P Jordan: Dinner hosted by SABC for cast and crew of Tsotsi

17 March 2006

Programme Director,
Advocate Dali Mpofu, CEO of the SABC,
Mr Eddie Mbalo, CEO of the NFVF,
Your Worship, the Executive Mayor of Johannesburg,
Councillor Amos Masondo,
Governor of the Reserve Bank, Mr Tito Mboweni,
The CEO of the Industrial Development Corporation,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me also acknowledge and thank Ster-Kinekor, Gauteng Province, the City
of Johannesburg and a number of other bodies for their participation in
tonight’s events.

We are tonight to celebrate yet another success of the South African film
industry. The reception that the cast and the team responsible for making
“Tsotsi” have received in every part of the country that they have visited over
the last six to seven days speaks for itself.

Gavin Hood, Presley Cheneyagae, Terry Pheto and the rest of the cast have
truly done South Africa proud. And they have done us proud in an extremely
competitive industry with a South African story, shot in South Africa by a
South African team of film makers using South African actors in all the leading
roles. I think that puts to rest the much touted excuse we hear from non-South
African producers and directors, “No, we need an American actor for the lead,
South African actors overact because they are trained for the small screen;
”South African actors just don’t have what it takes.”

I think we have all long suspected that these were excuses. The fact of the
matter is that what we have witnessed in the past were the funders of movies
made in South Africa, about South Africa flexing their financial muscle. As
Johnny Matshikiza put it, “film makers from outside were not allowing South
Africans a crack of our own whip.” Well we are cracking our own whip. And guess
what? The South African actors, directors and cinematographers are
outperforming those who think they understand South African characters better
than we do!

It is not educative that all the South African films for which foreign
actors were cast in preference for South Africans not one has attained an Oscar
nomination! There must be a message in there somewhere!

The cultural industries of this country have been identified as potentially
powerful levers for stimulating economic growth and wealth creation. It has
taken time for many to realise that behind every film there is a very long
value chain. Everyone is very aware of the actors who play the leading roles.
Many know the name of the director and the producer. But behind these are the
faceless yet very important screenwriters, costume designers, the lightning and
sound technicians, the musicians who compose and perform the score, the set
designers and builders and others whose names we barely notice because we are
usually an our way out of the theatre when the credits roll. Yet without them
the film would not be possible.

That value chain in its turn is dependent on a host of modern industrial
processes from the generation of a reliable electricity supply to the chemical
processes that take place in film laboratories. It when one adds all these
elements up that the significance and the potential of the film industry become
clear.

Very few South Africans realise that at the dawn of the 20th century this
country was the site of the earliest films shot. The Anglo-Boer War of 1899 -
1902 was the first ever war to be filmed. So when you watch all those
spectacular pyrotechnics on Cable News Network (CNN), the British Broadcasting
Corporation (BBC) and the Sky-TV, remember that it all began on battlefields in
this country.

When film and the cinema first came on stream they were regarded by many as
the culmination of humanity’s urge to transmit information by story telling.
Here at last was a means of story telling that combined theatre, the visual
arts with the electronic reproduction of sound! As a new addition to popular
culture the cinema had an immediate appeal especially because it was so
eminently accessible. It is that accessibility that is, ironically, under
threat during our day because cinema tickets are so expensive and the
distribution of exhibition spaces in our country has become so skewed. As
people involved in film and film making it is incumbent upon all of us here to
give serious thought to how are going to address these matters.

I submit that as long South Africans themselves do not have access to our
award winning films so long will the possibilities of South African film and
film making be constrained.

All of us here have a very keen interest in developing and expanding the
frontiers of our film industry. We already have one small studio, Table
Mountain Film Studios, operating in Cape Town. We must now use the momentum
that the success of “Tsotsi” has generated to drive the realisation and the
establishment of the other studios that have been in the pipeline for the last
two years. The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has already
designated R40 millions to promote local productions. We already have a number
of provincial film commissions. Given this energy we should use our collective
wisdom and zeal to build even more studios.

