'Stop it or I'll stop it': South Africa's police boss Bheki Cele damages the image of the country's struggling film biz after holding Cape Town crew 'hostage' with shocking shutdown of TV advert beach shoot despite valid permit.

by Thinus Ferreira

"Stop it or I'll stop it," said South Africa's uninformed police minister Bkehi Cele on Wednesday when he further damaged the image not just locally but internationally of South Africa's struggling film and TV industry as he wrongly ordered the shocking shutdown of the filming of a new TV commercial with a valid permit on a Cape Town beach while spouting non-sensical and non-applicable Covid-19 regulations.

During an altercation on Cape Town's scenic Camps Bay beach on Wednesday the caustic Bheki Cele doing a "beach inspection" summarily ordered around 16 police officers to abruptly halt the Red Petal Productions production on a new TV advert, despite the production company that had already applied for and had been issued with a valid permit to film on location.

The TV commercial production also had its Covid-19 compliance officer in place, checking and monitoring everything. 

The Red Petal Productions filming was permitted by Cape Town's Film Permit Office as required by the Film By-Law regulating filming on public spaces.

Co-incidentally JP Smith, Cape Town's mayoral committee member for safety and security, happened to be at Camps Bay at the same time for a beach inspection as well.

A clash ensued when Bheki Cele, who referred to JP Smith as "PJ", insisted on the production being shut down, while JP Smith said the film shoot had already applied for and was approved for filming on the beach and had a valid permit.

Bheki Cele and his heavy-handed entourage that his publicist Lirandzu Themba called the "Cele Beach Watch" and that included 4 generals, later called in further police reinforcements to Camps Bay to specifically ensure that filming of the TV commercial remains shut down. 

Bheki Cele as a member of South Africa's so-called National Coronavirus Command Council appeared clueless and uninformed how TV and film productions work since and during Covid-19 or that film and TV production sets have been classified as workspaces with very specific risk-adjusted strategies and rules to continue operating.

The Camps Bay production that had a price tag of around R2.9 million, employing around 75 people on Wednesday and strictly adhering to the Covid-19 safety protocols for filming underwritten by the Commercial Producers Association of South Africa (CPASA), lost around R1.5 million on Wednesday.

According to the regulations published in South Africa's latest Government Gazette of 15 December 2020 there is no ban nor any regulations to outlaw the approved filming of commercial television and film productions on beaches that are adhering to stringent Covid-19 prevention protocols.

"Bheki Cele instructed 16 South African police officers to come down and shut a film shoot on Camps Bay beach which has a legal permit from the city and is employing 75 people," said JP Smith who announced that the city of Cape Town would be applying for an urgent court interdict to prevent Bkehi Cele from "illegally interfering with this film shoot".

"We are approaching the Western Cape High Court on an urgent basis for an interdict against the South African police's interference in a film production on Camps Bay beach," said JP Smith.

"The next time residents of the Cape Flats or the townships are wondering why you can't find police, maybe it's because the national minister is busy deploying them to score political points."

On Wednesday evening JP Smith said that "After forcefully stopping the film company from working and holding them hostage the South African police just walked over to us here at the film shoot and said that filming can proceed tomorrow".

"I hope they get sued and landed with a massive cost order as they have now clearly figured out that they were wrong and that the minister instructed them unlawfully".

Lirandzu Themba, Bheki Cele's publicist, in a statement, said that "an activity by a private company on the Camps Bay beach was shut down during the minister’s walkabout".

"While it was permitted by the City of Cape Town, upon closer inspection, the production was not compliant with what is permitted on beaches, as stipulated on the Covid-19 regulations."

"According to the permit of the production company that was handed to the South African police, the production would go against the very rules set out by president Cyril Ramaphosa which are clear on what is permitted on beaches and therefore could not be allowed to continue for now."

On Thursday morning JP Smith told eNCA that "this morning there were again police officers blocking them and preventing them from carrying on which I think is very problematic. We're waiting for the judge to hear the case so that we can get that urgent interdict and prevent the minister from interfering".

