Bubblegum Club

Tag: bureaucracy

  • Who is the hero? // A reflection on African Sci-Fi Films

    Who is the hero? // A reflection on African Sci-Fi Films

    In a post-apocalyptic Ethiopian landscape, where Michael Jordan is enshrined, masked Nazi-clad bandits steal Ninja-turtle amulets, and witches trade in Michael Jackson records, we meet Birdy and Candy.

    As a rusted spaceship hovers in the sky, and a defunct bowling ball machine returns to life, Candy embarks on a quest to find Santa Claus. As he follows the wrangled train tracks to an unnamed city, he meets hauntingly strange characters in desolate places. Birdy stays at home, tormented by bad dreams and unsettling sounds.

    A reel film of Superman has been playing for forty years, and a caged lion shows the way. In a film that could easily become garish and absurd, Spanish director Miguel Llanso, based in Addis Ababa, delivers a profound and whimsical work. Daniel Tadesse (Candy) takes us on (anti) adventure, one that defies the Hollywood science fiction convention of spectacle. There will be no CGI (computer generated images), not a gunshot, no army of soldiers, not even a computer. At only just over an hour, Llanso has completed his task. The viewer is left with both a sense of emptiness, and fulfilment. Is this a movie about hope, about love, about companionship in adversity? What do we treasure when we navigate the wreckage that is our earth?

    Still from Pumzi

    The film Crumbs was released in 2015 and filmed in the Ethiopian ghost town of Dallol. Films like these are a celebration of African excellence and skill – and as Five Fingers for Marseilles graces our cinemas, it becomes apparent that African cinema is beginning to transcend and redefine its boundaries.

    Closer to home we have Sweetheart directed by Phat Motel. The sparse Karoo landscape juxtaposes the abandoned cityscape, a husband and child lost, a desperate wife seeking her family. We see all too familiar aesthetics, reminiscent of Blade Runner and Intersteller. Sometimes still we see I am Legend or the Wizard of Oz, as we traverse the rural countryside, and find our way to the hostile, decaying city.

    We return to East Africa, where after the Water War, World War III, we meet Asha, asleep at her desk, dreaming of a tree. A computer buzzes “Dream detected – take dream suppressant pills.” She takes a tablet.

    Still from Pumzi

    Asha stands, walks past grey-clad figures working out. Kinetic energy – 0% pollution, a sign reads. We find Asha in a queue, a barcode on her arm is scanned, and she receives her pitiful water allowance. In this post-apocalyptic short film directed by Kenyan Wanuri Kahiu, we see a futuristic ‘East Africa’, most likely Kenya, that competes with any Western science fiction thriller. Pumzi, which means breathe in Swahili, manages in just 25 minutes to make us consider the greed and egotism of a world divided by resources, the power of bureaucracy, the importance of survival.

    While Black Panther celebrates the superhero, the Marvel-clad wonder, these African directors consider a subtler hero. A hero confronted with the challenges of sparsity, of isolation, of decay and desolation. These are films that embrace silence. As we begin to consider what makes an African hero, and what an African futurism looks like, we need to consider whether there really is a Wakanda, or if heroism comes from those who face adversity in an ‘Africa’ closer to home.

    Often, we forget of the innovation in film coming from our own country and continent, and this is partially but not exclusively because of lack of access. We need to stop District 9 becoming the archetypal ‘African’ sci fi movie and celebrate the diversity of our own industries. Perhaps it is time for a African Science Fiction Film Fest – because now, more than ever, we should salute the African hero.

    Still from Sweetheart
    Still from Sweetheart
  • REFUGE – A Project Verbalizing the lived experiences of Refugees Cross Continentally

    REFUGE – A Project Verbalizing the lived experiences of Refugees Cross Continentally

    Playwright, Amy Jephta, and director and writer, Paul Blinkhorn, have reached the second stage of their project – REFUGE. The project came to life when the two were hashing out their proposal for the British Council Connect ZA‘s partnership initiative in 2017. In this collaborative thinking process, it was realized that a reality that both countries share (South Africa and the UK) is that they act as spaces where refugees seek asylum.

    The project sets out to verbalise the lived experiences of refugees within these two countries and is presented as open testimonies that are portrayed and spoken verbatim by actors. The possible problematic connotations of the afore mentioned statement (the fact that actors were involved) led me to question Amy about this.

    She sheds some light, “Part of what we discovered while doing the interview processes, is that refugees are often reluctant to share their stories with just anyone. There’s a lot of trust that goes into opening up when the system you’ve been in has disappointed you or betrayed that trust so often. It simply wasn’t feasible for us to expect refugees to tell their stories in person. Using actors as the ‘vehicles’ for these stories, and changing refugees’ real names, gave us both the honesty of having the story presented without mediation (in their own words), and the distance and safety that kept refugees from being vulnerable.”

    Going into the parallels of refugees from these two different countries, Amy tells me about the disillusionment many of them are faced with over the countries that they end up in. “There were a lot of testimonies that pointed out how hopeful people were/had been, and how that had changed. A lot of people were left in limbo by bureaucracy, administration, red tape. That’s a universal theme: bureaucratic procedures that are designed to make it difficult and complicated to cross borders as an asylum seeker.” Other situational similarities that they share are the lack of affordability some of them are faced with for returning to their home countries as well as prejudice taking the shape of xenophobia that looms in the countries they seek refuge.

    In the second stage of the project, Amy and Paul are weaving the testimonies gathered into a full script and written play that they would like to perform in as many spaces as possible. “The funding from British Council/Connect ZA was to foster a new connection, spark a new project. Now it’s up to myself and Paul to carry forward the momentum for this work. This second phase of the process is self-determined – we have no set deadline.”

    Telling me more about how the interviews took place, Amy explains that refugees/interviewees were always met at a place of their choosing and that permission was asked to record them prior to the commencement of the interview. Their main question was always, “What were you seeking Refuge from?”.

    My interest was in the refugees’ response and feelings about being interviewed and their sentiments towards the project as a whole. Amy shares that some people have been excited about their efforts and believe that it is valuable for their stories to be heard hoping that it would work as a catalyst for change in their situations. Others, however, were wary of her and Paul, doubting that their work would be able to change their realities. “Mostly we have felt supported and welcomed. It’s been incredibly gratifying to see how open people are to share their stories if your only agenda is to genuinely listen.”

    “I think as South Africans, we live in a society where we are protected from hearing and seeing these stories up close. It’s possible to live your whole life not knowing there is an entire community of refugees from the rest of Africa who have risked their lives to leave difficult situations and come here. It’s easy to make value judgements about people and to be xenophobic when you don’t attempt to understand the complexity of these situations. We’ve met people who were doctors, lawyers, activists, preachers, who were working professionals in the countries they fled from, who now live in dire circumstances and on the fringes of the countries they came to. I think the project is valuable because it allowed us to hear the details of this particular group of refugee lives.”

    Amy and Paul set forth to give voice to a group of under-represented peoples whose stories are of value by the fact that they are accounts of real life; of real emotion and of real experience told by real people. I hope that projects such as these help bridge the gap of inequality and immeasurable difficulty that their lives are riddled with. For awareness to rise, REFUGE and other organizations supporting refugee centred causes need more support from the citizens situated within the countries they find themselves in.