JULY 2007 line-up

3/7: Film Appreciation 101 (Lesson 1), PLUS Jump The Gun

10/7: White Working Class

17/7: The Future of Food

24/7: Zen & Zero, PLUS animation by the Black Heart Gang

31/7: Film Appreciation 101 (Lesson 2)

and a variety of music videos and short films during every show.

(Scroll down for more details of the films)

More about alt film

alt film is a free film screening event, at Zula Sound Bar every Tuesday. We play all kinds of interesting films to all kinds of interesting people.

alt film is an interactive and open two-way platform, available to everyone to utilise in creative ways, to encourage dialogue and thinking about moving images.

It is there for filmmakers (dazzle the audience with your work, or simply get objective feedback from the public), and it is there for the general public (see a film show that won’t cost you a cent, and get an idea of what the local film industry is doing).

We wish to empower everyone involved to become more visually literate, and to cultivate an educated sense of quality with regards to the art of filmmaking.

We want to present as many South African films as possible, so feel free to submit your film for screening in this comfortable and sociable setting, with Zula’s sound system making the difference to your experience.

Let us know what you want to see – your input may just cause spontaneous reactions.

Or just come over, sit down, and open your eyes.

The restaurant and bar provides the necessary culinary ingredients to keep your tummy happy. And if you wish to stay for some aural pleasure, Zula presents the Acoustic Sessions, a free musical jam session just after alt film.

alt film

Zula Sound Bar, 196 Long Street, Cape Town

7-9pm every Tuesday

Free entrance

altfilm@gmail.com

www.altfilm.blogspot.com

(To get the alt film newsletters, send us an email with “YES PLEASE” in the subject line.

To stop getting the alt film newsletters, send us an email with “GO AWAY” in the subject line.)

Special thanks to:

• Vusa, Grant and the rest of the Zula team
• Zivia Desai Keiper (Tri-Continental Film Festival)
• Derek Serra (Controversi Films)
• Charmaine, Luanne and Adrian (SAFeAGE)

Film descriptions

WHITE WORKING CLASS

Dir: Derek Antonio Serra

SA 2006

48 mins

Courtesy of the director

In this personal film on his father, director Derek Antonio Serra provides us with a glimpse into the life of an ordinary white working class man who has lived through much of the 20th century in South Africa.

Bill Serra is the son of an Italian immigrant who came to South Africa in 1903, three hundred years after the first colonial settlers set foot in Southern Africa. A simple man with a strong work ethic, Bill was never unemployed for one day of his adult life. We follow him as he revisits some of the major landmarks he helped construct during his lifetime. A great storyteller, he shares his memories of the trials and tribulations he and his men endured while building these landmarks.

Through these intriguing tales we gain an insight into the life of a typical white working class family struggling to make ends meet each day, a story seldom told in today’s politically correct South African documentaries.

CONTROVERSI FILMS

CONTROVERSI FILMS has established itself as a producer of cutting -edge, controversial social documentaries over the past 10 years with titles like CAPE OF RAPE, STREETLIFE-Virgins, CULTURECLASH and "nudecapetown".

Producer/director Derek Antonio Serra is a fiercely independent filmmaker, who owns his own HD cameras and edit suites, which enables him to make films outside of the "SABC commissioning censorship machine." He has produced and directed 10 documentaries in 10 years on budgets ranging from R 200 000 to R 2000 often using a guerrilla-style approach to filmmaking. Derek is considered a technical expert on low-budget digital production, and has offered HDV Masterclasses at the Sithengi Talent Campus and Zambian Film Festival on several occasions, as well as free Digital Production Workshops countrywide.

THE FUTURE OF FOOD

Dir: Deborah Koons Garcia

US 2004

88 mins

Courtesy of SOUTH AFRICAN FREEZE ALLIANCE ON GENETIC ENGINEERING (SAFeAGE)

(Screening will be followed by an audience discussion)

There is a revolution happening in the farm fields and on the dinner tables of countries around the world. A revolution that is transforming the very nature of the food we eat. THE FUTURE OF FOOD offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled grocery store shelves for the past decade.

The health implications, government policies and push towards globalization, are all part of the reason why many people are alarmed about the introduction of genetically altered crops into our food supply. Although shot on location in the US, Canada and Mexico, THE FUTURE OF FOOD examines the complex web of market and political forces that are changing what the world eats, as large multinational corporations seek control of the world's food systems.

After the movie we will have a discussion about GM Foods in South Africa.

ZEN AND ZERO

Dir: Michael Ginthor

Austria 2006

61 mins, Subtitled

Courtesy of the Tri-Continental Film Festival

It takes quite some ingenuity for five landlocked Austrians to get to ride the waves for three months straight, or at least the juggling of a few figures. In Costa Rica, they say off-roaders sell for double their price in LA, plus minus a couple of bucks. You just have to get them through 7000 miles of Central America.

With this in mind they fly into LA, buy used cars and drive down to Costa Rica - surfing along the way with plans, once they arrive at their destination, of selling the vehicles so they can afford to stay put and surf some more.

