The Media and Cultural Studies discipline (School of Arts) in collaboration with the Centre for Creative Arts (CCA) will host a training programme for emerging graduates and young filmmakers titled the Fukamisa Intsha Film Project.
The aim is to enhance skills transference between film tutors and emerging film makers, some of whom recently graduated from the School of Arts, Media and Cultural Studies discipline.
The project is being led by UKZN Media Studies academics Ms Abulele Njisane, Ms Luthando Ngema and Mr Mzwandile Makhanya.
Ngema said: ‘Most of these graduates and tutors have struggled because of the shortage of work being experienced and the lack of training/internship opportunities for young emerging film makers. The new programme will expose graduates to the CCA which organises four annual festivals – Time of the Writer, the JOMBA! Dance Festival, the Durban International Film Festival, and the Poetry Africa Festival – which are all vibrant artistic and cultural platforms that reflect upon, celebrate and critique the zeitgeist of the nation.’
Strategically staged on the University’s Howard College campus in Durban, the four festivals also play an essential role in skills training for arts administrators, technical crews, artists and a range of creatives working across different mediums.
In addition, a mini-festival titled Art, Democracy & Constitution will be presented by the CCA, offering a skills-training programme for student film-makers to produce five-minute videos as Public Service Announcements (PSA) that inspire a critical reflection of the relation between art, democracy and constitution.
‘Working in four groups, each team will be mentored in both theoretical and practical aspects of video production with the assistance of the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) as well as professional film-makers who will guide students through the processes of researching content, scriptwriting, camera technique and other aspects of video production,’ said Makhanya.
Said Njisane: ‘Anchoring a video training programme about art, democracy and constitution provides an ideal opportunity to channel student focus to engage with how art and cultural forms created by the #BlackLives movement and the Decolonisation movement are an essential part of how we engage with art, democracy and the constitution to either shape or fail our society.’
Each video will be critically assessed by a panel of experts who will consider various factors in the production of videos as public service announcements. One video will be chosen by the panel of adjudicators and awarded a budget for further development into a maximum 15-minute film which will be screened at this year’s Durban International Film Festival.
