P Jordan: SABC Adaptation Conference

27 September 2006

Among the creative arts the one that has fascinated humans since time
immemorial is that of telling stories with moving images. Around campfires
across the world people have used the shadows cast by the light to imitate life
especially animal life. The shadow theatre of Asia, employing cut-out figures
whose shadows are projected onto a screen, was an extension of this original
idea. The magic lantern similarly used static cut-outs, whose movements
required an operator to manipulate them in front of a lantern.

The camera obscura a 19th century invention, brought us the photograph
reproduced first on film and opened the door to the movie camera which finally
made it possible to photographically reproduce the moving image in direct
imitation of life. By 1900 the art of synchronising frames per second with
human body movement had largely been mastered. Sergei Eisenstein and WF
Griffiths from the left and the right respectively, pioneered the craft of
editing during the early 1920s. By adding sound, in the late 1920s, the moving
image was well on its way to imitating life. Colour photography after the
Second World War, plus all the subsequent refinements have made the movies the
single most popular form of entertainment during the 20th century. It truly
became the theatre of the 20th century bringing to the silver screen every type
of story from the absolutely bad, the indifferent, to the most excellent. The
movie's ability to harness all the performing arts simultaneously to produce
one art object, made it the 20th century's quintessential story-teller, but one
who was far more versatile than any we had know before.

The movie is also very directly dependent on two crucial factors:
electricity and a chemical processing industry. In addition to these production
factors, movies and movie-making entail very long value chains that can include
hundreds of technicians, craftsmen, visual artists and musicians. Add to that
list the players, the extras, the prompts, the make-up artists, the set
builders, etc.

Television like radio transmission before it radically changed
communications by making it possible to bring two persons separated by miles of
space within earshot of each other. The visual accompanying the aural which is
what television entails has made it possible to bring every type of moving
image that can be captured chemically on film or electronically on tape or
digitally on disc directly into the home. Television is the most powerful tool
of mass communication invented by humans and its impact on society has yet to
be measured. Its applications to communicate events in real time, to store
information for later use, to recall and replay stored information within
seconds of reception, to merge, compare and disaggregate information being
received or stored, lend it to a host of capacities every preceding means of
communication lacked.

Television offers unprecedented access to the private domain of every human,
the home. Using this medium the news reader, the preacher, the weatherman, the
politician, the salesman and the entertainer gain direct access to your home.
As one little-known SABC executive once said; "Television is information but it
is also advertising and show-biz".

Tonight we are here to talk about the show-biz dimension of television.

In 1974, Gil Scott-Heron, the African-American poet, musician and activist
who commands quite an enthusiastic following here in South Africa made the
impassioned assertion that "the revolution will not be televised". That
statement was later countered by Richard J Powell in a chapter titled
"Correction: the revolution will be televised" in his book "Black Art: A
Cultural History".

The nexus between the Department Arts and Culture (DAC) and the South
African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has the great potential of
re-invigorating South Africa's own revolution; this time through the arts.

The DAC is charged with the responsibility of enhancing socio-economic
development, promoting social cohesion and nation-building and nurturing a new
sense of national identity through the development, preservation and promotion
of South African arts and culture. The SABC is strategically placed to make an
impressive contribution towards this by transmitting what our artists and other
cultural workers create to the broader public.

Tonight's occasion hopefully marks the maturing of the relationship between
the DAC and the SABC. The literature for Television Adaptation Conference is
not only about a marriage of creative minds, a marriage of artistic genres, it
is also about adding a different approach to our literary heritage.

Contemporary problems call for contemporary and creative solutions. Here I
would like to underscore the word "creative".

It has become apparent to all of us who love books, lovers of the creative
word that our children and our youth are increasingly shying away from reading
in favour of visual stimulation and appreciation. However, history would indict
us if because of this we discouraged our children from reading, a habit that we
as adults should be responsible for inculcating into the precious young minds
that are the future of humanity. If they are going to consume television let
them consume something of value. The creation of this relationship between the
written text and television would then stand a good chance of inspiring our
youth to revisit the original texts and thus enter the formidable love triangle
between the young mind, the book and the film.

