November 2010 - University of Johannesburg
November 2010 - University of Johannesburg
November 2010 - University of Johannesburg
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{ 15 | ACADEMIC FREEDOM }UJ academic spearheads“whydunit” crime series BY CAMILLA BATHBrutal crimes, complexinvestigations, trials andconvictions: not exactlythe everyday fodder <strong>of</strong> alecturer in documentaryfilmmaking. But the criminalunderbelly <strong>of</strong> South Africabecame the subject <strong>of</strong> intenseresearch for UJ’s audiovisualcommunications lecturer,Phyllis Dannhauser, thanks toher involvement in SABC 3’sreality TV series Solving It 4. Theseries examines what precedescertain crimes, their contextsand the roles played by bothvictims and perpetrators.Dannhauser, a facultymember <strong>of</strong> UJ’s Department<strong>of</strong> Journalism, Film andTelevision, was responsible forthe scripting <strong>of</strong> half <strong>of</strong> the 39episodes. She also directedand edited several <strong>of</strong> them.“It was a fascinatingexperience,” she says. “Whatwas really interesting for me,as an academic, was that itgave me the opportunity toresearch the social aspects[<strong>of</strong> crime]. The series takes apsychological and criminalperspective; it’s not just a pure‘whodunit’ but is actually more<strong>of</strong> a ‘whydunit’.”The academic believes thepopular series is such asuccess because <strong>of</strong> the way inwhich it is able to peel backthe façade <strong>of</strong> crime, revealingthe psychological and socialreasons behind unlawfulbehaviour. This, she argues,leads to greater understanding<strong>of</strong> the problem.“What I did get was an insightinto how immensely complexour society is and how it’salmost miraculous that crimesdo get solved. This show isall about crimes that haveactually been solved and it’s amazing to see that, sometimes, it’s something quite random thatleads to a case being cracked. It gave me a revelation into how deep the country’s problemsactually go, which was not always pleasant to see. In some ways it was quite a disturbing seriesto work on.”Dannhauser says her sometimes difficult work on Solving It 4 was complementary to her academiclife, as a lot <strong>of</strong> the research she did also sparked an interest in other areas.“The main thing that interests me is why people continue to watch terrible, upsetting programmeslike these when we have such a serious crime situation in this country. We have all this violentcrime, and yet people are fascinated by it.”The academic believes her documentary filmmaking students have benefited from herinvolvement in the series and that it’s also helped deepen her own understanding <strong>of</strong> theimportance <strong>of</strong> research. “To do something on a very theoretical project like this, based on a lot<strong>of</strong> research, really complemented what I’m doing with my students. It allows me to give themdeeper input on their own research and to pass on my enhanced understanding <strong>of</strong> the deepersocial context, which is <strong>of</strong>ten ignored.”Solving It 4 is not the only project Dannhauser has been involved in outside the lecture halls. She’salso a keen advocate <strong>of</strong> community storytelling. She believes many powerful stories from deep ruralareas go untold because people don’t have the necessary tools. The lecturer wants to open the eyes<strong>of</strong> young people to the opportunities they have, and the inspiring stories they can hear and tell.“The sort <strong>of</strong> prevailing sense I got [from the series and my other work] is that there are a lot <strong>of</strong>young people, especially young men, in our country who are lost. We talk about the cliché <strong>of</strong> thelost generation, these are people in severely deprived circumstances who have almost no options.I believe not enough is being done to address issues <strong>of</strong> masculinity and how you become a manwhere there’s literally nothing for you.”Dannhauser says her department was fully supportive <strong>of</strong> her endeavours. She’s optimistic that,in the future, more people will have the same kind <strong>of</strong> opportunities. “I hope these kinds <strong>of</strong>collaborations will be possible not only for lecturers, but for students as well. The more we reachout to and become visible in the industry, the better chance our students will have for getting work,and the more opportunities for research will become available for academics.”MULTI-TALENTED AND MULTIFACETED UJ LECTURER, PHYLLIS DANNHAUSER.