Ginthor’s metaphysical Hunter Thompsonesque road picture has a ‘70s feel and fine surf footage, but it’s the characters met along the way that make it stand out.

Film Appreciation 101

An alt film initiative! Every month we present a short class on the medium of film, covering a wide range of topics. By charting the history timeline of filmmaking, we hope to educate and foster a new sense of appreciation for this art form and also a positive reception and renewed interests in what’s happening in modern day cinema. Each class is structured around a period, movement or theme.

July 2007: Lesson 1: “The Beginning – Early Cinema”

In this class we will explore the early days of cinema, including the very first films produced in the 18^th century, and also the start of filmmaking in South Africa in the early parts of the 19^th century. Screenings include Georges Meliès’ sensational sci-fi called A Trip to the Moon, which featured the most inventive spaceship we’ve seen in a very long time (this film was the inspiration behind Smashing Pumpkins’ award-winning video, Tonight,tonight).

Before Yesterday, before Tsotsi, and even before Mr Bones, South African cinema has been at the forefront of filmmaking on the continent. As a bonus feature, alt film takes you back to the times of SA screen heroes, the likes of Jamie Uys (contentious subject matter...never the less) and Katinka Heyns, by screening a truly South African cinema classic directly after the class.

Latest news: We will screen JUMP THE GUN, courtesy of the producer and Ochre Media.

July 2007: Lesson 2: Silent Classics

Still focusing on the evolution of early cinema, this week’s lesson will take a look at the silent classics, and stylistic innovations of that era. From the zany, heyday antics of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton to breathtaking German Expressionism to the extraordinary technique of Surrealism in film, these images formed a vital part of the collective consciousness and style within modern cinema. Screening includes clips from German Expressionism classic, The Cabinet of Dr Caligri (which was the influence behind a Red Hot Chili Peppers music video), Chaplin’s The Great Dictator, Louis Bunuel and Salvador Dali’s masterpiece, Un Chien Andalou and a few other surprises.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

…and alt film is back. Now on Tuesdays!


June 2007 line-up

12/6: Outlawed & Hamas Behind the Mask
19/6: Loose Change (screening will be followed by an audience discussion)
26/6: Film Appreciation 101 (Part 1) & a South African cinema classic

plus a variety of music videos and short films during every show.

(Scroll down for more details of the films)


More about alt film

alt film is a free regular film screening event, at Zula Sound Bar. We play all kinds of interesting films to all kinds of interesting people.
A very wide variety of films, ranging from animation to documentaries to student short films to old school classics. And an equally varied audience, from the players in the film industry to tourists to musicians to students.

With a solid two-year track record of Sunday night shows, alt film is now moving to its new timeslot of 7-9pm every Tuesday night.

alt film is an interactive and open two-way platform, available to everyone to utilise in creative ways, to encourage dialogue and thinking about moving images.
It is there for filmmakers (dazzle the audience with your work, or simply get objective feedback from the public), and it is there for the general public (see a film show that won’t cost you a cent, and get an idea of what the local film industry is doing).
We wish to empower everyone involved to become more visually literate, and to cultivate an educated sense of quality with regards to the art of filmmaking.

We want to present as many South African films as possible, so feel free to submit your film for screening in this comfortable and sociable setting, with Zula’s sound system making the difference to your experience.
Let us know what you want to see – your input may just cause spontaneous reactions. Or just come over, sit down, and open your eyes.
The restaurant and bar provides the necessary culinary ingredients to keep your tummy happy. And if you wish to stay for some aural pleasure, Zula presents the Acoustic Sessions, a free musical jam session just after alt film.

alt film
Zula Sound Bar, 196 Long Street, Cape Town
7-9pm every Tuesday
No entry fee
altfilm@gmail.com
http://www.altfilm.blogspot.com/
(To get the alt film newsletters, send us an email with “YES PLEASE” in the subject line.
To stop getting the alt film newsletters, send us an email with “GO AWAY” in the subject line.)

Special thanks to:
* Vusa, Grant and the rest of the Zula team
* Zivia Desai Keiper (Tri-Continental Film Festival)
* Rustum August


Film descriptions

OUTLAWED: Extraordinary Rendition, Torture and Disappearances in the “War on Terror”

Dir: WITNESS (Produced in conjunction with 14 global NGOs)
US 2006
27 mins
Courtesy of Tri-Continental Film Festival

Outlawed: Extraordinary Rendition, Torture and Disappearances in the “War on Terror,” features the testimony of Khaled El-Masri and Binyam Mohamed, two men seized in the renditions program, who have suffered abuses at the hands of US government and at least four other governments in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Co-produced by a coalition of 14 human rights groups in the US and Europe, Outlawed presents the real life consequences of the U.S. government’s disregard for international legal instruments dealing with respect for fundamental rights.
It makes an outstanding contribution to the current international debate about renditions and secret detentions and features commentary from Louise Arbour, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael Scheuer, the chief architect of the rendition program and former head of the Osama Bin Laden unit at the CIA, Condoleezza Rice, and President George W.Bush.

