Directors & Guests

Rehad Desai

Bushman’s Secrets & The Heart of Whiteness

On his return to South Africa Rehad became a media and training officer for the South African trade union movement. He then worked in HIV prevention, before entering the world of film and television as a producer/director in 1997, after completing a Masters Degree in Social History. Starting his career as TV journalist he moved on to both direct and produce numerous award winning documentary films through Uhuru Productions in Johannesburg, his own company. Rehad’s last film won the Encounters Jameson Audience Award for Best South African Documentary and was theatrically released in South Africa. He is an Executive Director of the Tri Continental Film Festival and the Chairperson of the newly formed South African Screen Federation.

Fumane Diseko

Mixed Blessings

Fumane was initiated into the world of storytelling in 1995, when she was selected for the South African Newspaper Education Trust (SANET) Scholarship-which earned her a place on the Weekly Mail journalist’s internship programme. As a freelance journalist, she worked extensively as a researcher in various fields. She was a researcher for SABC news and current affairs at various periods and for Love Life Games. She also wrote radio scripts for Soul City, worked as a radio producer for SAFM’s PM Live. She is currently writing a book commissioned by the June 16 1976 Foundation and completed her Honors degree in Journalism. She was approached by Gillian to tell her story in Mixed Blessings and took the opportunity to get hands-on training in the field of directing.

John W. Fredericks

Mr. Devious: My Life

A writer and director of documentary and fiction films, John’s credits include Shooting Bokkie, which screened on South African and international film festivals, including the Goteborg and Rotterdam in 2003, and was released on the South Africa Cinema and video Circuit; Tomorrow’s Heroes, a SA / Italy documentary co-production; and Grumpies, a short documentary that formed part of the IKON South Africa Volume 1 series. He co-produced Freedom is a personal journey, an M-Net film directed by Akiedah Mohamed, with David Max Brown. His short film Stroller has been selected to be part of the African tales series and is currently in pre-production. John is a founder member of CRED (Creative Education with children and youth at risk) and worked with Devious in prisons. He formed his own production company, 4 Wall Films, in 2003 and has numerous projects in development.
Mr. Devious: My Life is a co-production between Rainbow Circle Films and 4 Wall Films.

Claude Haffner

Jean Rouch Retrospective

Claude is a French-Congolese director and critic of films. She studied documentary filmmaking at the Altermedia School in Paris (2002), and directed her first film ‘essay’ Ko Bongisa Mutu (Arrange your Head) in a Congolese hair salon in Paris. In 2004, she filmed her ‘promenade’ with Jean Rouch, a few days before his death, and a vignette La canne musicale (The Musical Cane). In 2005 she made D`une fleur double et de 4000 autres (Of a double-headed flower and 4000 others), on African Cinema history, as analyzed by her father, Pierre Haffner, one of the first critics of this cinema. Her Masters thesis (Sorbonne 2005) – The documentary, a possible remedy to the disease in African Cinema – is a proposition she intends to investigate in her writing and directing of documentary films on Africa.

Wendy Hardie

The Bridget Jones Phenomenon in South Africa

Wendy began directing 14 years ago at the BBC School TV in London, where she worked for 7 years. After a spell in Hong Kong she returned to South Africa in 1994 and helped run a short course at C-VET, training aspirant filmmakers in the production process. In working on Teletubbies and Takalani Sesame Street, she discovered the advantages of operating the camera herself, and keeping things as unobtrusive & real as possible. Her aim is to apply this integrity to filmmaking, and to explore the multitude of fascinating South African stories. She won an Avanti Craft Award for directing on KTV Roundabout; and The President’s Prize at the Japan Prize in 2004 for the short Open A Door, for a British children’s series.

Faith Isiakpere

Soweto Blues

Faith has a BA in Film & Television Production from the West Surrey College of Art and Design, UK. He has worked for Thames TV, Channel 4, Central TV, and as a Senior Producer for the BBC. He produced and directed many documentaries, dramas, music videos, and a book on UB40. His notable achievement has been a series of documentaries culminating in a six-part special Black Britain, a look at the black immigrant population. His short film on Miriam Makeba is still often shown on SABC. He is a former Board member of the Newtown Film & Television School and was the Director of Programmes / Head of Content for the Minaj Group, the only African satellite network that broadcasts into Europe, and which includes terrestrial and cable television networks and a radio station.

Susan Levine

Jean Rouch Retrospective

Dr. Susan Levine is a senior lecturer in the department of social anthropology at the University of Cape Town. She received a BA in anthropology from BARD college, and MA in visual anthropology from Temple University and a Ph.D. in anthropology from Temple University. In 1986 Dr. Levine studied ethnographic film with Jean Rouch, and continues to draw on his teachings in her visual anthropology course. Her fields of interest include visual anthropology, ethnographic film, medical anthropology, and political economy. Her current research focusses on the impact of documentary film in Southern Africa with regard to HIV/AIDS education.

