AFDA Cape Town Television School is extremely excited to have the 2018 documentary Experimental productions, Street Survival and Thongo 'Lam selected to screen at the 21st Encounters International Documentary Festival taking place in Cape Town and Johannesburg from 6 to 16 June 2019.
"It is such a great honour for us as this festival had a huge impact and inspired our crew a lot during the pre-production of our documentary. We would like to thank all the people and associations who contributed to the making of this production. We are very grateful, especially towards our lectures in this process - Diaan Lawrenson, Anthony Moipolai, Neo Peterson, Aurora Drummer and Peter Goldsmid," says Street Survival director Cedric Choo.
"The students who worked on these productions worked very hard. Having their work go outside of the borders of the school is a privilege because they get the opportunity to share their stories with South African documentary-lovers. This also sets the precedent that the work the students are producing is of the quality and standard that reflects the three-year journey they embarked on when they first started as first-year students. The work shows the growth of the student. I'm confident that we are sending filmmakers into the industry who appreciate the art of storytelling. This is reflected in their work, and being selected to screen at an international documentary festival like Encounters is testament of their passion, dedication and hard work," says AFDA Cape Town Head of Television School Anthony Moipolai.
Street Survival chronicles the protagonist experiencing a day, including a night (24 hours) as a homeless person anonymously in order to know what these individuals' everyday lives look like. The protagonist will never look at homeless people the same way again. Tumisang, a third-year AFDA student, will live the coldness of Cape Town. Homelessness is caused by different factors on different levels. On an emotional, mental and analytical aspects, experts from different fields will be explaining the social matter and how these unprivileged survive on the street. Real homeless people will be encountered. Throughout a social experiment, people's different reactions towards homeless people will be shown.
Thongo 'Lam is a documentary that follows the main character, Jessica, on her personal journey of self-discovery and how much influence her family and ancestors have over her identity. The documentary-makers follow Jessica as she uncovers her family history, tries to make sense of the past and finally takes the drastic step of consulting with a sangoma, which goes against her all beliefs in order to discover just how much influence her ancestors have over who she is. Ultimately, Thongo 'Lam is a narrative about the importance of family, healing and having the courage to seek out ones answers no matter how difficult or strange the path.
