DurbanFilmMart
Projects Unearthed
We Want Development
Director / Producer: Jolynn Minnaar Producer: Dylan Voogt
Producer: Atieno Odenyo Director: Phillipa Ndisi-Hermann Country: Kenya
Fracking, a controversial gas extraction process, is threatening the town in which director/ producer Jolynn Minnaar grew up. Although previously optimistic about what shale gas could do to alleviate poverty and ease the national energy crisis, an anonymous call leads the 24-year-old South African to dig further, unearthing deadly findings. Dubbed “the next generation Erin Brokovich”, Jolynn Minnaar has presented her findings at national conferences locally and abroad. She graduated with a distinction from UCT with a triple major BA degree in Film, Media and Media Production. Dylan is a member of the South African Independent Producers Organization and was recently invited to be part of the 2013 Berlinale Talent Campus.
We Want Development explores the extent to which the land and space we inhabit influences who we are. Lamu is a remote Islamic island on the coast of Kenya and it is here that the audience meets Bibi and several other characters that include a hotel owner and a fisherman. Philippa Ndisi-Hermann studied filmmaking and her short film Gubi – The Birth of Fruit, premiered at The Brooklyn International Film Festival. Film producer, life coach and international development consultant, Atieno Odenyo produced Score for Sasja, a short documentary on a girls’ soccer initiative in Nairobi’s slums
Fiction Projects Andani and the Mechanic
Five Fingers for Marseilles
Producer/Director: Sara Blecher Country: South Africa
Producer/Director: Michael Matthews Producer/Writer: Sean Drummond Country: South Africa
In a community vibrant with migrants from across the African Continent, against the backdrop of unspoken love, Andani and the Mechanic is a coming of age story about a young woman who tries to navigate a path for herself. But this is a world where everything keeps shifting – everything except the one thing that really does need to change. Andani and the Mechanic presents a new role model to young girls – on the cusp of adulthood – that allows them to consider new options and possibilities for their own lives. It showcases a successful, young woman, an entrepreneur, who manages to navigate her way through the grease and garages that define a man’s world. Director and producer, Sara Blecher is best known as a journalist and documentary filmmaker for SABC’s award winning current affairs programme, Special Assignment. Her feature film Otello Burning has played to many audiences internationally and was the opening film for the 32nd Durban International Film Festival.
Twenty years ago, the young ‘Five Fingers’ fought for the rural town of Marseilles, against brutal police oppression. Now, after fleeing in disgrace, freedom-fighter-turned ‘outlaw’ Tau, returns to Marseilles, seeking only a peaceful life. But he finds the town under new threat and reluctantly fights to free it. Will the Five Fingers ride again? Michael Matthews has directed over 60 short films, music videos and creative works. Sean Drummond’s recent high-profile work includes the science fiction short, Sweetheart, which toured festivals extensively, catching the eye of studios including Warner Brothers and Fox, and in 2013 is the subject of a series of European academic papers on African genre film.
Free the Town Black Sunshine Producer: Julio Chavezmontes Co-producer: Angele Diabang Director: Akosua Adoma Owusu Country: Ghana Black Sunshine tells the story of promiscuous hairdresser, Effie Konadu, who lives with her 15-year-old albino daughter, Asabea. The film is about the conflict between a black mother and her albino child. It unravels with various scenarios that include Asabea creating a black imaginary friend, Effie’s shame of mothering an albino child and the belief that albinos hold supernatural powers. Producer, Julio Chavezmontes graduated with honours from the University of Chicago and holds a MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Director, Akosua Adoma Owusu received an MFA from CalArts and has served on the jury and screening committees for Festival 3 Continents and AFI Silverdocs.
Producer: Vincho Nchogu Co-producer Nikkia Moulterie Director: Nikyatu Jusu Country: Kenya In Free the Town we meet a local virgin, born of a mother who was murdered at the hands of witch hunters (Binta), a Brooklyn teen (Michael) and a myopic filmmaker (Amy). Binta is the central character and she serves as the catalyst. These disparate individuals’ lives tragically intersect in an effort to navigate the formerly war torn streets of Sierra Leone’s capital city: Freetown. Vincho Nchogu produced a series of documentaries in Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia titled, Future Express. Nikyatu Jusu is a graduate of the New York University, Tisch School of the Arts with an MFA in Film Production.