Case C - Screen Africa

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AfriCA Documents of life By Karen van Schalkwyk Jihan El-Tahri is a world-renowned documentary filmmaker. Her film, The House of Saudi (2005), was nominated for an Emmy Award and she has gained a reputation for being a filmmaker who searches for the truth. El-Tahri comes across as being resolved and focused on whatever she puts her mind to. She explains this impression with the way she approached the making of The House of Saudi. “Through the film I was trying to tell the story of the Saudi Royal family and their relations with the United States. The central question was why, after 9/11, 15 of the 19 terrorists were from Saudi Arabia. The film tries to understand the relationship between America and the Arab world.” El-Tahri’s documentary, An African Odyssey, recently screened at Encounters. This documentary chronicles a section of the Cuban Revolution. El-Tahri’s background was as a print journalist for Reuters, The Washington Post and the Financial Times. “I was a correspondent for the Middle East and covered many of the wars like Iran, Iraq and Lebanon. I was also born in Egypt, which made my need to understand these worlds more acute. It was during the time of the Gulf War that it suddenly struck me that even though I was covering it, I could not put the conflict in a greater context. I felt deeply distressed about this and this really was the catalyst for me to turn my hand to documentaries.” SerViCeS 44 SCREENAFRICA – October 2007 El-Tahri says that it was also during this time that she won the Edwin Hood Award for diplomatic correspondence. “The strange thing was that it did not even mean that much in relation to this distressing need to place things in greater context. From then on I decided that if I wanted to examine something, I would have to look at everything and try and find out and know as much as I could about the subject.” El-Tahri adds that it was at this point that she started redefining her identity. “I am first and foremost an African, even though I live in Paris. Secondly, I am an Egyptian. However, unlike South Africa, where a lot of this identity issue seems to be based on the colour of one’s skin through the prison of apartheid, mine was simply about an attitude of mind.” This is also interesting, El-Tahri says, “because Egypt was really the battle ground for colonial powers and Africa. The simple thing about identity is that I think it relies on no-one’s approval. I do not need others to affirm who I am.” However El-Tahri says that the political debates remain complex. “The documentary that encapsulates this for me is Darwin’s Nightmare. The film is by a Norwegian filmmaker, and although it is beautifully done, I had to question its sense of perspective. Need a life coach? Life coaching has become a big business from Hollywood to South Africa, and is aimed at people who feel the need for advice and direction in their lives. In South Africa, Claire Wrogemann’s company, Highflite, provides this service to the many freelance artists in the industry who feel the need for some assistance to improve their professional lives. Wrogemann explains that when she began the company, “I never realised how big life coaching had become. I just knew that I wanted to offer people help in terms of bettering their lives. Life coaching helps people achieve their goals, maximises their potential and makes the best of what they can offer.” Wrogemann elaborates that it was a 2005 life coaching course that made her realise this was a worthwhile path to follow. “I started thinking that helping people might be ‘it’ for me. The other inspirational source was the actors. I was an actors’ agent with Leads Artists Agency for 10 years.” The process, Wrogemann says, is strategic. “I ask the person who books a session with me to give me an idea of what is bothering them, or what they want to change about their lives or about themselves. I sit with that piece of information before they come to me, TRAININg FOR A BETTER LIFE – Claire Wrogemann intuitively get a