N Botha: Apollo Film Festival

30 September 2006

Premier of the Northern Cape: Mme Dipuo Pieters
MEC of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture Mr MK Molusi (in absentia)
Mayor of Victoria West Mr Arens
Representative of the Flemish Government, Mr Yves Wantens
Representative of the French Embassy, Mr Vincent Garrigues
CEO of the NFVF, Mr Eddie Mbalo
Members of the ADA Board
Filmmakers, Directors, Producers, Actors
Distinguished guests

It is, indeed, a great pleasure and an honour for me to be addressing you
this evening. I came all the way from Pretoria to be here tonight because I
regard this film festival and this awards ceremony as a very important step in
the growth of the creative industries and the film industry in particular. It
is exciting to learn that the youth of our country are enthusiastic about
following a career in the audiovisual industry.

You most probably already know that a student from the South African Motion
Picture and Live Performance (AFDA) Tristan Holmes won South Africa yet another
Oscar. This young filmmaker won the 33rd Student Academy Award through his film
‘Elalini’. It is a story about a female police officer who is caught in between
her duties as a police officer and her responsibility as a mother. We wish to
congratulate Tristan for this achievement and for once more placing South
Africa high on the global map.

I regret that I could not be here throughout the festival. I believe that
the festival has been a great success. I understand that the productions were
of very high standard and that there has been a remarkable improvement since
last year. I am quite confident that any of the participants, be it filmmakers,
crew members, performing artists, stand a good chance of representing South
Africa in any of the major film international festivals.

I understand that the Apollo Theatre is in itself a monument that was built
in the late 1920s and was revamped in the late 1950s, only to be reopened in
1999 and now the Apollo Theatre operates as a Section 21 company. Its mission
is to promote cultures of the inhabitants of Victoria West and filmmaking, arts
and crafts, which will ultimately result in economic development and cultural
enrichment of the area.

We appreciate the efforts of the Apollo Festival especially its skills
development programme. I understand that the Apollo Theatre offers a two week’s
skills training programme in filmmaking, which is conducted by an experienced
filmmaker Zulfah Otto-Sallies. I am also thrilled by the outreach programme
offered by the festival. I would like to see more people, coming here to see
the creative work of our young people.

South Africa has since 2004 demonstrated that it can hold its own against
the world’s best in the film industry. In my first year as Deputy Minister of
Arts and Culture, I had the opportunity of leading the South African delegation
to participate in the Cannes film festival in France. That year (2004), I
think, was a very successful year for our film industry. In the past two years
South Africa has been scooping up a number of awards in some of the most
prestigious international film festivals. Today we can be proud of our
achievement of our country, which include an Oscar Academy award for best
Foreign Film "Tsotsi". And also the nominations of films like "Yesterday",
"Drum" and "U-Carmen e’Khayelitsha". Zola Maseko also won the "Stallion of
Yennenga" for his film "Drum" at the African Film Festival (FESPACO) in the
previous year.

We are pleased to have amongst us today, another achiever who won the Ammy
Award three days ago for his film “Lion Trail" and this is none other than
Francois Verster. Please join me in congratulation Francois for this
outstanding achievement. South Africa is increasingly becoming aware of the
economic and social importance of the creative sector. Throughout the world,
governments are beginning to recognise the creative industries as an important
vehicle for promoting local economic development, cultural tourism and a
national identity with all its diversity.

We need to understand better the full economic contribution of creativity to
the economy of our country. We know that the creative industries constitute one
sector of our economy but we have not yet conducted a comprehensive study to
determine how much creative industries contribute to the Gross Domestic Product
(GDP). Film, television and advertising are at the centre of our creative
industries, they are however supported by so many other industries such as
design, music, dance, fashion, craft, architecture, scriptwriting and
literature as well as technical services, such as lighting, sound, stage and
events management.

The audiovisual industry is the vehicle that pulls along with it all these
creative industries. Besides, the production of just one film boost other
sectors such as hospitality industry, the business sector, suppliers of
equipment and suppliers of consumables. Skills development in all these
industries become critical and requires government to develop a comprehensive
and well co-ordinated strategy to ensure job creation and economic growth. The
strategy should incorporate the establishment of incubators that will target
skills development in a holistic manner that will give access to many more
aspirant artists. These incubators will also provide a platform for the
transfer of skills by the older and experienced artists and crafters to the
younger generation.

