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Well done to AFDA Alumni involved in Verraaiers Fanie Fourie's Lobola, Sleeper’s Wake and Otelo Burning

#afda #alumni #lobola #sleeper's wake #otelo burning

Well done James Carroll AFDA JHB Alumni who’s poster is now a book cover. Sleeperswake shot by AFDA Alumni Willie Nel

AFDA ALUMNI / THE LAST LIONS NOMINATED

Congratulations to our Alumni Candice Odgers and Susan Scott who’s film The Last Lions was nominated in the SAFTAS Golden Horn Wildlife Programme Nominations 2013 for Best Editor of a Wildlife Programme alongside 3 other nominations. Good Job!

AFDA Alumni (JHB)– Kyle Ambrose co-owner of Mannequin Films on location in Durban

For the past week, Durban has been abuzz with the excitement of a Bollywood film being made in the City, and local actors, production companies and other service providers have enjoyed the benefits that making films offers the local economy. AFDA Alumni (Johannesburg 2009) Kyle Ambrose, co-owner of Mannequin Films, is the line producer for the South African production team, and we caught up with him in Durban.

Produced by Prince Pictures and directed by Hari, the Tamil Singam 2, which will be released later this year, is described as an action-masala film and stars Bollywood actor Suriya, who was in Durban for the filming, with supporting roles played by Anushka Shetty, Hansika Motwani, Vivek and Santhanam.

“The Indian crew of close to 30 people, wrapped up the filming in Durban on Thursday, and have headed off to Malaysia for the next round of shooting.” says Kyle. "The Indian production team were considering using Kenya and Nigeria for the African country needed in the movie, but thought Durban was the perfect location. The crew has been filming for eight days and locations have included the Natal Command site for some gunshot and fighting scenes and the cut-off road overhang in Warwick Triangle for the car-crash scenes. “

"We are encouraged and pleased that Singam 2 is being shot in Durban," says Toni Monty of the Durban Film Office. "We have some obvious links with India, notwithstanding a huge Diaspora for potential extras but also from a climate, cityscape, flora and geographical point of view there are good synergies that are in line with the subcontinent, so it makes it a comfortable marriage for co-productions between the countries. We are keen to further develop our connections and relationships with the prolific and vast Indian film industry, and if we can continue to provide good locations coupled with the experience of local South Africa production teams, it will help strengthen the growth of the local industry. "

Kyle who studied writing and directing at AFDA Johannesburg began Mannequin Films with Delon Bakker and Morgan Pather in 2009, and the company has worked on some major films such as Karzzz (India), Clarissa’s Secret (Germany/Austria) short films such as The Drum (USA), as well as numerous commercials such as Orange AFCON, Love Life and Comiun. Kyle has also been directing Comedy Central presents for Comedy Central. The production company’s short film, Umkhungo, directed by Matthew Jankes is up for a SAFTA award nominated in the Best Short Film category.

After completing Singam he moves onto finishing up another short film directed by aspiring director Mark Middlewick, for the Google Focus Features Africa First initiative. Then he starts working on an international feature film, a period piece set in 1901, which will be filmed for 5 week in various locations around South Africa.

AFDA alumni and staff shine at the annual Naledi Theatre Awards nominations

Congratulations to all AFDA staff and alumni on their nominations for the Naledi Theatre Awards. Best Play: Sunday Morning – directed by Jenine Collocot. Best Director: Sunday morning – directed by Jeanine Collocot. Best Actress: The Suitcase – Xolile Tshabalala. Best ensemble production: Delirium – directed by Greg Homann From the mouths of babes – directed by Malcolm Purkey

AFDA Alumni win at the 2013 Jozi Film Festival

The winners of the 2013 Jozi Film Festival were announced during a ceremony held at Villa Acardia in Parktown on Sunday evening.