feel for what kind of process I could take them through and pre-plan the session, laying out a process that I think will work best. “In the session I ask them quite a few SEEKINg TRUTH – Jihan El-Tahri Was it too degrading about Africa? There is a point in the film where the camera is the vantage point and there seems to be a disdain for the people. However I must stress that there is no blame. This is the interesting thing about documentary filmmaking: it allows for different perspectives.” questions to establish their complete awareness of the problems they have and what they would like to change. We then decide together on what changes to work on, what goals to set and initiate the process of how to change.” Wrogemann adds that her techniques are not based purely on life coaching. “I also incorporate counselling techniques, universal teachings, aspects of Neuro- Linguistic Programming (NLP) and when required, a lot of my nearly 20 years in the entertainment industry. I call myself a life-skills advisor and developer.” Many freelance artists face massive insecurity due to the nature of their work. Wrogemann explains: “I work with people across the board, and when I did research with casting directors and agents to see if there was a need for this, the response was overwhelming. Basically, as a freelance artist you may consider your talent to be your greatest asset. However, it is how you manage that talent and define your success that makes the difference.” Wrogemann also runs audition workshops, El-Tahri is currently filming a documentary about the history of the ANC (African National Congress). “The film is a coproduction between Arte, BBC and ITVS. It follows the transformation of the liberation movement into the present day. I have been filming for three years and have done an incredible amount of research. I believe this film will be very important for the continent. “The challenge with this type of documentary is that there are so many angles and one can fall into sentimentality, but they key is to be ruthless in terms of what you choose to put across. The sentimental elements come and go but that is not the profound nature of this kind of story, so should really be avoided at all costs.” El-Tahri says that she approaches filmmaking, “by firstly trusting my instincts. I can tell what is profoundly political and what not to do. The key then is to search and make sure you do all the research. Also, African filmmakers must make use of archives. There is a tremendous amount of valuable information that would also help one to see stories in a different light.” El-Tahri concludes: “With An African Odyssey I wanted to convey that even though the battle was fought and the war was lost the Cuban Revolution is something that must be remembered. I think of it in terms of a ‘requiem for a revolution’. A requiem is composed for the person to be remembered. The same is true of this.” where she deals with everything relating to auditions except the camera or stage techniques that artists would study prior to entering the industry. “I have developed this course to help actors cope better with auditions on a mental, emotional and practical level. For instance, I teach them to create the audition experience on levels other than the textual by changing the way they think about and approach them. I teach visualisation and affirmation, two very powerful tools that help them to manifest work for themselves.” While there are no formal regulations governing this industry, Wrogemann says that there are some bodies trying to implement more formal training operating rules and structures. “However the coaching session structure is quite a definitively taught process, very much dependent on ‘pulling’ the answers out of clients.” She concludes: “I have been doing this for nine months, and I want to continue doing the work and am passionate about it. However I want to balance this with living a good life. I have always been a very hard worker, a self-driver in fact, as are many people in the industry, but right now I am taking my own good advice to others and learning to balance my life.”
