Cape Town — Madoda Ncayiyana, director of the multi-award winning film Izulu Lami speaks to allAfrica on the resilience of African children and how movies contribute to the development of Africa. Ncayiyana is co-founder of Vuleka Productions based in Durban and director of several productions aired on the South Africa Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
What inspired this story?
In the township where I live and the rural area where I was born, it is not difficult to notice that there are a number of children who run their homestead without parents or adults. What inspires me in the story of these orphans is how they get up and make things happen even without parents. Too often we writers tend to not see these children but see poverty that affects them instead. My first film,The Sky in Her Eyes, which won the award for Best African Short Film Award at Cannes Film Festival, motivated me to share another story of the resilient children of Africa.
The children were all new to the camera, how did you manage to direct the cast?
My theatre background helps me in finding performances and developing actors. I had an option to cast in Johannesburg where I would source children performers who are often used on TV commercials, but for Izulu Lami (My Secret Sky) I wanted authenticity. So I chose to seek talent in the townships and rural areas of the province of KwaZulu Natal, where the heart of the film's story lies.
The best way I found to announce auditions was to walk up and down the streets of the townships and informal settlements with a loud hailer! This is because I knew there were slim chances to find experienced child actors because there are no cinemas or acting opportunities there, so I had to seek raw talent in order to achieve my goal of bringing authentic performances in my directing of the film.
When I work with children I prefer to tell the story before I give out the script. I believe if they listen to storytelling they develop their own images of the characters and the world in which they live and are thus be able to bring authenticity in their acting. In my opinion a script, which is written by adults, may prescribe too much and lose the essence of the children's world in the story.
In order to direct first-time children actors, I made sure they get the story and they are confident of their characters so that they would be able to argue their point of view, then allowing an adult me to dictate a situation which they would know better. In rehearsal I would play with them as a friend, teach them new things as a teacher and console them as a parent. I encouraged them to focus and to separate their personal selves from the character. The rest comes automatically.
What was one of the most challenging aspects that you had to surmount in the making of the film?
In African culture it is taboo to talk to children openly about sex matters - let alone talking about issues like rape. One of the challenges I experienced was when I had to describe a scene in the film where a girl child character would be the victim of an attempted rape. Another challenging and sensitive area was during casting, when actual orphaned children would open up wounds as they tried to portray orphan characters for auditions.
What was the reason for narrating the movie in isiZulu?
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The story is set in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The characters are Zulu-speaking children, and the story is told from an African cultural point of view. I saw no reason to do the film in any other language, unless it came naturally, as characters interact with an English-speaking character in the city.
Izulu Lami ends with hope for a better future for the lead pair. Can viewers expect a sequel?
We are busy working on our next film, so watch this space!
What are your views on the current South African film industry?
I think with 17 years of democracy South Africa has come a long way, but I would like to see more sustainable transformation of the film industry.
How can local films such as Izulu Lami contribute to the development of Africa?
By showcasing home-grown talent and stories to the global market, and the rest of Africa, we can indeed create a world-wide awareness that we as a continent have a lot to offer. Most importantly, we can cultivate a sense of pride in our own culture and creativity.
Do you have any films in the pipeline or one that viewers can look forward to?
Yes. Together with my co-writer Julie Frederikse, who is also a co-producer for Izulu Lami, we are currently working on a film script which features some of the child actors seen in Izulu lami, as well as a few newcomers and some of the most talented and well-known adult actors in South Africa.