Hamas Behind the Mask

Dir: Shelley Saywell
Canada/Palestine 2005
50 mins, Subtitled
Courtesy of Tri-Continental Film Festival

Hamas Behind the Mask is a journey inside one of the world’s most secretive and controversial political organizations. It documents the transition period during which Hamas is entering the political arena.
Interviews with leaders in hiding, militants and activists are juxtaposed with Israeli experts and victims, as the film examines how Hamas turned the once secular struggle for Palestine into a religiously motivated Jihad. What emerges is a portrait of a starkly resilient group.
Hamas Behind the Mask is a look at the people behind the stereotypical terrorist mask, who have become a major force in shaping the future of a Palestinian state and putting an end to the enduring conflict in the Middle East.

Loose Change

Dir: Dylan Avery
US 2006
80 mins
(Screening will be followed by an audience discussion)

Loose Change is a documentary film that presents evidence for a 9/11 conspiracy theory, arguing that elements within the United States government planned and executed the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The film was widely distributed via the Internet.
The accuracy and fairness of Loose Change has been disputed by the counter-video “Screw Loose Change”, “Popular Mechanics”, media outlets and independent researchers. On September 11, 2006 Dylan Avery and Jason Bermas appeared on "Democracy Now! the War and Peace Report", to debate James Meigs and David Dunbar, two editors of “Popular Mechanics” and the book “Debunking 9/11 Myths”.
The film was edited and then re-released in a second edition, then recut again. A further "final cut" version was originally planned for release on September 11 2006, but was delayed and is now pushed back to "the weekend preceding September 11th 2007.".

Film Appreciation 101

An alt film initiative! Every month we present a short class on the medium of film, covering a wide range of topics. By charting the history timeline of filmmaking, we hope to educate and foster a new sense of appreciation for this art form and also a positive reception and renewed interests in what’s happening in modern day cinema. Each class is structured around a period, movement or theme.

June 2007: Lesson 1: “The Beginning – Early Cinema”
In this class we will explore the early days of cinema, including the very first films produced in the 18th century, and also the start of filmmaking in South Africa in the early parts of the 19th century. Screenings include the first 24 frames ever captured by the Lumiere Brothers (a train going through a tunnel...bear with us, it gets better...) and Georges Meliès’ sensational sci-fi called A Trip to the Moon, which featured the most inventive spaceship we’ve seen in a very long time (this film was the inspiration behind Smashing Pumpkins’ award-winning video, Tonight,tonight).

Before Yesterday, before Tsotsi, and even before Mr Bones, South African cinema has been at the forefront of filmmaking on the continent. As a bonus feature, alt film takes you back to the times of SA screen heroes, the likes of Jamie Uys (contentious subject matter...never the less) and Katinka Heyns, by screening a truly South African cinema classic directly after the class.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Watch this space for the launch of alt film on tuesdays...

IMPORTANT NEWS

alt film will be out of circulation, with immediate effect, until August 2007. This follows from a decision by our host, Zula Sound Bar, to not open shop on Sundays during winter, due to low attendance numbers over the past few weeks.

We will attempt to find an alternative venue for alt film in the meantime, and attempt to keep the show running during the next few months, until the numbers pick up again at Zula. However, there isn't a new home for alt film yet, so until further notice we will not do any screenings.

Thank you to everyone who's helped us with contributions, assistance and attendance over the past two years, it has been an amazing adventure so far!

Until later,

Francois
alt film

Hi!

With no doubt left about summer being over, we are glad to bring to you a selection of longer films in May for you to warm up to.

During the first three weeks we will be screening documentaries from the 2006 Tri-Continental Film Festival, dealing with a number of socio-economical topics.

For the last Sunday of May we have a delightfully freaky scary film for you to bite your nails to – the 1994 version of La Machine.

And in all four May screenings there will be a healthy dose of short films to keep you entertained.

A big Thank You to:

• Everyone at Zula Sound Bar

• Zivia Desai Keiper (Tri-Continental Film Festival – www.3continentsfestival.co.za )

Zula Sound Bar at 194 Long Street, Cape Town, South Africa

7-9 pm every Sunday

Free entry

Warm and cold drinks provided by the bar, and food by the restaurant

see you there!

alt film

altfilm.blogspot.com

alt film was established to collect and screen* film being made by creative South Africans today, as well as work that most powerfully incorporates and describes the inevitable evolution of the medium.

• ps if you know someone who wants to receive this info in a monthly newsletters, let them send us an email to altfilm@gmail.com with “YES PLEASE!” in the subject line.

The short version: May 2007

6 May: Bushman’s Secret (Doccie)

13 May: Favela Rising (Doccie)

20 May: Mardi Gras: Made in China (Doccie)

27 May: La Machine (Thriller)

6 May 2007

BUSHMAN’S SECRET

Dir: Rehad Desai

South Africa 2006

64 mins

Subtitled

When South African filmmaker Rehad Desai travels to the Kalahari to investigate global interest in ancient Bushmen knowledge, he meets Jan van der Westhuizen, a fasctinating Khomani San traditional healer.

Jan’s struggle to live close to nature is hampered by centuries of colonial exploitation of the San Bushmen and of their land. Unable to hunt and gather, the Khomani now live in a state of poverty that threatens to see the last of this community forever.

