Local short film screening at NMU on Saturday

GEORGE NEWS - My father, my responsibility, a locally produced short film, will have its first screening for the George community on Saturday 10 September at 16:00 in the lecture theatre of Nelson Mandela University George Campus. Entrance is free.

The film was co-produced by a former George campus student, Yandisa Ndzeku, who also wrote the script.

It is the story of a young woman who is a victim of circumstance. The audience is taken on a one-day journey in her life that is filled with pitfalls, pain and sacrifice.

Ndzeku began his film making journey a number of years ago and has always focused his skill set on telling stories about everyday people, and highlighting the impact that socio-economic factors can have on individuals, families and communities.

My father, my responsibility was shot in September 2021. Together with close collaborators Clive Magwaniza of KM Creatives (producer), Andile Nodada of Inqwelo Cinemas (director) and Udochukwu Obi (casting director), Ndzeku was able to pull together an outstanding cast and crew.

"The film project is more about collaboration than anything else," he says. He particularly focused on ensuring that local talent is recognised and celebrated in this project and he involved mainly sub-30-year-old individuals. He believed this could be accomplished without compromising the quality of his creative output.

NMU students in crew

Several students of Nelson Mandela University George Campus were members of the crew. For Ndzeku, the university is an element that he holds dear, seeing that many of his creative inspirations came during his time there.

The crew also included expert videographers such as Kamvelihle Stemela and Nathan Brooks, sound engineer Wandile Tonqa and lighting specialists Simon Thompson and Tertius van Zyl, who were brought onto the project and greatly increased the production value.

Lead actors Courtney Williams and Jurgenz Waltz are both young creatives that had not broken into the acting world before this project, but delivered an exceptional performance. Both based in the Garden Route region, their passion and commitment was evident on each day of shooting.

Logistics greatest challenge

The greatest challenge was finalising all the logistics involved, according to Nodada and Magwaniza, who were largely responsible for handling location scouting, equipment procurement and transportation arrangements.

The team is extremely grateful for additional support and assistance received from the George Municipality, the Garden Route Food Pantry, Security Superstore and Ink Unlimited, that were always willing to offer aid and resources during the duration of the shooting.

The George screening of My father, my responsibility will be followed by a screening in Cape Town in the week of 12 September.

This forms part of a roll-out process that will include exclusive behind-the-scenes shots and interviews. After these two screenings, the team aims at creating numerous opportunities over the next few months for residents to view the film in different places.

For additional information and frequent updates on the film, follow the team on mfmr.film on Instagram or MFMR on Facebook. For personal and direct contact, phone Udochukwu Obi on 079 040 6783.