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NEWS
Big Bollywood film in SA
LOOKING EAST – Lead actors Akshay Kumar and Ayesha Takai
Bollywood is a huge industry
and South African production
companies are looking to India
for work opportunities. Local
production company Clockwork
Zoo recently facilitated
one of the biggest Bollywood
There are talk shows and
then there’s Encounters. It
may follow a talk show
format, but Encounters 2,
which began its run in
December 2008, is one of
the few programmes to
actually ask the questions
no-one wants to ask. And
the premise is: “Just what is
morally okay in South Africa
today?”
Given that democracy and
our dream of a rainbow
nation have emphasised
tolerance, diversity and
acceptance, Encounters 2
explores what may have been
lost in the transition – each
individual’s sense of what is
morally okay and what is
not.
Questions such as whether
it’s morally acceptable to be
ruled by the rule of law, or to
wear clothes that offend
films to be shot outside India,
called Tasveer. The film is a
Percept Picture Holdings film
starring Bollywood heartthrob,
Akshay Kumar and is directed
by Nagesh Kukunoor.
Vince Gibbons, CEO of
Getting to the
crux of morality
CHALLENGING BASIC VALUES – Andile Gaelesiwe
others, will be posed each
week by Andile Gaelesiwe to
three guests, challenging
them to engage each other
on topics that are of great
concern to all of us right
now.
The series director of
Encounters1 and Encounters2,
Odette Geldenhuys, is one
of a curious breed of people
who are not happy with one
career. She’s a human rights
lawyer, filmmaker and
researcher, among others.
Geldenhuys is very excited
about Encounters2. She says,
“It will ask and demand of
all of us to liberate ourselves
from preconceived notions,
to revisit the fundamentals
of African morality as
practised and understood
prior to slavery and
colonialism, and examine
how this can become the
Director Nagesh Kukunoor
Clockwork Zoo, explains that
they were first introduced to
Percept Picture Holdings by
Iain Banner, a friend and
creator of the Laureus Sport for
Good Foundation. “Percept
Picture Holdings (PPH) is the
second biggest producer of
basis for a shared moral and
ethical framework in South
Africa now.”
The series is produced for
SABC Religion by Kagiso
TV & Communications, an
11-year-old television, video
and communications
company, that works
consistently for social
upliftment. Kagiso produces
content for financial literacy,
HIV education and teacher
development projects among
many others. Their
communications work at
grassroots levels, in all
communities across the
whole country makes them
very well aware of the moral
and social disharmony that
need to be addressed, before
we can move forward as a
united nation.
Unique to Encounters2 is
that African morality is the
thread running throughout
the series. What are these
basic values when challenged
by contemporary society?
And when do communities
adopt new values? The
challenge now is to revisit
the fundamentals of African
morality and try and
determine what to keep and
what to lose, what to develop
and how to grow. Only then
can South Africa as a nation
shape a moral and ethical
framework to guide us into
the future.
Don’t miss Encounters2 on
SABC2 at 13h00 on Sundays
from December through to
March 2009.
movies in India. My partner
Sean Rogers and I saw an
opportunity and visited
Mumbai where PPH is situated
and created a relationship and
offered our services. We have a
slate of pictures lined up with
PPH.”
Gibbons elaborates: “Tasveer
is the start of our relationship
with Bollywood. The next step
is to work towards films that
can be accessible to both Indian
and South African audiences.
The fact that this is the largest
Indian population outside of
India and Pakistan is something
that we will capitalise on. The
film is a high-octane thriller.”
Gibbons adds that on the
visit to Mumbai they realised
that there were areas of common
interest. “Both companies
wanted to expand their interests
in different territories. PPH
also realised that it made
commercial sense to shoot in
South Africa rather than
Canada and our central
motivation was to create
sustainable business in the local
industry and to develop the
talent. The film’s location
included Cape Town,
Stellenbosch and Langebaan.”
Gibbons elaborates on the
working relationship. “There
was no doubt that both
Going global
A home-grown South African
animation series, Supa Strikas,
is set to be broadcast in 15
countries across Africa, Latin
America and Europe. The
series began its life as a comic
and tells the tale of soccer star
Shakes and his teammates
taking on the world’s best teams
in the Super League.
Oliver Power, executive
director of the show, says they
are thrilled. “This is just the
start of bigger things to come.
companies were going to need
to accommodate each other at
first, as the film making style
of Bollywood was very different
to what we are used to in South
Africa. We met each other half
way. I believe that the Indian
crew has learnt a lot more about
planning, South African style.
We have learnt how to focus on
the finances available and coordinate
this with what
will be reflected on the big
screen.”
One of the main reasons for
foreign companies to shoot
here still remains the favourable
exchange rate. “South Africa
competes internationally and
we still have the most varied
locations packed close together.
On top of that we are known
for our great crews, who are
hard-working and accommodating.
The director, Nagesh,
was saying that in Canada he
gets told: ‘That’s not
possible,’ but here he gets the
response: ‘Let’s see if we can do
that.’ We have that kind of
mentality.”
Gibbons says that because of
the great experience that
foreign filmmakers have in
South Africa, “Nagesh, the
director, will most definitely be
shooting his next film
here.”
We firmly believe that the
series will take Supa Strikas
brand to new levels of popularity
among the youth all over the
world and in the process
showcase some of South
Africa’s creative talent.”
Power says that it is extremely
expensive to animate the show.
“The biggest hurdle we faced
was to raise approximately $2m
to produce the series.
Fortunately we secured
sponsorship from Caltex to
SCREENAFRICA – January 2009