One plant could make all the difference. Hoodia, a cactus used by Bushmen for centuries, has caught the attention of a giant pharmaceutical company. It now stands to decide the fate of the Khomani San.

Bushman’s Secret features breathtaking footage of the Kalahari landscape, and exposes us to a world where modernity collides with ancient ways, at a time when each has, strangely, come to rely on the other.

13 May 2007

FAVELA RISING

Dirs: Matt Mochary and Jeff Zimbalist

USA/Brazil 2005

80 mins

Subtitled

Favela Rising documents a man and a movement, a city divided and a favela united. Haunted by an infamous police massacre in his community in one of Rio de Janeiro’s most violent slums, and sick of the perpetual violence that plagues his people, former drug-trafficker, Anderson Sá, turns social revolutionary.

Through music, the rhythms of the street, and Afro-Brazilian dance he rallies the community of Vigário Geral, to counteract the violent oppression enforced by teenage drug armies and sustained by corrupt police, and forges a movement that brings hope to the ghettos and its forgotten youth.

But just as collective mobility is overcoming all odds and Anderson’s grassroots Afro Reggae movement is at the height of its success, a tragic event threatens to silence the movement forever.

Favela Rising shows how the music and culture of Brazil's underclass transform into a catalyst for grassroots social change.

New York Latino Film Festival, 2005 – Best Documentary

Cinema Paradise Film Festival, 2005 – Best Documentary

Woodstock Film Festival, 2005 – Best Editing

Tulipanes Latino Art and Film Festival, 2005 – Best of Show

Roxbury Film Festival, 2005 – Audience Favourite Award

Sidewalk Moving Pictures Festival – 2005 – Audience Choice Award

20 May 2007

MARDI GRAS: MADE IN CHINA

Dir: David Redmon

USA 2005

74 mins

Subtitled

Mardi Gras: Made in China follows the "bead trail" from the factory in China to Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras, poignantly exposing the inequities of globalization.

First-time director David Redmon cleverly illuminates the clash of cultures by juxtaposing American excess and consumer ignorance against the harsh life of the Chinese factory worker. The film confronts both cultural and economic globalism by humanizing the commodity chain from China to the United States.

Redmon follows the stories of four teenage women workers in the largest Mardi Gras bead factory in the world, providing insights into their economic realities, their self-sacrifice, and dreams of a better life, and the severe discipline imposed by living and working in a factory compound.

Interweaving factory life with Mardi Gras festivities, the film opens the blind eye of consumerism by visually introducing workers and festival-goers to each other.

27 May 2007

La Machine

Dir: François Dupeyron

France 1994

96 mins

Thriller

Marc Lacroix (Gérard Depardieu) is a psychiatrist, a student of the brain, with a rocky marriage, a mistress, and a ten-year-old son. He also has a secret laboratory where he's built a machine he thinks will allow him to penetrate the mind of any person hooked up to the machine with him. He tests it with Zyto, a psychopath who has killed three women. The machine fails and exchanges the men's brains. Zyto passes himself off as Marc, and Marc (now in Zyto's body) escapes from the asylum to the flat of his mistress. She tries to warn Marc's wife, exposing herself to Zyto. All are now in grave danger. Can Lacroix find a way to get Zyto back to the machine before irreversible damage is done?

John Woo directed a fantastic little masterpiece a few years later, called "Face/off" in Hollywood, with some obvious resemblances in the plot.

I had the awesome pleasure to workshop with Elliot Grove the founder and director of the Raindance Film Festival. And there is befokte(awesome) things happening in the world of film. Also Raindance is open for enteries for 2007/8.
Dont be shy give it a try ....Best of luck Jinn Manson



And if u havent yet heard of JOOST check it out, a film maker and lovers playground on broadband.
stay in fast track. www.joost.com

NEW LISTINGS BELOW

check it outPlease print and stick up in your neighbourhood cafe,shopping mall Notice boards anywhere u can.Many thanks for helping keep expression alive.

Hi!

With the days getting shorter and the nights colder, it's clear that we're heading straight towards the Alt Film Winter Sessions. More news in the May 2007 newsletter, but suffice it to say that there will be a whole batch of longer films and documentaries on the menu, including films from the 2006 Tri-Continental Film Festival.

We start April with a bang, in the form of the DVD and CD launch party of "Mr. Devious – My Life". Respect. Come along to learn from and about the man, Devious. Expect a large crowd. A very hip-hop crowd. And the press. The film screening will precede a night of music, with tribute performances by Natalie van Rooy, Blaq Pearl, Ace, Strategist & Troy, with DJ Eon on the decks. Not to mention the extra appearances and spontaneous entertainment!

Since X-CAPE is already with us, herewith a short description of what it is:

X- CAPE was initiated by the CAPE Africa Platform (CAPE) in 2006. As of January 2007, the coordination of X-CAPE has been managed in partnership with VANSA (Visual Arts Network of South Africa). X-CAPE is an artist-led programme of activities by artists and cultural practitioners from across Cape Town and South Africa to coincide with the CAPE 2007 art event from 24 March – 02 May, 2007.

alt film will be hosting the film screening aspect of this extended exhibition in April. Details about the films appear further down in this newsletter, and more info on X-CAPE is available at http://www.capeafrica.org

Note that we're adding a doccie about comic books and the superheroes themselves in April – a great chance to see the people and artists behind characters like Superman and Spiderman.