This monthly feature selects prominent local productions and ranks them in terms of AR ratings. Selected foreign programmes are shown only for comparison. ARs are weighted over the period of transmission and the number of transmissions during the calendar month. Data is supplied by the South African Advertising Research Foundation and processed by Interactive Market Systems (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd. the top FIve prograMMes saBc1 Rank Programme Date Genre AR 1 Generations 26/07/2007 Soap 25.46 2 Zone 14 23/07/2007 Dram 21.34 3 Soccer Build- Up 18/07/2007 Spor 19.77 4 Laduma On 1 26/07/2007 Spor 19.69 5 Soul City 17/07/2007 Dram 18.84 saBc2 Rank Programme Date Genre AR 1 Muvhango 03/07/2007 Dram 15.34 2 Stokvel 15/07/2007 Sitc 13.33 3 7de Laan 03/07/2007 Soap 11.81 4 Nuus 31/07/2007 News 9.74 5 Strictly Come Dancing 12/07/2007 Vari 8.70 saBc3 Rank Programme Date Genre AR 1 Days Of Our Lives 02/07/2007 Soap 10.79 2 Isidingo:The Need 23/07/2007 Soap 7.86 3 Built For The Kill 22/07/2007 Docu 7.49 4 Music 20/07/2007 Musi 7.40 5 The Oprah Winfrey Show 02/07/2007 Maga 6.31 M-net Rank Programme Date Genre AR 1 Derailed 22/07/2007 Movi 2.48 2 Carte Blanche 29/07/2007 Maga 2.48 3 The Break-Up 29/07/2007 Movi 2.47 4 Rumour Has It 15/07/2007 Movi 2.18 5 Prison Break 17/07/2007 Dram 1.86 e.tv Rank Programme Date Genre AR 1 International Raw 22/07/2007 Spor 15.22 2 The Medallion 21/07/2007 Movi 14.05 3 Street Fighter 14/07/2007 Movi 14.02 4 Charlie’s Angels 15/07/2007 Movi 13.11 5 Beverly Hills Ninja 07/07/2007 Movi 12.87 the creaM oF the local productIons Key: Day/s refers to the day or days of the week the programme is transmitted. Frequency refers to how often it is transmitted – D=Daily, W=Weekly, S (followed by a number) indicates a series of that number of episodes. Television Universe estimated at 5.232 million households. One ratings point of all viewers represents about 145 590 viewers. Key to genres: Actu: Actuality, Docu: Documentary, Dram: Drama, Educ: Education, Maga: Magazine, Musi: Music, News: News, Quiz: Game Show, Real: Real life, Reli: Religion, Sitc: Sitcom, Soap: Soap, Spor: Sport, Vari: Variety, Y.Ent: Youth Entertainment, 3rd Degree Maga 20:00 Tue W e 2.93 3.21 50/50 Maga 19:30 Mon W 2 4.89 4.13 7de Laan Soap 18:30 M-F S5 2 10.34 10.21 CarTorque Maga 17:00 Sun W 3 1.90 1.74 Carte Blanche Maga 19:00 Sun W M 2.14 1.98 Egoli-Place of Gold Soap 18:00 M-F S5 M 1.34 1.42 Fokus News 18:30 Sun W 2 6.24 5.42 Generations Soap 20:00 M-F S5 1 22.49 23.38 Gospel Gold Musi 09:00 Sun W 2 7.57 6.53 Isidingo:The Need Soap 18:30 M-F S5 3 6.54 6.34 Jam Alley Vari 18:30 Fri W 1 12.05 11.73 K-TV Y.Ent Vari M-F S5 M 0.20 0.25 Laduma on 1 Spor Vari F-S S3 1 8.95 8.03 Morning Live Maga 06:00 M-F S5 2 2.47 2.46 Muvhango Dram 21:00 M-T S4 2 11.63 11.71 News at Seven News 19:00 Daily D e 6.82 6.96 News at Seven on 3 News 19:00 Daily D 3 4.35 4.29 Pasella Maga 19:30 W W 2 6.77 6.17 Rhythm City Soap 18:30 M-F S5 e 5.82 Scandal Dram 19:30 M-T S4 e 7.47 7.56 Selimathunzi Vari 18:00 Sat W 1 11.35 10.85 Special Assignment Docu 21:30 Tue W 3 3.75 2.65 Top Billing Maga 19:30 Thu W 2 3.99 3.06 Tube Y.Ent Vari M-F S5 2 2.08 2.64 Yo-TV Y.Ent Vari M-F S5 1 2.17 Zola 7 Maga 20:30 T W 1 15.95 16.24 The above represents a selection of programmes only, and is calculated on the total calendar month’s weighted average of the total audience over all age groups. If you want a particular programme included, please e-mail Enid Venter at enid@702mail.co.za. The purpose of the schedule is to show the types of programmes South African audiences view, and to what extent. Name audIence ratIngs July 2007 Genre Top foreign shows Days of Our Lives Soap 17:10 M-F S5 1 8.68 9.08 International Smackdown Spor 20:30 W W e 11.09 11.34 The Bold and the Beautiful Soap 18:00 M-F S5 1 13.23 14.80 Start Time Day/s Frequency Channel July 2007 AR June 2007 AR October 2007 – SCREENAFRICA 45
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Case C - Screen Africa

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