UPDATE: Thursday 17 December 2020 19:00 - Toni Marais, executive producer at Red Petal Productions, in an interview on Thursday at Camps Bay after the international TV commercial was shut down again, said "I'm very disappointed, I'm very angry. We're doing everything we can to try and work around this so that our international client get the shoot that they've come to South Africa for to get".

Toni Marais said "it's been very frustrating and very hard because I have not been given a reason as to why I've been shut down".

After Red Petal Productions handed in all of the necessary documentation at the Camps Bay Police station, they were once again prevented from filming by the South African Police on Thursday.

"One shoot day costs around R1.5 million and we've had to pay all of the crew to come out today and now we have to send them all home until we can understand what is happening and why it's happening".

Meanwhile, the location manager for the production, Derek Raeburn, told News24 on Thursday that Red Petal Productions is scouting for a possible new filming location now for the Russian TV commercial that had been filming at the lifesaver's clubhouse and can't wait any longer for a possible court interdict decision since the expensive shoot was losing too much money and valuable filming time. 

"The police came in and said 'Shut this thing down'. We don't know why. They can't give us a reason why. Officially we're totally legal, permit wise and they've shut us down. The problem is that a lot of film crew haven't worked since March because of Covid," said Derek Raeburn.

"There are so few jobs here as it is. And the one or two jobs we get, they close us down in the middle of a shoot."

"What are the foreign people who come here going to say about this when they go back to their various countries? They can't be guaranteed to film and work here with an official permit. How is this going to affect the rest of filming in Cape Town?"

Andrey Shkatov, a TV producer from Moscow, Russia, told News24 on Thursday that "We came here to South Africa to bring some business and to shoot a very beautiful commercial here on this sandy beach with white sand for our client".

"The local company we work with they've got all the papers. They fully made all the necessary agreements with the local government and suddenly our shooting didn't start today, so we're a little bit upset and we're confused and we need to move our shooting somewhere else".

UPDATE Thursday 17 December 2020 20:00 - According to the City of Cape Town on Thursday another 11 film shoots, representing about R24 million in lost revenue, have withdrawn from planned filming in the city in the 24-hours  since police minister Bheki Cele's altercation with a film crew that the South African police service shut down on Thursday for a 2nd day without any reasons given.

Coronavirus: Cape Town has issued 70 film permits since April when Covid-19 lockdown eased as city's TV and film industry tries to adapt to producing content under 'new normal' on-set conditions.

by Thinus Ferreira

Cape Town has issued 70 film permits since April when the hard national lockdown due to Covid-19 was eased somewhat in the city as TV and film productions have started to gear up and film again amidst the growing coronavirus pandemic under "new normal" on-set conditions.

Cape Town's Film Permit Office has so far issued 5 245 permits during the 2019/2020 financial year with the industry in the Western Cape and across South Africa that has taken a big knock because of the shut down and again as several local productions continue to shutter when cast and crew test positive for Covid-19.

In Cape Town crews and cast working on productions have rebuilt sets, picked up their cameras and proceeded to continue their craft during this crisis although now under a strict Covid-19 compliance regime.

JP Smith, Cape Town's mayoral committee member for safety and security, has done a set visit of the South African action film Indemnity, produced by Gambit Films, currently shooting at the Cape Town Stadium.

Indemnity was one of the local productions in Cape Town that abruptly had to shut down in late-March due to the Covid-19 forced lockdown.

"The industry has taken a knock as a result of the global crisis but during the visit to the set of the locally-produced Indemnity, I was encouraged to see all those in the film industry value chain pull together to ensure that the sector continues to produce and retain jobs at this difficult time," says JP Smith.

"The well-being of staff, cast and crew on-set remains a priority and accordingly, the city's Film Permit Office, in collaboration with the industry, has developed a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to promote and ensure responsible film-making in the city," he says.

"The measures are informed by national regulations and international best practice including mandatory Covid-19 risk assessments and risk mitigation implementation measures for all production workplaces and staff, constant cleansing of workspaces, equipment and transportation."

JP Smith says he was "screened twice and had my temperature checked three times during my visit to the set at the Cape Town Stadium. It is important for us to work with the industry to get it back on its feet to ensure that a sector that contributes around R3,5-billion a year to the local economy continues to grow during and post the Covid-19 pandemic."