And ending the April screenings is a night of student film, provided by AFDA.

A big Thank You to our contributors:

• John Fredericks (4 Wall Films)
• Martina Della Togna ( Rainbow Circle Films)
• Rob Robson & Moa Lindh ( X-CAPE), as well as all the X-CAPE participants
• Peter Adolphs (AFDA)
• Dale Yudelman

Zula Sound Bar at 194 Long Street ,

Cape Town , South Africa

7-9 pm every Sunday

Free entry

Cold and warm drinks provided by the bar,

and food by the restaurant

see you there!

alt film team

Alt film was established to collect and screen* film being made by creative South Africans today, as well as work that most powerfully incorporates and describes the inevitable evolution of the medium.

· ps if you don't want to receive these newsletters, simply reply with "go away and stay away" in the subject line, and we'll leave your inbox alone. promise.

· pps if you know someone who wants to receive these newsletters, let them send us an email to altfilm@gmail.com with "YES PLEASE!" in the subject line.

The short version: April 2007

1 April: Mr Devious – My Life (DVD & CD launch)

8 April: X-CAPE (Drama & comedy short films)

15 April: X-CAPE (A variety of short films)

22 April: Spyder-Man: Once Upon a Time the Heroes (doccie)

29 April: AFDA student films

1 April 2007

This evening is dedicated to the screening of the documentary about Devious, as well as musical tribute performances to this icon. Therefore the normal flow of alt film will be modified to combine the film screening with further events, including a Q&A session after the film, as well as live hip-hop acts, DJ's and more.

Mr Devious – My Life (DVD & CD launch)

Dir: John Fredericks

Duration: 48 min

SA 2007

"Mr Devious – my life" is the uplifting story of a talented son of Mitchell's Plain, South Africa, Mario van Rooy a.k.a "Mr Devious", who used his gift for music to inspire young people to rise above the stigma of poverty & gangsterism.

Mr Devious, an up and coming young South African hip-hop emcee tells his own story in this documentary film about his life. We track the journey from his humble beginnings as a kid in the Cape Flats to his rise to fame as a musician and hip hop artist, and later as he grows into the roles of dedicated father of two daughters, and educator and facilitator of youth at risk.

"My parents did not want to raise a gangster so we moved here to Mitchell's Plain which was a suburb at that time," Devious' voice enlightens the viewer over footage of Beacon Valley.

Monotonous rows of drab houses straddle the streets. Washing flutter in the breeze between the graffiti scrawled blocks of flats. Poverty and unemployment is rife and is evident by the scores of young people hanging around street corners as Devious continues his narration of the dynamics of the area. We capture the eerie stillness and underlying evil as the locals stare at the camera in avarice.

Ready D, Shamiema from Godessa and Shahien from Prophets of the City, share their insight as the talent of Mr. Devious rises to the attention of the music industry.

Mr Devious relates to us how he was offered a record deal if he in exchange would leave his wife and daughter behind. Realizing the record executives wanted to play God with his life he refuses to compromise and returns home, hooks up with his buddies and they record their own albums.

Reaching out to the youth and the community, inspiring them to take charge of their lives. Fiery and passionate he takes on the role of the spokesperson of his people. His lyrics are about every kind of injustices that his people have to endure, from aids, drugs, gangs, violence, social and juvenile justice. Mr Devious makes his voice heard, and becomes the Che Guevara of the Cape Flats who believed in Justice for all.

"Look at it now, you can't get away from it and you ask yourself why a ghetto. Things are much deeper than you think".

On the 23rd of January 2004, Mario died violently at the hands of a small group of gang members, the very same kind of youth that he dedicated his life's work to. In the end he died with colours flying as he made the ultimate sacrifice defending his dad who was being stabbed and robbed, leaving behind his wife Natalie, his two young daughters and an unborn child.

When Mario is killed it seems all hope is lost, but out of the darkness a strong voice emerges, as Natalie van Rooy, his wife and mother of his children picks up his spear, and makes meaning of his legacy.

The filmmakers present an honest deeply thought-through film that reflects the passionate life, death and legacy of Mr. Devious, an Icon of the Cape Flats and South Africa.

www.mr-devious.com

8 April 2007

Post Mortem 2010

Dir: Dale Yudelman

Duration: 5 min

SA 2006

During a morning talk show on a leading national radio station SAFM - three South Africans – Fanie, Robert and Angela call in to voice their opinion on the news of South Africa winning the Soccer World Cup 2010 bid.

What emerges is an unselfconscious social portrait as conversations illuminate some of the misgivings, old fears and hidden agendas that lurk within. Yet in spite of prejudice – an innocent and bold optimism reveals itself in the passionate way South Africans participate and relate to matters of national pride.