Best Student Film – Mikles Manneke KANYE KANYE (AFDA Johannesburg)

Best Feature Film – Vickus Strijdom ZAMA ZAMA (AFDA Alumni)

Audience Choice Award – Henk Pretorius FANIE FOURIE’S LOBOLA (AFDA Alumni)

AFDA ALUMNI WIN AT JOZI FILM FESTIVAL

ZAMA ZAMA - BEST FILM AWARD Production Designer: Jackie Lotz Costume Designer: Mia Zwiegers

FANIE SE LABOLA - AUDIENCE AWARD Written and Directed: Henk Pretorius Cinematographer: Trevor Calverly Lead Actor: Molatsi Mafatshe

VERAAIERS - AFDA Alumni feature film

VERAAIERS - A new feature film about the Anglo Boer War Cinematographer: Tom Marais Producer: Danie bester Production Designer: Waldemar Coetzee Sound: Christ Allsop 2nd Assistant Director: Saskia Schiel

KLEIN KAROO - AFDA Alumni feature film

KLEIN KAROO - A romantic comedy that takes pace in the beautiful Swartberg mountains outside of Oudshoorn - Starring Chris Chameleon Editor: CA van Aswegen Writer: Etienne Fourie

FANIE FOURIE’S LOBOLA - AFDA Alumni feature film

FANIE FOURIE’S LOBOLA - The title says it all, a new Afrikaans comedy Written and Directed by Henk Pretorius Cinematographer: Trevor Calverly Lead Actor: Molatsi Mafatshe

BLITZ PATROLIE - AFDA Alumni feature film

BLITZ PATROLIE - A South African cop comedy Production designer: Sean Pretorius Editor: Melissa Parry

AFDA Graduate, Mondli Magenuka, joins Business Arts South Africa for 2013

Mondli Magenuka   AFDA graduate, Mondli Magenuka, has joined Business and Arts South Africa as its intern for 2013.   Magenuka becomes the fourth BASA Intern in a programme that has received the support of BASA member, Rand Merchant Bank (RMB)   The aim of the now well-established BASA Intern Programme , supported by Rand Merchant Bank, is to train passionate, young South Africans in all aspects of arts administration through a hands-on experience at BASA.   Magenuka – a finalist in the 2012 South Africa’s Next Top Filmmakers competition – says he is “looking forward to an exciting year ahead”.   “I applied for this position because of my love and passion for the arts - especially filmmaking,” comments the 23-year-old who graduated with a BA in Motion Picture Medium from AFDA in 2011. Until recently Magenuka was working as a 2nd Assistant Director and Casting Co-Ordinator at Burnt Onion Productions.   “I don’t just want to be focus on filmmaking. I want to have a broad understanding of how to run and manage other arts projects. This position will give me valuable experience and I intend to use every task to improve my skills, learn and add value to BASA.”   Among the opportunities offered by the BASA Intern position are networking, access to training, a deeper understanding of the needs of both business and arts, and research.  Experience in each of the specific BASA focus areas – including the BASA Education Programme,supported by Etana as well as the BASA Supporting Grants – give emerging administrators invaluable insight into the importance of partnerships and relationships in the arts.   The BASA intern also assists with the annual Business Day BASA Awards, supported by Anglo American as well as provides significant support in the areas of marketing and communications portfolio.   Previous BASA interns are Karabo Legoabe (2010), Arthur Nkuna (2011) and Lakin Morgan (2012). Morgan has remained on at BASA, taking the position of Projects Officer, driving the annual Awards organization.   Janet Watts, CSI Manager at Tshikululu representing the RMB fund comments “RMB understands the importance of the arts in society, and has a strategic and relevant programme of partnering with arts organisations to achieve greater access to and excellence in all art forms in South Africa. In order to ensure that this is successful it is very important to nurture young professionals in the business of arts and arts administration. The BASA Intern Programme has contributed hugely to achieving this goal. They have always appointed really dynamic young people and offer them an opportunity to engage on a professional and informal way with all sectors of society, truly enabling them to reach their full career potential.”   Interns are selected on the basis of their education, experience, and enthusiasm for the arts. The position runs from January to December each year.