Asivhanzhi Mathaba

Homesick

Asi studied at City Varsity film, television and multimedia school in Cape Town. Considered one of South Africa’s most multitalented directors, over the past 8 years he has worked as a director / DOP on world documentaries, music and corporate videos and reality television programmes such as Big Brother, Latitude, Walala Wasala, Buddyz on the Move and Zola 7. His feature film work includes assistant directing the American Films Stormin’ Ernest and For love or Mummy. His documentary Solly’s Story, produced for the SABC Project 10 series premiered at the 2004 Berlin International Film Festival. Asi also runs his own film company Asi – B Films.

Vincent Moloi

Men of Gold

Vincent Moloi is a documentary filmmaker and his work is stamped with his signature – a youthful, adventurous and yet concise attitude. He completed his Media Studies certificate and had a brief relationship with the SABC2’s promo department before joining an independent Italian filmmaker on a series of 8 documentaries called Magic and Traditional Healing in Africa. During this time, Moloi refined his skills in the community media sector and went on to co-produce a special broadcast programme on the Urban Future Conference for SABC’s current affairs programme, Newsmaker. Since then Vincent has produced and directed productions for both local and international broadcasters.

Omelga Mthiyane

Different Pigment

Omelga studied Video Technology at Technikon Natal. As a researcher and production assistant for Angel Films she became interested in documentaries. She moved to Cape Town where she worked at Sithengi Film and Television Market. In 2001 she was selected for the Close Encounters Documentary Laboratory and was trained in making documentaries. Ikhaya, her first film, was produced for the SABC Project 10 series and has screened at film festivals internationally. In 2004, as a follow up, she made Ikhaya: Malawi which screened on Encounters 2005. She was a participant on the Encounters Black on White Lab 2004 where she workshopped and completed Different Pigment. Omelga is currently working as an insert director on Plexus TV’s Headwrap – a documentary reality series for SABC.

Michael Raimondo

Johnny Appels – the Last Strandloper

Michael runs the Film Unit for the World Conservation Union based in South Africa. Together with Mafisa Media the World Conservation Union produces films about the fragile and intimate bond between people and Africa’s wilderness. He was Executive Producer on the Buffalo Thorn and Associate Producer on Perfect. At present he is Series Producer for the Healing Power of Nature Series, which is to be screened on SABC 3 starting in August 2006. He grew up in the Magaliesberg, after studying at UCT he spent five years abroad and returned to work on A Meerkat Project in the Kalahari for Cambridge University. He now resides in Cape Town where he hopes to continue to use film as a medium to change perception about the environment. Johnny Appels is his début as a director.

Portia Rankoane

Senzeni Na (What have we done)

Portia Rankoane is a filmmaker, poet and photographer. She has directed two films – the much-acclaimed 26 minute A Red Ribbon Around My House, part of the Steps for the Future series, about an HIV-positive mother and her daughter who have very different responses to the virus. It won the Silver Dhow Special Jury prize at the Zanzibar International Film Festival 2002, Special Mention at Fespaco 2003 and Winner Best Documentary at Zimbabwe International Film Festival. In 2003 she made The Awakening Of The Lakes, a 10 minute poetic film, shot in Switzerland as part of an Encounters exchange programme. She has published a book of poetry, Moment of Truth, with Seriti Sa Sechaba, and an anthology of short stories, Like House On Fire, and has participated in numerous group photographic exhibitions including the 1st International Art Biennale in South Africa.

Gillian Schutte-Singiswa

Mixed Blessings

Journalist, published poet and filmmaker, Gillian has worked with organizations, developing documentaries often used by civil society practitioners (NGOs, CBOs, NPOs) to inform, moblise, as well as educate audiences in international University settings. She has developed multimedia educational materials (and a chapter on interviewing skills for a training module) for Wits Graduate School of Public and Development Management, and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Gillian has produced and directed numerous films that have screened at international festivals and on television. She has developed a strong and quirky narrative & film style, explores the political through the personal, particularly issues of race and identity. Her recent films include Black man, White woman and Chasing the Ancestors.

