Movies for Mahala!
Wed, 06 Feb 2008
The Gauteng Film Commission (GFC) has announced the second season of Gauteng Bioscope. There are more than 30 confirmed free screenings scheduled across various townships of Gauteng commencing Friday, 1 February.
The free screenings, consisting of a selection of contemporary African cinema, will be taking place during February and March in eight townships. The first four screenings will take place in Kliptown, Dobsonville, Swaneville and Muldersdrift. The confirmed titles include Vincent Moloi’s “A Pair of Boots and a Bi-Cycle”, Teboho Pietersen’s “Zizipho”, Maishi Teffo’s “Tonship-The Stories Untold” and Ntokozo Mahlalela’s “Tribes and Clans”.
Gauteng Bioscope, a GFC initiative, is aimed at re-establishing a vibrant township circuit. The first season implemented in 2007 in partnership with the Film Resource Unit (FRU) was hugely successful with both younger and older audiences. The audiences, which the GFC believes do not have regular access to cinemas, experienced 96 screenings in 18 townships across Gauteng.
In a press release issued by the GFC, CE Terry Tselane says that the films selected this year will cater for all age groups and will promote independently produced local content that tells stories which capture the South African experience and landscape.
In the apartheid era, cinemas throughout South African townships, including the historic Sans Souci in Soweto were lively social gathering places that pioneered a love of film. The events of the late 1980s eroded much of the communal film culture. The GFC would like to see the collective culture restored.
Tselane says that it is equally important to find alternatives to the established distribution networks to make a wider choice of content available to the broader community. Screenings will also be taking place at community centres in Attredgville, Mamelodi, Tembisa and Thokoza, and there are plans to roll out screenings to other townships and regions.
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