X-CAPE: Film Showcase by Citibird Creative Arts

Dir: Sandie Banda

Duration: 90 min

A selection of short films that use both drama and comedy to explore everything from HIV/AIDS, jealousy, hypocrisy and adultery, to blessings in disguise, golden secrets and more.

Their aim is to educate, entertain and enlighten the audience to take pride in positive living.

Includes the drama and comedy films The extreme, I don't know, Time for Everything, Out of order, Reaction, Tipex, Mundali, Tear and original colours & Complexities of Love Part I.

15 April 2007

X-CAPE: Various short films

Confessions of an Altered Boy

Anthony Sloan

Duration: 30 min

SA 2006

This film is essentially a filmed record of the recording of an Audio Drama (in the tradition of the Radio Dramas of the last century). It aims to express concerns, demonstrate possibilities, and create an experience of changing perceptions toward learning, teaching and being.

The filming and recording took place at the African Media Matrix building's television studios. Therefore the viewer gets the unique chance to see the faces behind the voices of the Audio Drama.

This film screenings links up with the Audio Drama session at the Labia on Saturday 21 April (also part of X-CAPE).

The Journey to Freedom Narrative

Dir: Gwen Miller

Duration: 30 min

SA

Storytelling for reconciliation : Initially created for the 2004 National Celebrations of 10 Years of Democracy, this multimedia work combines animation, choir music and embroidered images to explore memory and the (re)making of history, while seeking routes towards healing and empowerment.

The ZET one-minute videos

Alite Thijsen

Duration: 60 seconds per video, 30 min total

MO

Time may be limited, by certainly creativity isn't. These 60 second works by artists from across Africa combine sharp editing, contemporary visual language and traditional techniques. Created during workshops in Morocco, these short films relate to the process of globalization, economic and cultural relations.

I am an African

Dirs: Sonja Rademeyer & Assane Sar

Duration: 7 min

SA

This collaborative work between Assane Sar (West Africa) and Sonya Rademeyer (South Africa) explores exchange - not only between individuals, but also across cultures and religions. The film comments on the artist's own identity within the African continent, what it means to be white and African.

X-CAPE after alt film ( 9pm onwards)

Not waving but drowning by Citibird Creative Arts:

Inspired by the famous Stevie Smith poem, this play offers a winsome yet devastating exploration into contemporary society.

22 April 2007

Spyder-Man: Once Upon a Time the Heroes

Dir: Michel Viotte

Duration: 100 min

France/Canada 2002

A detailed documentary about graphic novels, such as the Marvel comic books.

The film contains many interviews with the graphic artists themselves, discussing the history, the artists, the techniques, and the stories behind the stories of characters such as Spider-Man, Superman, the Silver Surfer and many more.

X-CAPE after alt film ( 9pm onwards)

Comedy Showcase by Citibird Creative Arts:

One and two man comedy acts that take the audience to various levels of laughter, while sending a message of love and unity.

29 April 2007

AFDA Student Films 2006

Nearly 80 minutes of student short films:

Charioteer (Alexander Alaka) – Fictional animation

Bottled (Siphiwo Sobopha) – Animation (including stop-motion)

Bitter Sweet (Daniel McArthur) – Animation

Lights Out (Clinton Jones) – 3D animation

Wearing my Mother's Genes (Fiela Jonck) – Drama

Hollywood in my Huis (Corne van Rooyen) – Comic drama

Together Alone (Riodan Allen) – Drama

Iziko (Paul M Cuba) - Drama

X-CAPE after alt film ( 9pm onwards)

Without a Kiss by Citibird Creative Arts:

An intimate love story that explores interpersonal relationships, abuse, as well as social and gender inequality.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

ALt FILm – March 2007

Hallo everyone

This month alt film will finally bring you the much-acclaimed “And There in the Dust”, which recently also won the award for Best Short Film at the 2006 South African Film and Television Awards. Unforeseen events in February caused a cancellation of the planned screening, so we moved it to the second week of March. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused by this confusion.

But the opening act for March is the ICEBOX 02 film screenings. This portion of ICEBOX will feature a number of short films from home and abroad. Read more about this visual arts feast and the full program for ICEBOX at http://liquidfridge.co.za/?p=icebox_02_cpt (alt film is only involved with one aspect of the bigger picture)

alt film will be screening two more photography-related doccies this month, to link up with Month of Peoples Photography exhibition (MOPP) which concludes in March (MOPP info at http://www.nativesoul.blogspot.com/)

For those of you who missed the doccie about Long Street a few weeks ago, there’s another chance to see this film at the end of the month at alt film, along with two short student films.

March is also the start of the X-CAPE exhibition, which runs until May all over Cape Town. alt film will be hosting the film screening aspect of this extended exhibition in April – more news about the films in the next newsletter, and more info on X-CAPE at http://www.capeafrica.org/xcape.html

A big Thank You to our contributors:

* Lara Foot Newton
* Nicky Newman J
* Hein Bekker from ICEBOX and The Liquid Fridge, as well as all the ICEBOX participants
* Sonja du Plessis
* Terry Westby-Nunn

…and a special greeting to our friends in Denmark :-)

Zula Sound Bar at 194 Long Street, Cape Town, South Africa
7-9 pm every Sunday
Free entry
Cold and warm drinks provided by the bar, and food by the restaurant


see you there!
alt film
altfilm.blogspot.com

alt film was established to collect and screen* film being made by creative South Africans today, as well as work that most powerfully incorporates and describes the inevitable evolution of the medium.