Sipho Singiswa

Inja Yomlungu (White Man’s Dog)

Sipho Singiswa, a former political prisoner on Robben Island, has been actively involved as an Arts and human rights activist since 1984 – working for both for the ANC and UCT, as well as collaborating with various European cultural and media groups. Together with Off The Fence (Amsterdam) and Media ‘X’ Change (London) he co-facilitated the International Independent Film & Television Producers Conference held at SABC in 1995. Now Sipho runs a filmmaking company with his wife Gillian Schutte, and their focus is on personal storytelling using the verité style as their medium of expression. Their film Umgidi, won the Award of Excellence at the Washington Visual Anthropology Film Festival in 2005. Sipho is currently filming The revolution eats her children.

Karin Slater

From Nkoko… with Love

As a student at Natal Technikon, Karin won the Best Student Director award in 1988. She has worked in Namibia, filming and editing commercials for CTV, as a film editor in Israel and as a camera operator for TV magazine programs in South Africa. She joined Londolozi Productions in 1993 and over the next 9 years, as DOP / Director / Producer, worked on wildlife / cultural documentaries shot on 16mm. In 1999, her film Animal Powers won four Avanti Craft Awards, including direction. In 2004 The Meaning of the Buffalo premièred at Sundance Film festival and screened at Berlin, Hot Docs and The Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 2001 she formed Durga Shakti Films producing, directing and shooting independently and also for the BBC, Discovery, Granada Television and National Geographic. Her latest film is a co-production with the Netherlands Buddhist Channel.

Francois Verster

The Mothers’ House

Francois is a Cape Town-based independent documentary filmmaker. His films have won several local and international prizes, and have been broadcast in over twenty countries. These include Pavement Aristocrats, which looks at homeless subculture in Cape Town, When The War Is Over, about South Africa’s “lost generation” of teen ex-activists, and A Lion’s Trail, examining the fate of the most famous song ever to come from Africa. He also teaches documentary directing part-time, tries to play tennis, and hopes to finish a novel one day.

Nokuthula Dhladhla

Possessed by Demons

Soweto born Reverend Nokuthula Dhladhla, with a diploma in Theology, is the Pastor of the Hope and Unity Metropolitan Community Church in Johannesburg. She also works South African Network of Religious Leaders Living with of Affected by HIV and AIDS (SANERELA+). An avid reader and writer, this was her first chance to make a film.

Zanele Muholi

Enraged by a Picture

Zanele was born in Umlazi township, Durban, lives in Jozi and works at Behind the Mask (www.mask.org.za) an online magazine on gay and lesbian affairs in Africa. She volunteers for the Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW), a black lesbian organisation based in Gauteng. She is fast gaining a reputation as a photographer of controversial subjects, and has taken part in some 12 photographic exhibitions since August 2003. She self-defines herself as a community worker for the rights and visibility of lesbian and bisexual woman in and around Gauteng.

Martha Qumba

Ndim Ndim (It’s me, it’s me)

Martha was born in the Eastern Cape. She has a BA in Languages, Philosophy and English from the University of the Western Cape and a Diploma in Journalism from the Peninsula Technikon. She writes poetry and short stories and Ndim Ndim was her first foray into filmmaking..

Salim Amin

Producer, Mo & Me

Salim’s career began in 1992 in Somalia during Operation Restore Hope. A frontline cameraman, he worked with all the major news agencies and networks broadcasting out of Mogadishu. In the mid 90s he organized coverage of the Rwanda genocide and Congo conflict, working with his father, Mo, around the continent. In December 2002, he provided logistical support, access and research into the Mombasa bombings for CBS and provided uplink services during Kenya’s presidential elections. Salim became Managing Director of Camerapix in 1996 after the death of his father. In Mo’s memory, Salim founded The Mohamed Amin Foundation in 1998, now Africa’s premier broadcast training school. Salim is now branching out to Europe and America in joint ventures and co-productions with leading international broadcasters.

Anna Bucchetti

Dreaming by Numbers

Italian born Anna Bucchetti was a teen when she discovered New German Cinema. Attending film festivals led her to Holland where she absorbed the renowned Dutch love for documentary and which inspired her to return to school. She graduated from the Film Academy of Milan as a Lighting Camera Operator (Director of Photography) in 1991. Since then she launched into documentary filmmaking, often researching and writing as well as shooting and directing the films, with widely varying subjects, for JURA films in Amsterdam. In 2000 she went freelance and in 2003 she began developing screenplays for fiction features. In 2004 she was appointed the Chief Editor for Educational Television (Etv) for Frontmedia, and developed the script for Dreaming by Numbers.

Anna Bucchetti travels courtesy of Holland Film.

