Each year the Centre for Curating the Archive works on a number of collaborative projects with Iziko Museums of South Africa. This year we have had the pleasure of working alongside staff from Iziko's Planetarium to initiate a film festival for the digital dome. The idea for the festival began in 2018 when Cliff Bestall directed the short documentary film Fragments of an Untold History for the dome. The documentary looked at the under-documented female slaves of Cape Town’s past and their role as washerwoman. It was produced with help from: CCA and Iziko staff members, Karen Ijumba, Ofentse Letebele and Martin Wilson; Tracey “Khadija” Heeger, who wrote and performed a poem about the washerwoman; and Warrick Swinney, who worked on sound design.
After creating this documentary the CCA, in the hopes of producing more boundary-pushing content for a space that has been traditionally reserved for astronomy, put out a call to filmmakers throughout the country. Out of the many proposals we received we have chosen six films and added another three made by Iziko and CCA staff members and associates. The nine films that are being shown as part of the festival, that will launch in Iziko's planetarium in November, are as follows:
Fragments of an Untold History by Martin Wilson, Cliff Bestall, Tracey “Khadija” Heeger and Warrick Swinney.
Dumm: A documentary by Dr Siona O'Connell and Jade Nair.
Diane Tsa Borwa (Southern Proverbs) by Chris Grava and King Debs.
WRPD by Louise Coetzer and Oscar O'Ryan.
Reflectance by Jason Stapleton and Jacques van Zyl.
Inside Out by Thomas Dreyer, Adam Oosthuizen and Ross Eyre.
Artists' Spaces by Melvin Pather and Moeneeb Dalwai.
Frequencies of a Birthmark: Episode One by Phumulani Ntuli.
Animortis by Kali van der Merwe and Simon Dunckley.
The project is run by Lyndall Cain and Martin Wilson with special thanks to Professor Pippa Skotnes (UCT/CCA), Dr Bongani Ndhlovu (Iziko), Jade Nair (CCA), Karen Ijumba (independent), Hylton Arnolds (Iziko), Theo Ferreira (Iziko), Ofentse Letebele (Iziko), Professor Thomas Jarrett (UCT), Dr. Lucia Marchetti (UCT/UWC) and Sally Macfarlane (UCT) for all their help and support.
The festival will run for three nights: the 15th (opening event), 16th and 17th of November. Tickets will be made freely available from mid October.
For enquiries please email: lyndall.cain@uct.ac.za
Other links:
More information on the individual films.
Sutherland Planetarium prize details.
Photos from the opening night and announcement of the festival winners.
Press:
Sarah Middleton review for UCT news.
'I on Iziko' interview with Martin Wilson and Lyndall Cain.
Related Projects:
Immersive Cinema Screening at Octopi & I.
Naval Hill to recreate the festival in July of 2020 (more information coming soon!).