· ps if you know someone who wants to receive the alt film newsletters once a month, let them send us an email to altfilm@gmail.com with “YES PLEASE!” in the subject line.

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4 March 2007

ICEBOX 02 Cape Town

Liquid Fridge in conjunction with the CAPE AFRICA PLATFORM and the Multimediations CAPE Lab space presents a festival of contemporary creativity in audio/visual art. With the focus on the electronic, open and South African, ICEBOX combines music, film, video and interactive media through a programme of screenings, performances, club nights, workshops and an exhibition.

ICEBOX 02 Cape Town features music-makers, free thinkers and electronic tinkerers Bernhard Loibner (Austria), Brendon Bussy, Com.it, CY Cowboys, Garth Erasmus, Heather Ford (Johannesburg), Dean Henning (Durban), Julian Jonker, Rebecca Kahn (Johannesburg), Microstripe, MTKidu (Johannesburg), Radioboy, Story Boy, and many other proponents of eclectic sounds and plush pixels.

Films to be screened at alt film:

Breyani and The Councillors

Dir: Sally Giles
Duration: 22 min
SA 2006

Social movements are grassroots organisations that have no access to popular media. This documentary tells their story.

Trolleyboys

Dir: Daniel van der Merwe
Duration: 15 min
RSA 2006

André is a 17-year-old trolleyboy who pushes trolleys in a shopping mall in Mitchells Plain.

Candomblé - The Dance of the Gods

Dir: Frédérique Zepter
Duration: 43 min
FRA 2006

It is one of the world’s oldest religions. Known as candomblé in Brazil, voodoo in Haiti and santeria in Cuba. It came to the New World with the slaves.
Candomblé uses music as a call to the other world that forces the gods to come down to earth. And these gradually moved from the sacred to the profane: a lot of South American music today still uses the gods’ favourite rhythms.
This film takes the music as a starting point to enter the secret world of the religion, taking its farthest imprint, samba, to get to the traditional candomblé houses of Rio de Janeiro, where we will discover how man communicates with the gods through music, trance, dance and divination.

El Canto Del Grillo – The Song of the Cricket

Dir: Dany Campos
Duration: 18 min
ESP 2006

Joseba Perurena wants to start a new life together with his girlfriend. However, cutting ties with the past is never an easy thing to do especially when the consequences have not been fully considered.

Between You and Me

Dir: Patryk Rebisz
Duration: 5 min
USA 2005

The film captured an international audience and prestigious awards for its innovative approach to still photography. The technique utilised the burst mode - a photo camera’s ability to record a rapid succession of images - in telling a chance encounter. A young woman, snapping photographs in a big city, is attacked and loses her camera. The assault sparks the attention of a young man whose attempts to save her are in vain. In the end, her lost camera becomes his only clue to finding her.

SeNef Mobile Grand Prix at Seoul Film Festival 2006
Best Experimental Film at the Tiburon International Film Festival 2006
Best Cinematography at the Gotham City International Film Festival 2005
Best Short Film at the Vilnius Independent Film & Video Festival 2005
Best Short Film in the Experimental Film category at Big Apple Film Festival 2005

Animations by Tessa Comrie (RSA)

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11 March 2007

The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams’ Appalachia

Dir: Jennifer Baichwal
Duration: 75min
Canada 2002

The meaning of art itself comes into question in this documentary about Shelby Lee Adams' controversial photos of families in Appalachia. This film considers aspects of artist, subject and critical response. It also brings to light the imprint that art photography and film create in our conscious

Like many photographers, Shelby Lee Adams has a favoured subject, and in his case he prefers to turn the lens of his camera on the poor Appalachian families of Eastern Kentucky. As a fellow Kentuckian, the Appalachians are an area and a people Adams knows well, but while his subjects usually live in devastating poverty, Adams was the son of a wealthy and privileged family, and as his work began to attract a worldwide audience, many began to question if Adams was attempting an honest portrayal of lives lived under near-tragic circumstances, or if the photographer was exploiting the naiveté of subjects and playing on stereotypes of the poor in the Deep South. The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia is a documentary which offers an in-depth look at Adams and his work, as well as the people he documents and the perspectives of other photographers

And There in the Dust

Dirs: Lara Foot Newton & Gerhard Marx
Duration: 8 minutes
RSA 2006

A highly creative animated film that combines various techniques such as stop motion, 3-D animation and live performance, for a small film denouncing the terrible story of Baby Tshepang, a baby girl of only nine months old who died in 2001 after being raped. The case brought to light hundreds of other just as horrible cases. South Africa was deeply shocked. A narrator’s voice tells us how people were upset and the impossibility of explaining such an act. Animation helps to deal with such an atrocious issue with great delicacy.