Erik Gandini

Gitmo: the New Rules of War

Italian born Gandini opines that 80s TV was the worst imaginable. This experience has obviously infiuenced his filmmaking career which began in 1994 with a feature documentary, Raja Sarajevo. Shot on a hi-8 camera during the war it gained great international exposure. Making several other films inbetween Gandini, and co-director Tarik Saleh, hit international headlines in 2001 with Sacrificio – Who betrayed Che Guevara? This film, which screened on Encounters in 2003, questions the legends around his death. His next film, which screened at Encounters in 2004, Surplus
– Terrorized into Being Consumers is a personal visual odyssey about the destructive nature of consumer culture. It won the Silver Wolf at IDFA 2003. It is still widely shown, has taken Erik to extended lecturing tours and has so far been selected to more than 70 festivals around the world.

Erik travels Courtesy of the Swedish Film Institute

Jean Pierre Krief

Saddam Hussein, The Trial (Histoire d’un procès)

Tunisian born in 1952, Jean-Pierre received all of his schooling in France, He has a Masters degree in Literature and Philosophy and a Diploma in Cinematography Studies and Research. Finally he enrolled at Jean Rouch’s audiovisual laboratory and received a diploma in Ethnology and Cinema. Professionally he works both as a Director and Producer. His production company, KS VISIONS, established in 1987, has produced over 100 films, many of which have garnered awards and distinctions. Since 2001 Jean-Pierre Krief has also been a lecturer in documentary film making at Paris VII University. Since July 2005, he has been appointed by National Center for Cinema of France as commissioner for documentary cinema.

Jean-Pierre travels Courtesy of the French Embassy.

William Nessen

The Black Road

Nessen, politically active in anti-apartheid movements at university, left for Southeast Asia after earning his Master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. There he covered the independence struggle in East Timor, writing and photographing for the San Francisco Chronicle. He also reported on the separatist struggle in the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya, now known as Papua. As both a freelance writer and photographer for Reuters, AFP, Vrij Nederland, the Sydney Morning Herald among others, he has covered trials, elections and political confiict throughout the South Pacific. Nessen began working in Aceh in 2001 and was the only journalist to report from the rebel-held areas. He gained international attention when he covered the growing war from the company of independence guerrillas. The Indonesian military tried to kill him for his efforts.

Tarik Saleh

Gitmo: The New Rules of War

Swedish born, of Egyptian partents, Saleh began his career as a grafitti artist in Stockholm. He continued with free-lancing as an Art Director in advertising. One day he had had enough, left Sweden for Egypt, joined some friends in Cairo and started the magazine Alive. Back in Sweden he later hosted Elbyl, a current affairs program produced by SVT. He also started Atlas, a martial arts/current affairs magazine and wrote sitcom scripts. His first collaboration with Erik Gandini was as producer on Sacrificio – Who betrayed Che Guevara. Tarik has also founded a studio, making animated films, called Atmo Animation Studio.

Tarik travels Courtesy of CWCI

Sky Sitney

Silverdocs

Sky Sitney is the Director of Programming at Silverdocs: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival, located just outside Washington, DC. She was formerly the Programming Director of the Newport International Film Festival and Festival Programmer of the New York Underground Film Festival. She previously held a variety of positions in the film industry including development work at Fine Line Features and a Creative Executive position at C-Hundred Film Corp. She is also a PhD candidate in the Cinema Studies Department at New York University, working on a dissertation entitled, “Still Point: Cinematic Confrontations with Death and Dying.”

Bernard Surugue

Jean Rouch Retrospective

Surugue is a French anthropologist and filmmaker specialising in human development in the context of poverty. He founded the Centre for Oral Cultures Studies of ORSTOM and the Audiovisual Centre of the French Research Institute for Development. His focus has always been human health and development and he has researched scientific and cultural approaches that would profit people living in the poorest countries. He is a UN expert in international cooperation affairs and permanent Senior Researcher of IRD, Head of the IRD-Audiovisual. As a filmmaker he has produced some 150 documentaries, directed 40 award-winning films and directed Rouch’s last feature Le rêve plus fort que la mort. Surugue began working with Rouch in 1966 and, as his closest collaborator and confidant, was chosen to look after his legacy.

Bernard travels Courtesy of the French Embassy

Jean-Marie Teno

The Colonial Misunderstanding

Teno was born in Famleng, Cameroon and has lived in Paris since 1977. There he studied communication and graduated from the University of Valenciennes in 1984 with a degree in filmmaking. Teno has worked as a film critic for Buana Magazine and an editor at France 3. Teno started making films in 1984, his film Hommage (1985) was well received internationally, and since then he has made some 12 films including both documentaries and fiction. Teno, a sharp critic of authoritarian regimes (even within the film industry), says his work is meant to open the eyes of Africans and Europeans to colonialism, neo-colonialism, migration, dictatorship and the abuse of power in Africa. Teno is also the Producer of Si-Gueriki, The Queen Mother.

Jean-Marie travels Courtesy of CWCI.