The Sol Plaatje Film Festival is set to quench the thirst for and deprivation of cinema in Galeshewe near Kimberley in Northern Cape.
The large and sparsely populated province has only one cinema, in Kimberley, leaving the rest of the small towns and villages with no access to film in a cinema setting.
Steve White, the festival's director who staged the We Are Africa festival the last May, says he was struck by how the province was neglected.
"There is so much appetite for cinema in Galeshewe. We had to stop screening in a 300-seater conference facility at Mayibuye Centre because there was going to be a stampede by young people. We ended up showing films in a gymnasium that could accommodate more than 1000," he says.
So, for the past 10 months he perfected a pitch, raised funds and support to bring the Sol Plaatje Film Festival to Galeshewe.
He now has the support of the provincial department of sport, arts and culture.
White named the festival after Solomon Thekisho Plaatje, the late political icon and Tswana literary and journalism giant who lived and worked in Kimberley.
Plaatje is also one of the founding fathers of the ANC.
White has also staged the Ruth Mompati Film Festival in Vryburg, North West. Mompati, an anti-apartheid struggle icon, lived and served as mayor of Vryburg.
Next Friday, White will roll out his selection for the festival. It will include Tell Me Sweet Something starring Nomzamo Mbatha and Maps Maponyane. The film's director, Akin Omotoso, will be available in Galeshewe following the screening of his work.
Also on the bill is Four Corners, the SA Film and Television Awards winning crime drama set in the Cape Flats; dance film Hear Me Move starring Wandile Molebatsi and Nyaniso Dzedze; and iNumber Number, an action film starring Sdumo Mtshali and Presley Chweneyagae.
The National Film and Video Foundation will hold workshops on film-making and career options.
White says the chosen movies have a kasi flavour and will resonate with the audience.
"They also mirror the challenges the community of Galeshewe face. There is gangsterism and drugs and alcohol abuse and we believe that in our small way we will contribute in stimulating debate and conversations around these ills.
"We also celebrate love and hope with a film like Tell Me Sweet Something. At the end of the day, our objective is to grow film and African cinema," he says.
l Entrance is free
mofokengl@sowetan.co.za
Northern Cape kasi to host film festival
The Sol Plaatje Film Festival is set to quench the thirst for and deprivation of cinema in Galeshewe near Kimberley in Northern Cape.
The large and sparsely populated province has only one cinema, in Kimberley, leaving the rest of the small towns and villages with no access to film in a cinema setting.
Steve White, the festival's director who staged the We Are Africa festival the last May, says he was struck by how the province was neglected.
"There is so much appetite for cinema in Galeshewe. We had to stop screening in a 300-seater conference facility at Mayibuye Centre because there was going to be a stampede by young people. We ended up showing films in a gymnasium that could accommodate more than 1000," he says.
So, for the past 10 months he perfected a pitch, raised funds and support to bring the Sol Plaatje Film Festival to Galeshewe.
He now has the support of the provincial department of sport, arts and culture.
White named the festival after Solomon Thekisho Plaatje, the late political icon and Tswana literary and journalism giant who lived and worked in Kimberley.
Plaatje is also one of the founding fathers of the ANC.
White has also staged the Ruth Mompati Film Festival in Vryburg, North West. Mompati, an anti-apartheid struggle icon, lived and served as mayor of Vryburg.
Next Friday, White will roll out his selection for the festival. It will include Tell Me Sweet Something starring Nomzamo Mbatha and Maps Maponyane. The film's director, Akin Omotoso, will be available in Galeshewe following the screening of his work.
Also on the bill is Four Corners, the SA Film and Television Awards winning crime drama set in the Cape Flats; dance film Hear Me Move starring Wandile Molebatsi and Nyaniso Dzedze; and iNumber Number, an action film starring Sdumo Mtshali and Presley Chweneyagae.
The National Film and Video Foundation will hold workshops on film-making and career options.
White says the chosen movies have a kasi flavour and will resonate with the audience.
"They also mirror the challenges the community of Galeshewe face. There is gangsterism and drugs and alcohol abuse and we believe that in our small way we will contribute in stimulating debate and conversations around these ills.
"We also celebrate love and hope with a film like Tell Me Sweet Something. At the end of the day, our objective is to grow film and African cinema," he says.
l Entrance is free
mofokengl@sowetan.co.za
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