Creating sustainable jobs, means recognition of two communities that currently exists in South Africa. The first one is a film community that manipulates the South African resources for personal gain, while failing to empower and develop communities that were previously disadvantaged. The second community is barred from participating in a supposedly democracy film activities, through the notion of expensive film schools, and as you can see, one storyteller is disempowered in every way. This great divide creates unemployment, shields opportunities for the film and corporate sector to share markets that will boost the economy of the country.
Training of directors, production staff and the crew does not eliminate unemployment, but creates employees who cannot produce universal commodity and develop markets. The three major cities should have developed a viable film distribution culture that is inclusive of a democratic South Africa, free from government handouts.
On the one hand, we have the three cities urban film industry. Please, pardon me, the problem with the term film industry, is that, it blinds us from exploring the real film industry. So, for the purpose of this point let us stick to two separate film communities divided by classism. By classism, there is already cultural/intellectual dichotomies, at the age we should be observing democracy as the highest human development stage in our story. Now, get this, the reason I am using the three big cities is for you to understand their great work developing the film industry, in the big cities. This industry only employs people who live in the city, and it has to, it is their community. Built great expensive film schools, with all the equipment an underdeveloped filmmaker can only dream about. They have big film gear rental houses. Film studios that costs hundreds of millions. Great networks all over the world to produce and sell their films. Co-productions with foreign films, using south African film incentives and money producing these films.
Now, this is where the catch is, after twenty years these co-production films have no value, if any, in boosting and/or bridging the economic gap between urban and rural South Africa to create sustainable film industry jobs. Rather, they create slaves and dependency, shielding the opportunity to create wider film audiences of all walks, and local film investors. Dti, NFVF, Dac, and National heritage budgets should be appropriated to developing the underprivileged. I sense everyone will agree with this, but, it will mean cutting the producer from the above the line item. Double edge sword?
On the other hand, you have the townships, slums and rural communities. Yes, we are not ashamed to accept that for at least twenty years, we have attentively, patiently, and very submissively observed, until the intervention of government and the private sector to help the industry. Their initiative is through commercials, events, and functions. However, this has nothing to do with bringing back human dignity, for someone who is healing the nation (storyteller), except for affording rent for a month. However, it was always the negative point of view we were always premised from in the approach of making motion pictures. We sold ourselves to foreign markets, lacking insight to our own, now we are suffering box office disappointments. Our first and foremost client are townships, slums, and rural communities (indeed including the big cities). We are not just telling them stories, we are selling hope, lifestyles and an honest opportunity to participate in democracy.
Our predecessors, if were not preoccupied with the innocence of chasing the white brother’s privilege, much would have been achieved to bring back balance. We have experiences, channels, opportunities gained from the three cities film industry that we dare not share with the rest of the townships, slums and rural communities. Just like our brother Eric Myeni puts it, the only brother at the table.
Let’s, for a moment, look at the underdeveloped market in South Africa and try to make sense with all these billions our government is investing in the south African three cities film industry and what it does exactly? Nothing. But when they need to produce new films, they will have every excuse for us to force government to give them money. But we are failing to develop our townships, slums and rural communities. What about unemployed qualified teachers, scientists, lawyers, and engineers in our communities? These thinkers can help design film markets development structures and film infrastructure for themselves, by themselves, only giving first preference to government and the private sector in the sharing of markets. Checkmate, this is called win-win solution and/or development.
