Thinkpiece Thursday

I Am Not A Witch

In a remote Zambian village, Shula, a nine-year-old girl, is orphaned and alone. Shula is unwanted by everyone and considered a nuisance- so they accuse her of being a witch.  Shula is an innocent easy target.

The villagers gather outside the local police office and demand action. The skeptical policewoman sees a small child. But a corrupt government official, Mr. Banda, who declares himself Shula’s “state guardian,” sees a pay cheque.

Mr. Banda is a sweaty fat verbose conniver, a combination of lethal and ludicrous. He carts his prize to the local “witch camp”. Shula can either join the other “witches” as free field labor or be killed as a goat. Shula and the other women are tethered to their chores by wide cotton ribbons. One end is attached to their backs and the other end wound around enormous wooden spools housed on a large flatbed truck. They are held captive by a light floating “chain” that wafts in the breeze.

The ribbons are a brilliant metaphor. They look like something from a fairy story and seem surreal and silly until you consider how sinister they are. They are the way that men like Banda control the women and he reminds the elder “witches” to be grateful for how much extra ribbon he has given them since taking office. It’s a familiar argument by men who want to restrict women and want women to be grateful for their constraints. It could always be worse, right?

In my experience…

I recently visited Cape Town. The city counts down the days until taps run dry and are closed off. I’ve seen firsthand how life changes in a severe drought. Shula is exhorted to dance to alleviate the local lack of rain and water starvation. In the purity of her innocent heart, Shula dances herself to death and the rains come. This frees Shula from her enslavement and inspires all the “withes” to cut their ribbons and disappear from the camp.

This is a dreamy surreal movie with dark undertones of exploitation and slavery.

drought in cape town

Lessons to Learn from Wakaliwood

2009. Isaac Nabwana Godfrey Geoffrey (or Nabwana I.G.G.) was just a fan of Hollywood action movies. He was living in the slum of Wakaliga, near Uganda’s capital city Kampala. He decided to make his own- Uganda’s first action movie! He sold everything he owned and made bricks so he could raise enough money to buy an old Sony camcorder.

Don’t Scale Back Your Ambition

Isaac rallied the people of Wakaliga together, with less than a $200 budget, to make Who Killed Captain Alex? an action movie that makes no sense whatsoever but is absolutely hilarious with surprisingly good action. One of the reasons is that he and his friends taught themselves Kung Fu and now compete in local championships, so the action is authentic. He built himself an editing suite to include CGI in his films, and after making every movie, he has to delete the footage so he has enough space to make his next film.

After the film became a success, he developed “Wakaliwood”, a film studio within Wakaliga that has created such hits as Bad Black, Cannibal Mama, and Ebola Hunter. They play film festivals worldwide, and enough fans bankroll Wakaliwood that it is self-sustaining. Isaac dreamed big, made a movie whose ambition doesn’t necessarily match its budget, and it paid off. His long-term project is building an entire life-size replica helicopter for his next film! and he’s almost there!

Don’t Forget Where You Came From

Isaac had survived the Ugandan Civil War and lived under the brutal dictatorship of Idi Amin. Yet he fed his experiences into his movie, which makes for one of the funniest moments in the movie. His production company, RaMon Film Productions, is named after his grandmothers Rachel and Monica, who raised him. He even composed a song dedicated to them which plays over the credits of Who Killed Captain Alex?

Throughout it all, Isaac has remained committed to improving his community through the growth of Wakaliwood. People in Wakaliga who sell his DVD’s are allowed to keep a large percentage of any sales. He cares about his friends and his family, whilst doing what he loves without sacrificing his integrity.  Not always true in Hollywood.

Expect the Unexpectable

Isaac made Who Killed Captain Alex? for fun. He never intended for anyone outside Wakaliga to see it. But when a copy of the trailer was uploaded to YouTube in 2010, it became a viral sensation across the globe. One of the reasons it was a success is because Isaac hadn’t intended to make money from the film initially, or have it be his “calling card”. He did what he loved for the fun of it, and that passion shines through.

Isaac was recently invited to China, home of his beloved Kung Fu movies. People all over the world love his films and journalists from the likes of Vice, BBC and Al Jazeera are constantly writing about Wakaliwood. Isaac managed to capitalize on his 15 minutes of fame and made it something sustainable. Who Killed Captain Alex? could have been written off as a joke, but 8 years later he has created a film industry in his hometown.

The Moral of the Story

Don’t scale back your ambition. Don’t forget where you came from. And to quote the film, “expect the unexpectable”.

Isaac should be an inspiration to filmmaker and writers alike. You have no excuse not to write your script or make your movie- if Isaac can make an action movie for $200 in a Ugandan slum, and keep it personal to him, then what’s stopping you?

Tsotsi

The film, Tsotsi, is an adaptation of an Athol Fugard novel of the same name.  Set in a Johannesburg slum, it tells the story of a young street thug who highjacks a car only to discover a baby in the back seat. The character and film are a classic Power of Will story. It is Tsotsi’s connection with innocence that saves him, even as it triggers his downfall.

The film won the 2006 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film in 2006.

Here is how the production saga began. A British producer and good friend optioned the book.  The biggest challenge was to update the story originally set in the 1950’s. A lot had changed in South Africa since the book’s publication.

The producer and I discussed adaptation issues over the weekend he stayed with us in Santa Monica. I watched A Reasonable Man, starring Gavin Hood.  Gavin was then a little-known writer-director-actor from South Africa. In A Reasonable Man, he plays a Power of Conscience lawyer defending a black cowherd on a murder charge.

The producer and I agreed Gavin would be an interesting choice to direct Tsotsi. I gave a dinner party and Gavin was invited along with my producer friend and a possible production partner. Gavin knew the book and offered some insight into how he would approach writing/directing the adaptation. What a wonderful creative evening!

Along the way, I read script rewrites and looked at dozens of edit versions, including three possible endings. I enjoyed every minute and am so proud to be associated with this wonderful project.  Below is a segment of A Reasonable Man and the pre-Oscar win trailer of Tsotsi.  

I am hoping to discover more breakthrough South African talent while working with young filmmakers in Cape Town and Johannesburg this month.

A Reasonable Man

https://youtu.be/GOgt9j2ZY8o

Tsotsi Trailer

https://youtu.be/rjxLQPumRpc

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