The Joburg Film Festival, in conjunction with MultiChoice, is committed to building South Africa’s filmmaking industry.
At the weekend, 133 aspiring filmmakers spent two days immersed in industry workshops led by local experts during the final installment of the festival’s youth and audience development programme held at the Joburg Theatre.
The programme included workshops on acting, storytelling and conceptualisation, pitching of proposals, as well as masterclasses on directing and animation content creation. It was capped by the screening of Jafta Mamabolo’s film Freedom.
The acting workshop was facilitated by Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner Hlengiwe Lushaba Madlala.
Joburg south resident Lerato Zwane, who is studying accounting, attended the workshop to explore her creative side. She particularly enjoyed the experience of learning about the craft of acting.
“I enjoyed the acting workshop because of how it helped me understand that acting is a personal journey in and out of characters, and what processes actors use,” Zwane said.
“It’s something I believe is useful for me as an individual in my everyday life, where I can apply those concepts in acknowledging situations before asking what they’re about.”
The workshop also included masterclasses in directing by acclaimed TV and film director Ferry Jele, as well as an animation content creation session which was led by the team behind the Fak’ugesi Festival.
Jele’s masterclass started with ululations and was dominated by a flurry of questions from the audience, who were keen on topics that included transitioning from being an actor to a director, the necessity of formal education, how to develop trust with actors, and the challenges of growing the comedy series scene in South Africa.
Dipopaai founder Sthembiso Mphehla and Buthano Pictures MD Nompi Vilakazi formed part of the animation content creation masterclass.
Mphehla said animation is his preferred storytelling medium because the only limits are the boundaries in his mind.
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