NSSE (North South South East) Exchange Program (continued)

NSSE (North South South East) Exchange Program Maggie Jane Leitch – Honours Producing Student AFDA Cape Town “I recently had the most awesome opportunity and experience thanks to some great organizations and people! A fellow peer (Duan Myburgh) and myself were chosen by AFDA Cape Town to go to Ghana for 10 days on the NSSE (North South South East) intensive exchange program with Mr Stephen Drake (AFDA Cape Town Post-graduate Course Director). This basically entails students and lecturers from South Africa, Ghana and Finland to come together to create a few community outreach short documentaries and to help create awareness for certain problem areas in Ghana itself. We stayed at the excellent National Film and Television Institute’s (NAFTI) residence and conducted our documentaries from the actual campus. This initiative was proposed by the UNFPA (united nations population fund) and what an amazing call to action it is! We had such fun working with fellow film students, who are now friends, from Ghana and Finland and working together as a crew was challenging yet exciting. We managed to produce 3 short documentaries each on a different topic; Maternal Health, The Porter girls and Family planning all real issues in Ghana. I strongly believe these short documentaries will help create awareness and possible change for the devastation that is general health and woman care in Ghana. We even managed to visit a couple of national heritage sites on our visit. Ghana is truly one of the most beautiful places with the most beautiful people I have ever been to. I would suggest this program to anyone if they get the opportunity. It was truly life changing”

AFDA graduate directs Big Fatty Boom Boom video. AFDA alumnus work on Die Antwoord's "Fatty Boom Boom" music video, Terrence Neale (Director), Julia Schnurr (Producer), and Kezia Ealas (Art Design). Terrance Neale perviously directed the video for "Baby's on Fire" winning a Gold at the Loeries.

AFDA Alumni directs a new ad exploring the dualities of life and art.

New Ad Explores the Dualities of Life and Art Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg, M-Net, and a dedicated cast and crew joined forces to create M-Net Channel 101’s new brand campaign advert, titled My Life as a Movie. The ad, which builds upon M-Net’s 25-year platform as the “Home of Magic”, launched on M-Net & M-Net HD on Wednesday night at 7pm. The ad brief? To allow viewers to relate to M-Net’s magic in a way that was more personal and real. “We want our viewers to believe that magic happens in their own stories. There are definite parallels between the stories on-screen and our own. Who says that magic only happens in the movies?” says M-Net Head of Marketing and Publicity, Mpeo Makape. Filming the ad was not without its share of challenges, including a haunted set and a freak cold front. Directed by Picture Tree Films’ short film and commercial director, JH Beetge, “My Life As A Movie”, which required over two months of pre-production before the two-day filming of the ad and features local celebrity Emmanuel Castis as the hero of the narrative, used emotion as the predominant language. Circumstance and location were secondary to creating an intense 60-second rollercoaster, which was a complete collaboration between Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg and Picture Tree Films. “Just as every great movie is an emotional rollercoaster, so are our lives. The ad invites viewers to climb onboard and live the journey through each high and low on the spectrum of human emotion. Drawing upon the universality of human experience, the ad takes the audience on a personal adventure that we can all relate to on some level,” says Creative Director Mariana O’Kelly. Just as the narrator plays with the duality of movie and life content, so too was it important for the ad to be visually cinematic, while remaining real and sincere, O’Kelly continues. “It’s not every day that a brand points out the dark and unpleasant sides of life. But we had to go down to go up again. Such is life. Nevertheless, we hope the ad leaves people with a sense of hope and optimism, as well as the realisation that magic happens every single day - not just on the screen, but off-screen too,” she says. Article used courtesy of the The Callsheet

AFDA Alumni – Trevor Calverley is director of Photography for the feature film “Material”

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