This is the third year in succession that the South African films have
scooped up awards at the top film festivals around the world. In 2004 when we
first grabbed the brass ring many dismissed that as a sympathy vote, a way of
acknowledging this country’s first decade of democracy. Well the hat trick of
awards demonstrates that it is the quality of our film products and the talent
of our actors and directors that is being affirmed.

This time last year I singled out and congratulated the cast, the directors,
the crew and the scriptwriters who gave us Yesterday. Those involved in the
making of the Gold Bear winner, ‘Carmen in Khayelitsha’ also earned accolades.
‘Forgiveness’ won nine international film festival and audience choice awards
including Best South African Film at the Cape Town World Cinema Festival,
Sithengi. Zola Maseko became the first South African to win the most
prestigious African film award, the Golden Stallion of Yennenga for the feature
film that he directed, DRUM. Ramadan Suleiman and Pamela Nomvete won the Silver
Award at the Carthage Film Festival in Tunisia won the award for best actress,
the European Union award for films on peace and reconciliation as well as the
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) prize for the promotion of women’s
rights for their film Zulu Love Letter. Teddy Mattera claimed the award for
best feature film for Max and Mona, a truly South African comedy that tested
the boundaries of humour often by sailing close to the wind. With such an
outstanding record, even the doubting Thomases will have to agree that the
South African film industry is coming into its own.

But don’t let our achievements encourage an attitude of complacency. If the
film industry is going to develop and grow, all South Africans must get behind
it to give it the support it needs. In 2002 the Department of Arts and Culture
set aside R35 million for the production of feature films. That money was
passed on to the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) who invested in the
production of 15 feature films. Given the high costs involved in film making
the NFVF was only able to achieve this by exploiting the co-production
agreements government has negotiated with a number of European countries
including France, Italy, Germany and Britain. Some 45 percent of the funding
for “Tsotsi” came from Britain. I want to use this podium to call on South
African financial institutions to play a more vigorous role in funding our
films. This year we will improve on previous allocations to the NFVF and extend
our cooperation with other sectors of government and the parastatals to enhance
the funding available for film industry.

Audiences in other parts of the world have expressed their confidence in
South African films by voting with their wallets and with their feet. I think
it is a sad indictment of our own financial institutions that they appear to
have so little confidence in our film industry.

South Africa will be hosting the first African Film Summit from 3 until 9
April 2006. This summit will hopefully provide for a dialogue among African
film professionals regarding the state of African cinema in the context of the
global economic order. Last October in Paris the general conference of United
Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) adopted a
convention on the protection of cultural diversity. Given the immense power
wielded by the cultural industries of the developed countries, Africa’s
youthful film industry does not need to take stock. We are pleased to note that
many African governments recognise the value of this initiative and support
it.

The creative economy of this country and those of other parts of the
continent have potential. Their growth and development will depend in large
measure on the interventions we make. ‘Tsotsi’ and other African films that
have made a mark internationally demonstrate that African stories have
international resonance. If this is to be the African century we aspire to,
that aspiration must be under-girded by our willingness to encourage, affirm
and support Africa’s creative artists.

In that respect let me assure all here, you will not find your government
wanting.

But tonight we are here to celebrate. We are celebrating the Oscar Academy
Award and the global acknowledgement of South African talent that it signifies.
We are here to celebrate a South African story written by a South African
playwright, directed by a South African director and brilliantly performed by
young South African actors. Yes we are blowing our own trumpet! We are even
blowing our Vuvuzelas, as we shamelessly affirm our talent. The talent of our
young creative people of our directors, of our technicians, of our designers,
of our script writers, of our musicians and last but not least the commitment
of our South African producers.

The success of “Tsotsi” should see the commencement of a dialogue about to
the art of scriptwriting. We want to tell many more South African stories. We
want to hear authentic South African voices interpreting and purveying our
experience as a country, a nation and as a people to the rest of humanity.

Gavin and his team have shown us that we can!

Thank you.

Issued by: Ministry for Arts and Culture
17 March 2006