"The city is furthermore committed to evaluating how it can further assist the local film industry through, among others, assisting with promoting the city as a world-class film destination, lowering tariffs or other avenues."

kykNET’s 9th Silwerskermfees kicks off in Cape Town giving a voice to Africa's Afrikaans film biz.

kykNET's 9th Silwerskermfees Afrikaans film festival kicked off last night with the blue carpet premiere screening of the 2019 of Fiela Se Kind with the cast and director in attendance as filmmakers underlined the growing festival’s importance in supporting Afrikaans filmmakers and making their voices heard.

 Once again taking place at The Bay Hotel in Camps Bay, the festival has lured Afrikaans and other filmmakers, including film and TV execs from across South Africa, Africa and the world to the 4-day festival screening an array of dramatic features and short films, including documentaries across a wide range of topics.

Workshops will be taking place in conjunction with Wesgro with subjects under discussion this year ranging from financing the making of a film, to getting a possible international release for a film. 

 The British producer Peter Cowley and German filmmaker Dorothee Wenner are both attending, with Arnold Vosloo, the South African born actor based in Los Angeles present for the première of Griekwastad, the film about a family murder that shocked the country.

“We need a feeling of celebration for South African films and Afrikaans films and that is what the Silwerskermfees provides for us as an industry,” Zenobia Kloppers told TVwithThinus on Wednesday night at the blue carpet première of director Brett Michael Innes’ Fiela Se Kind releasing on 13 September in which she plays the title character. 

 "South Africans make films with very little money and we’re telling our own stories and the Silwerskermfees takes the best of that and shows us what we can aspire to, saying: ‘Here is something, work towards this’. Which is why I think it’s incredibly important to have and to grow this festival.” 

 Karen Meiring, director of kykNET channels at M-Net, said the Silwerskermfees “is very important to do because we’re focusing on the local film industry".

 "We don’t call ourselves an international film festival. Our focus on Afrikaans is unique and it’s our unique drawcard because there’s no other film festival of its kind doing this and I think that it’s incredibly important that there’s at least one film festival doing this”. 

 Karen Meiring said the 9th edition of the Silwerskermfees “is the biggest that it’s ever been”. 



‘Silwerskermfees gives Afrikaans film a voice’ 
Director Corné van Rooyen and founder of Red Letter Day Productions, producer of the new Alles Malan drama series on kykNET and former Silwerskermfees winner, asked why the festival is important, said “that to be able to tell stories in your own language is for me the most important thing”.

“Then also to have a platform and to look forward to something – you know you have an idea and then think ‘One day I will be able to showcase my film at the Silwerskermfees’, it’s an achievement to reach and to work towards. For me that has always been a driving force behind what I did in making films”.

 “The Silwerskermfees gives Afrikaans film a voice. It gives filmmakers a voice. It’s very important for filmmakers to feel that they can tell their own stories and that they don’t always have to tell stories that are just suitable to a bigger mass market," he said.

 "You can come here and feel that people are supporting you, that they love and appreciate you, and want to help you to have your voice be heard in the wider world with audiences and in the industry.”

Handrie Basson, founding partner and executive producer at Afrokaans, said the Silwerskermfees “does incredible development work for our local TV and film industry”.

“It provides young people with the opportunity to work and to rub shoulders with big and heralded names in the entertainment industry. I also think it’s a wonderful opportunity for the public to attend an event of international standard and to celebrate South African and Afrikaans films.”

 JP Smith, Cape Town mayoral committee member representing the city’s film events team, said “the City of Cape Town is increasingly focusing on what we can do in film”.

"We have made film a core plan in our investment strategy. We think the Silwerskermfees is important enough to invest in which is why we’ve made a modest financial investment and will probably do better next year.”

“In the last 9 months Cape Town’s film office received 11 726 film bookings, compared to the 11 350 for the preceding time.”

 “Of those the film office issued 6 902 permits for a variety of locations around the city so this industry is steadily growing year on year. “What we do need now is more places for you to shoot and we’re hard at work at creating additional facilities for you.”