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NEWS/NUUS
INDABA NEWS•NUUS WEDNESDAY, 5 SEPTEMBER 2012
Arts & Entertainment
Young filmmakers trained to bring Hollywood to the Bay NCEBA DLADLA FORTY unemployed students and graduates have started a groundbreaking training project aimed at creating a foundation for the development of the local film industry in Nelson Mandela Bay.
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From the left are Siyasanga Kambi (student), Mncedisi Ngqawana (Media Work shop), Denise Roodt (Media Workshop) and Andile Nene (MICT Seta). Carrying a camera is Saziso Lucas (student). Photo: TANYA VAN ZYL
Offered by the Media Workshop of Port Elizabeth, in association with Johannesburg-based Urban Brew Studios and funded by Media, Information, Communication Technology (MICT) Sector Training Authority (Seta), the project was launched last week. Present at the launch were local future filmmakers, thespians, Bay TV Board members including Monde Ngonyama, and members of
the media. Seen as bringing Hollywood to Port Elizabeth, the project, which is the first of its kind here, is aimed at also contributing towards local economic development. “Assisted by the much-travelled and knowledgeable David Leister who has joined the Media Workshop, the young film-makers will be writing, editing and producing a comedy series for Bay TV as part of the training project,” said Media Workshop founder and owner, Denise Roodt. Leister is also a lecturer in the NQF 4 and NQF 5 Certificate Directing modules. Roodt said it is a real privilege to have David to coach the interns with his wealth of experience. “The intention is to offer a sus-
tainable training and development service to feed into the community television industry which will see this year’s top NQF 4 graduates entering the NQF 5 programme next year. The big dream, according to Leister, is to see graduates produce the Eastern Cape’s first commercial full feature film. “The Media Workshop provides valuable structure, guidance and facilities. Students have a chance of a life-time to be free to experiment and to find their own voice, to realise their passion for filmmaking and to tell their own original stories,”said Leister. Sisanda Matshoba (25), an intern, was “both overjoyed and excited” by the prospects of seeing herself directing her own movie . . . one day.
Minister launches National Book Week in Mandela Bay NCEBA DLADLA ARTS and Culture Minister Paul Matshatile on Monday urged Nelson Mandela residents to read books for knowledge as “Knowledge is power!”. The Minister was speaking at the Babs Madlakane Community Hall in KwaNobuhle, Uitenhage during the Launch of the Third National Book Week which is taking place this week until Saturday, September 8. National Book Week is an initiative of the Department of Arts and Culture in association with the South African Book Development Council. According to Minister Matshatile, the week is the annual premier platform through which
government, the book sector, media and civil society establish dynamic partnerships for the promotion of the culture of reading. “National Book Week is one of the most significant interventions in our efforts to mainstream the book sector as an important contributor to job creation, poverty reduction and skills development,” said Matshatile. With its call to action being “Read a book, share a book, Matshatile said, the programme of National Book Week will feature a number of reading activities for the young and old. He added that these will include story-telling, puppet shows, book club sessions, book debates and creating writing workshops led by some prominent authors.
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Paul Matshatile, minister of arts and culture (back left), and Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse (61) on Monday encouraged readers to read at the launch of National Book Week. Front from left are Busisiwe Milanzi (16) of Molly Blackburn High School, Luyolo Goliath (10) of Hombakazi Primary School and Avuyile Mbehgashe (12) of the Phunduye Primary School in Kwanobuhle. Photo: WERNER HILLS
Sports, Arts and Culture festival staged in first for Uitenhage NCEBA DLADLA PLANS are afoot to hold the first ever Heritage, Sports and Arts festival in Uitenhage. The festival is to be held at the Multipurpose Centre in KwaNobuhle from September 22 to 23, during Heritage Month. “Staging the event in KwaNobhule is quite fitting, as it is the oldest part of Uitenhage which used to be called Qhagqiwa or Etolofiyeni by its original inhabitants,” said local Television Director and Producer Nceba Mqolomba. “Uitenhage is the home of Enoch Sontonga - the author of Um-
hobe Wesizwe (National Anthem) Nkosi Sikelel’ i-Afrika, the place where the wagon was produced and the Great Trek started,” said Mqolomba. He said he has seen festivals of jazz, oysters, cheese and Afrikaans but has never seen a festival celebrating Uitenhage and its great personalities. “Only when they die, do we honour and celebrate people who contributed to the nation-building in our country. And that must come to an end. We must celebrate our heroes and heroines while they are still alive,” said Mqolomba mentioning the likes of Smuts Ngonyama, Butityi Konki, Zwai Bala and Danie Gerber.