Cape Town born and bred award-winning filmmaker, artist, writer and theatre director chats to us about his creative journey, his passion for storytelling and a new exciting project for young filmmakers.
Image: courtesy of Sipho.
Tell us a bit about yourself and how your journey as a creative started.
I am an artist, a filmmaker, theater director and writer. I grew up in Nyanga East, Cape Town and I recently completed my Post Graduate Diploma in Film Production at CPUT. I could say that my journey started from a young age, when I was in primary I was quite active; I was part of a marimba band, I did ballet, dance and drama. I just always wanted to be in an artistic space. I once featured on a TV commercial, during the shooting of the commercial, I was so fascinated by the crew and I knew from then that I'd go for film and video production. When l was in high school, I started a drama afterschool project, where I coached my peers without any experience, I was sharing the skills of art I had and I just wanted to keep my peers off the streets. We wrote stories and challenged ourselves, we wanted to free ourselves from the harsh realities of living in the township. When I was in 11th grade, I participated in the Mass Participation; Opportunity and Access; Development and Growth Program where I gained enormous skills in direction, landing me opportunity to big stages including ArtsCape, the Baxter Theatre, Fugard Theatre and numerous theatre festivals at such a young age. After matriculating, I enrolled for Film Production at a private college, however I studied only one year there because it was expensive and I did not have a bursary, I enrolled at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology the following year and I was fortunate to get fundingIn 2018, I shot my first film titled Jabu, it is a film about a young boy living in the township, being raised in a dysfunctional home. Jabu assumes the responsibility of being a caregiver to his ill mother, living with HIV/AIDS and also has to cope with an abusive father. The young boy wishes to grow up in a healthy, peaceful home. He takes upon himself to mend the situation at home.
Tell us about your recent body of work. What does it mean to you, and what do you hope it will invoke in viewers?
'INGUBO NEGAZI' is a photographic series about isiko lolwaluko (male circumcision), it is mainly about my personal experience and the trauma which I encountered during ulwaluko, which is why I use myself as a subject, and it is a way of telling my story. When I first showed the series, there was a lot of controversial backlash which I expected, but there were also people who loved it and shared their own experiences and how they felt liberated. Overall, I wanted to open a dialogue, I respect my culture and the tradition, and I acknowledge the significance of it however, the practice should be done with care, professionalism and with great responsibility.
Which themes are you interested in exploring?
Mainly, experiences. I also want to portray the way I wish to see South Africa a better society. What I have highlighted so far in the projects I have done are social ills which many communities are faced with including poverty, homophobia, racism, GBV, etc. these are the main topics I am interested in. Currently, I am working on a new series with burn survivors, there is prejudice against burn survivors in so many communities across the country and they are not seen, I am doing this project to shine light on them.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
In general, there’s something that fascinates me about people from the village and the township, especially women, I am not quite sure what it is but there’s some grace that they carry and I think it is because of their ability to bring another life into the world. I also draw inspiration from my own personal experiences, I was never conscious of this but I am connecting the dots as I am thinking about how I am going to answer this question because I have never asked myself this before. There is something common in all the stories I have written although it is not deliberate but I think it may be a reflection of my life, the main characters are most often a boy and a mother and the setting is always in a township, and I think that has a lot to do with my family and how I grew up. For instance, I am currently working on a project about reformed men who were GVB perpetrators, even with the burn survivor series, I have an uncle who burnt in his shack and was badly injured, I witnessed the fire in the shack, so the stories I tell, have a lot to do with my own life experiences. In terms of art, I am inspired by quite a few artists, including the likes of Tony Gum and Prof. Zanele Muholi whom I have exhibited alongside with in San Francisco earlier this year. I didn’t study photography but I started learning about it after seeing their work, which is why my work explores self-portraiture.
Where do you see yourself going next?
In the next five years, I would really love to have a Netflix production, either a feature or a production that I will shoot myself. I am planning to have more shows, I’d also love and I’m pushing to show the projects I am currently working on internationally. Also, I have started a film festival called TAKE ONE FILM FESTIVAL which is set to take place between the 14th and 16th of June 2024 in Cape Town, , this is an opportunity for young, emerging filmmakers. Submissions are currently open, I am excited and cannot wait!
Follow Sipho on Instagram @sipho_mpho_nuse
Comments