November. Tokoloshes everywhere will be watching.

Room 9, with Darrell Roodt as a writer and director (and whose movies include Number 10 and Dracula 3000) is set in the post-apocalyptic, futuristic New Azania (an alternative version of South Africa). It centres around an elite special team at the New Azanian Police Department who deals with the paranormal, the supernatural, the sacrilegious, the twisted and the unexplainable.

Detective Alice Kunene (played by Zethu Dlomo) is transferred to the division but has no idea what awaits (neither has TV critics). She is thrown into the deep-end in the first episode with her first case when a domestic worker is found savaged to death, thought to be the work of the Tokoloshe.

She meets detective "Darkness" Harkness (no, not Captain Harkness of the British sci-fi series Torchwood), played by David Butler. Hopefully "Darkness" Harkness, whose first name is Gabrielle, won't turn out to be omnisexual as well. Then it would be a rip-off.

Ruby Prins (played by Angela Ludek) is blind like Geordi on Star Trek: The Next Generation but has powers of prenatural foresight, and can probably already tell whether Room 9 will live up to South African viewers' expectations. The Nigerian expert on all things paranormal is the voodoo man Solomon Onyegu (played by Anthony Oseyemi).

Besides tackling the tokoloshe, Room 9 cases will involve the devil, Satanic cults, muti murders, demons, poltergeists, zombies, werewolves, aliens, vampires and even a mermaid.

"We have not seen this genre of television drama produced by South Africans before," says Room 9 producer Danie Ferreira, hoping that Room 9 will satisfy an appetite that South African audiences have built up for genre based television. "We see it in American programmes, but in Africa we have a limitless source of fabulous paranormal stories. Room 9 weaves these stories into compelling television."

Producer Jeremy Nathan is excited at the prospect of trying to create an iconic television series that South Africans can be proud of.

"Room 9 represents a different type of cutting-edge storytelling on local television," says Vukile Madlana, SABC1's publicity manager. "This type of programming has never been done before in South Africa and we are confident the series will keep our youthful audience captivated for its entire 13-weeks duration on SABC1."


[Editor: Set in a post-apocalyptic, futuristic, alternative version of South Africa, Charlie Jade touching on similar themes with a detective investigating paranormal events, was produced and shown in South Africa in 2005.]