Festivals, other than creating a market for local audiovisual products,
create jobs for those who are in the industry for those who are from other
disciplines. One should think of a film production whereby technical experts of
sound and lighting will be needed, transport services, accommodation and
catering services, crafts and fashion designers. This is evident to us that
filmmaking in this country can be utilised to address poverty alleviation and
economic stimulation.

I am making an urge to the youth that the film industry is in their hands to
take it to another level. When South African pop music ‘Bubblegum’ was becoming
outdated, we thought that there would not be a market for our local disco music
any longer and then the youth came up with Kwaito as a music genre. And since
then young musicians, especially those from the previously disadvantaged
backgrounds, gained more ownership of their productions. More of our youth
considered music as a profession as more of them studied music at tertiary
institutions and that has helped to shape up the curriculum of music in many of
the tertiary institutions. These young people came up with alternative venues
for concerts and markets for their own music. We have heard in their interviews
when these Kwaito stars confessed that they used to sell music records from the
boots of their cars.

A challenge for our young filmmakers today is that they do not have adequate
resources for their productions. I would urge all these young filmmakers not to
give up hope as we lobby for Treasury for an increased financial injection into
the film industry. In his 2006/07 budget speech, the Minister of Arts and
Culture, Dr Pallo Jordan, announced the allocation of an additional amount of
R9 million to film and audiovisual industry. This amount will assist in
promoting and developing the industry.

However, as government, we must make the point that it is the community of
Victoria West and the larger community of the Ubuntu Municipal area and indeed,
the people Pixley ka Seme district municipality, particularly the previously
disadvantaged who must benefit from the Apollo Community Project. It should be
utilised for the upliftment of these communities. The communities must take
ownership of this project and this modern film facility. The programmes must be
people-centred, in other words, the Apollo Community Project should take into
account the diversity of the local communities.
I believe that there are many interesting stories that are often told by the
people of this area about their history and their culture. These stories should
be used more often in film productions. However, stories about the local people
must be told by the people of this community so as to avoid distortion or
misrepresentation.

I also believe that the spoken languages in this area are isiXhosa,
Afrikaans and English and it is, therefore, unacceptable that only the
Afrikaans and English medium is used. The indigenous languages should receive
equal treatment as any other language. Government cannot continue to invest
money in programmes that perpetuate inequality. The arts institutions that
provide for skills development should make a serious effort to ensure that
transformation the accelerated.

Furthermore, the participation of young women in such programmes should be
encouraged and vigorously promoted. Women should be afforded meaningful
opportunities that will enable to assume leadership positions and be
economically empowered. Men should not grab all the opportunities that arise.
They must remember that women also want to enjoy a fair slice of the pie.

To date, DAC has signed Co-Production Treaties with the United Kingdom,
Italy, Germany and Canada. The thrust of signing these Treaties is to create or
to increase a market for South African audiovisual products globally.

Co-productions are a way of consolidating finance for films. They allow film
practitioners from both countries to collaborate at various levels, sharing
expertise, budget, and also to explore the maximum marketing and distribution
of the audiovisual products. The department also supports the Pan African
Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI) which acts as the link between all African
Cinemas on the continent. FEPACI promotes and protects African Filmmakers
against the dominance of developed countries.

We should always remember and appreciate the role played by the arts and
culture in the struggle for our liberation, and we should continue to use this
medium to address the challenges that we face today like poverty, unemployment,
sexism and racism, HIV and AIDS. I cannot emphasise more the need to elevate
this province, and that cannot be done without acknowledging our identity, our
heritage, our pride, and our culture as a people.

In conclusion, I would like to congratulate the organisers of this event,
and thank their sponsors, the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), the
Flemish government, the Open Doek Film Festival as well as the Premier of the
province, and the MEC Molusi and the Mayor of Ubuntu Municipality (in absentia)
for their support. Thank you also to the Executive Mayor of the Pixley ka Seme,
Comrade Hazel Jenkins and thank all the guests and members of the local
community for being here with us tonight. A special word of thanks to the
judges for their hard work and lastly I wish all the entrants of this
competition all the best.

Halala Apollo Film Festival Halala!

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Arts and Culture (http://www.dac.gov.za)
30 September 2006