LACK of funding, heavy rains and floods in Limpopo where they were filming, and the collapse of a bridge which was the easiest route to the set were some of the problems which delayed the project by nine years.
These are some of the challenges the Shadowy Meadows Productions crew and cast overcame to make the feature film Elelwani.
Now Elelwani, by acclaimed filmmaker Ntshaveni wa Luruli, has been invited to the 2013 Berlin Film Festival in Germany.
The title character, Elelwani, is a young educated Venda woman who has to return home to a rural area and "forget about stilettos, walk barefoot, shave her head, be on her knees and respect her elders enough to bow down to them", said actress Florence Masebe, who portrays Elelwani.
Masebe said the production was a long and "non-ideal process of making a film".
"(Luruli) and I discussed the making of the film 10 years ago. I didn't know it would take so much time to get money. When we began shooting, I had to work harder than I ever have in my acting career," said Masebe.
She said many potential funders had no interest in stories like theirs.
"It was frustrating because our story has no politics," she said.
Luruli added: "People called it a stupid Venda film."
The pair made the film with R3.5-million sponsored by the Gauteng Film Commission as well as "scrapping wherever we could to pay for everything else".
They believed in Elelwani's story but, above all, this was an attempt to place their indigenous language in the limelight.
Elelwani and the film Layla Fourie by Pia Marais are the only South African films which will be featured in the German festival later this month. The films will be on circuit locally in August. - monnakgotlam@sowetan.co.za
Venda film makes it big despite heavy setbacks
LACK of funding, heavy rains and floods in Limpopo where they were filming, and the collapse of a bridge which was the easiest route to the set were some of the problems which delayed the project by nine years.
These are some of the challenges the Shadowy Meadows Productions crew and cast overcame to make the feature film Elelwani.
Now Elelwani, by acclaimed filmmaker Ntshaveni wa Luruli, has been invited to the 2013 Berlin Film Festival in Germany.
The title character, Elelwani, is a young educated Venda woman who has to return home to a rural area and "forget about stilettos, walk barefoot, shave her head, be on her knees and respect her elders enough to bow down to them", said actress Florence Masebe, who portrays Elelwani.
Masebe said the production was a long and "non-ideal process of making a film".
"(Luruli) and I discussed the making of the film 10 years ago. I didn't know it would take so much time to get money. When we began shooting, I had to work harder than I ever have in my acting career," said Masebe.
She said many potential funders had no interest in stories like theirs.
"It was frustrating because our story has no politics," she said.
Luruli added: "People called it a stupid Venda film."
The pair made the film with R3.5-million sponsored by the Gauteng Film Commission as well as "scrapping wherever we could to pay for everything else".
They believed in Elelwani's story but, above all, this was an attempt to place their indigenous language in the limelight.
Elelwani and the film Layla Fourie by Pia Marais are the only South African films which will be featured in the German festival later this month. The films will be on circuit locally in August. - monnakgotlam@sowetan.co.za
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