Despite all of the new refinements of communication technology, books remain
one of the most essential means of communication alongside television (TV),
radio, computers and other electronic media. Contrary to the view of quite a
few, television and other forms of popular electronic media are not a
substitute for the book. The various forms of media complement one another and
together they have the potential of ensuring the accessibility, preservation
and promotion of our cultural heritage. Elsewhere, on another occasion, I have
argued that "writing was probably the most profound cultural revolution
experienced by human kind prior to the twentieth century. Books consequently
occupy an important place in the preservation and transmission of information,
knowledge and experience". For it is through writing that we are able to record
our history, transmit knowledge from one generation to another and teach our
offspring about the essential values of humankind. This is why the development
of literature and increased literary awareness remain at the top of our
priority list as the Department of Arts and Culture. This initiative, a
conference about the adaptation of literature for the screen hopefully brings
together the minds, the voices and the eyes that can map out a programme of
action. Provided that we are serious about the matters at hand, I have every
confidence that the partnership between the DAC and the SABC can yield positive
results and engender a wider readership for South African literature while
growing the audiences of the SABC, TV and radio.

The SABC has the capacity to reach 19 million TV viewers in South Africa. A
number of (74 percent) the country's population listen to its radio stations,
which now broadcast in all our 11 official languages.

The Department of Arts and Culture as the custodian of our nation's heritage
recognises the SABC as an important partner in promoting our cultural heritage.
This initiative is the affirmation of the intimate bond that should exist
between the two institutions. We are happy that the SABC contributes to the DAC
mandate in promoting the use and equitable development of all South African
languages.

Although this conference is the first of its kind on our soil, South Africa
boasts a strong tradition of adaptation from one form to another. The SABC in
particular has displayed a keen interest in adapting South African texts,
particularly literary classics written in our indigenous languages for
television. In the past we have seen television adaptations of the isiXhosa
classic SEK Mqhayi's "Itylala Lamawele", which was first published in 1914.
South Africa is also making its mark in the global arena. The film "Tsotsi"
adapted from Athol Fugard's novel, won the Oscar in the Best Foreign Language
Film category in Hollywood this February. We believe that further and greater
efforts in this direction can revitalise our literature and contribute directly
to our key national goals.

Literature for television adaptation is essentially about texts made
visible. This calls for creative dialogue and interaction between and among the
practitioners of two genres which could produce innovative ways of tackling the
problem of literacy in this country. By adapting books for film, (and by
extension, television) by bringing them into the visual medium we are not only
introducing a different dimension to the book, we are making it more alive
through moving visual images and sound. We are giving the book a new
texture.

We are constantly searching for creative ways to persuade South Africans to
read. This initiative with the SABC could be a milestone in that direction.
Adaptation can also aid to bridge the generational gap between the writers of
yesteryear who were generally restricted to pen and paper and the younger
generation with greater exposure to media and more opportunities to express
themselves through such modern media.

Our cultural development section which houses the books and publishing and
audiovisual units, among others, seeks to enhance the economic viability of
these industries so that they make a significant contribution to the South
African economy. We are at an advanced stage of developing our National Book
Policy which will serve as a normative instrument to guide growth strategies in
the book publishing industry and enhance the culture of reading and writing
amongst South Africans.

In 1999 the government established the National Film and Video Foundation
(NFVF) as a statutory body responsible for the development of our film
industry. In the past couple of years we have witnessed the remarkable growth
of the film sector. Apart from the Oscar that came with "Tsotsi" earlier this
year, South Africa has made its mark on the silver screen around the world with
such films as Drum, Yesterday, U-Carmen eKhayelitsha, Max and Mona to mention
the best known. The NFVF was established on the premise that South Africa has
stories to tell and these must be told by South Africans in their own way. The
recent achievements of our film industry tell us that South Africa has a wealth
of untapped talent and stories that can engross the world.

"The film-maker is our modern day dramatic story-teller who invites his
audience to view reality through his/her eyes", I remarked two years ago. The
Ethiopian filmmaker, Haille Gerima, stresses the importance of using film and
television to reflect our own realities as Africans. The images portrayed on
the screen need to resonate with the viewer's world in some form or the other;
they may not necessarily be true representations, but they must be familiar and
recognisable. Our realities will differ from person to person for they are
intricately connected to our own very unique experiences of life.

It is our commitment as the government to nurture and advance the arts and
provide the necessary support to artists and stimulate cultural activity in all
parts of the country. The various interventions made by the government, the
NFVF and other relevant bodies have brought an unprecedented paradigm shift in
the film industry. South African film industry today commands a great deal of
respect on the continent and the world over. We have moved from being a
film-making destination to a film-making country.

In bringing books to television and adapting our classics for film purposes
we will be enriching and giving value not only to the SABC's content hub, but
creatively and visually engaging the minds of South Africans with the great
literary minds of today and those of the past. By adapting our literary
classics for film and television, we shall raise our literature to new heights
and create new locally inspired films that will enrich not only ours, but also
the lives of millions of others throughout the world.

I wish the participants every success in their endeavours.

Thank you!

Issued by: Department of Arts and Culture
27 September 2006