Home brewed movies for SA

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Pretoria – Community members will soon get an opportunity to watch locally produced movies without having to travel to big cities where there are cinemas, says Arts and Culture Deputy Minister Rejoice Mabudafhasi.

Thanks to the new state-of-the-art R850 000 Mmabana Film Studio, in Mahikeng, a new generation of film makers will continue to tell the South African story at home and abroad through digital versatile discs (DVDs) that will be distributed and sold locally.

The Deputy Minister said the department through a partnership with Top Crew Home Brew Movies (TCHBM) support the training and development of young film makers.

“This will ensure that we continue to support the transformation of the arts, culture and heritage, because it is only through creating more access to people, particularly young people, and ensuring that these talented artists have the necessary skills to become professional film makers that we can change the status quo,” she said on Tuesday during the handover of the film studio.

In order to address the problem of piracy and other challenges affecting the growth of the film industry, the Deputy Minister said she was told that TCHBM has introduced a mass DVD distribution concept called “Woza Month End”, which is an informal distribution system licencing unemployed youth as entrepreneurs. 

The Deputy Minister said the film studio will amongst others seek to identify new talent, facilitate necessary training, provide experience through ‘At-Work’ training, workshops, mentoring, as well the profiling of aspiring film makers and actors, thus exposing them to the real world of film making.

She said the film making training programme will produce socially conscious material that speaks to the realities of society and also speaks to local languages, but most of all, develops and nurtures a new generations of film makers.

“I have no doubt that the community of Mahikeng here in Bokone Bophirima, working together with the Mmabana Cultural Foundation and Top Crew Home Brew Movies, will look after this state-of-the-art film studio as we continue to tell our own stories.

“I am looking forward to see best film stars and movies that would be brewed out of this project. I am certain that high quality local movies that will be produced here will surpass many movies at national and international stages,” she said.

The handover of Mmabana Film Studio formed part of Heritage Month celebrations. - SAnews.gov.za