Winner: Best South African Short Film (Durban International Film Festival 2005)
Winner: Best Short Film (The South African Film and Television Awards 2006)

Manga, animation, shorts, music

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18 March 2007

Born Into Brothels: Calcutta’s Red Light Kids

Dirs: Zana Briski & Ross Kauffman
Duration: 85 mins
India/USA 2004

In India, red light districts are booming in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, and Calcutta where millions of transient men live and work far away from their homes and wives. The oldest and the largest of these is Sonagachi in Calcutta where the women have organized into a sex trade union of more than 5,000 active workers and have spread awareness about AIDS and HIV, making Sonagachi one of the few red light districts in the country that does not accept clients without condoms. Subject to a class system that puts them on the lowest rung of Indian society, the mostly illegitimate children of the sex workers are also expected to "join the line" when they reach a certain age. Minor girls are the most sought after in the brothels and secure the highest price, making it very difficult for the parents to let them leave, especially when the only other alternative may be the starvation of their entire family.

In 1997, photographer Zana Briski was assigned to capture images of Sonagachi. While the women were reluctant to let her into their lives, the children quickly responded and Briski became a resident of the brothel for five years. During that time, she provided the children with point and shoot cameras, set up classes in photography, and trained them to document the harsh reality of their daily lives. The result is the Oscar nominated documentary Born Into Brothels, a film that takes us inside the squalid brothels and allows us to see the world through the eyes of some of its most vulnerable residents, five girls and three boys, ages ten to fourteen. Shot in dazzling color using a digital camera, we get to know the children through their photos.

There is Kochi, age 10, who is strong, resilient, tough, and sensitive. Avijit, age 12, seems to be the most talented of the group. He draws, paints, takes pictures and, through Briski's patient efforts, was able to obtain a passport to be a part of a photo-editing panel in Amsterdam. Shanti, age 11, is most eager to learn but is troubled and often feuds with her brother Manik. The others: Gour, Puja, Tapasi, and Suchitra all show a unique ability to find beauty in their ugly environment. The film documents Briski's uphill efforts to place the children in boarding schools to escape the cycle of poverty and exploitation. Some manage to find places in the schools but the biggest obstacle is shown to be the children's own mothers and guardians, often protective out of the sheer necessity for survival.

Born Into Brothels is a testimony to the transforming power of art and of one individual's ability to make a difference. Showing the children's art to Western audiences has helped to raise money for the Sonagachi children's education. It may also serve to make people more aware of the potential talent of millions of other third world children who struggle daily for existence on the streets, the orphanages, and the refugee camps of our teeming world.

Winner: Best Documentary Feature (Academy Awards 2005)
The list of other awards won is too long to fit in here.

Manga, animation, shorts, music

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25 March 2007

Goema/Kaaps/Afrikaans

Duration: 10 minutes
Dir: Sonja T. du Plessis
Genre: Short Documentary (Student Film)
RSA 1999

“Goema/Kaaps/Afrikaans” explores the musical and poetical language of performance-poet Loit Sols. The documentary investigates the formation and transformation of Cape Flats Afrikaans and displays Sols’ strong views about Afrikaans in the past & present political climate.
Interview in Afrikaans, currently no subtitles.
Filmed in 1999 as a student initiative -a 10 minute extract will be shown of this visual thesis.

Dawning Light

Dir: Sonja T. du Plessis
Duration: 10 minutes
Genre: Short Film/Psychological Drama (Student Film)
RSA 1999

Dawn is plagued by a memory of her past. In a dream she journeys into the basement of her childhood. She rediscovers an old letter and confronts the fear that haunts her most. A story of forgiveness, created as a product of an Xperimental Digital Video Production Workshop.
“She her self was not the light, she only came as a witness to the light.”

Tripping Down Long Street

Dir: Terry Westby-Nunn
Duration: 48min
Genre: Documentary
RSA

Spliced Knees Pictures is delighted to release Tripping Down Long Street, a 48-minute documentary, which was broadcast on SABC2 on 18 January 2007.

Long Street is the New South Africa. It flows through the centre of Cape Town and contains within its current (surging between the young and the old, the black and white, the African immigrants and the locals) all the hope, fear, sadness and small triumphs of a country coming to terms with its past and its fragmented present.

The documentary takes a haphazard trip up (and down) Long Street, Cape Town. We explore the Long Street lives of various characters who find themselves living, working or partying on the street. It’s a snapshot into where Long Street is now

Legendary tailor, Mr Price, who owns a chaotic shoe-box sized shop on Long Street and has been on Long Street for 32 years, is the thread that holds the film together: “Things are always changing on Long Street,” he says, “everything changes”

For the last half century, Long Street has been a bohemian hang out, where the artisans of Cape Town congregated. There were electricians, a dairy, a boerewors factory... Only a handful of artisans remain, such as the affable Italian barber, Carmine Mosca, Mr Price the tailor with his quiet ways, and Marge, the scatty masseuse from the Long Street Baths. Significantly the film documents the last of the Long Street artisans, and looks at the urbane new culture that is taking root on Long Street.

Manga, animation, shorts, music

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