The South Africa Show: ANC Conference Xmas Special, a masterclass in cinematography with director Pule Mabe
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Ahead of the screening of the second episode of The South Africa Show: ANC Conference Xmas special, the film’s co-director and occasional Barbara Streisand, Pule Mabe, sat down with members of the media to share his insights on the power of collaborative filmmaking, the camera lens, and how well-directed cinematography has the power to shape a narrative.
Dear Diary
The South Africa Show: ANC Conference Xmas Special continues to blow my mind, as per my notes on yesterday’s episode, the soundtrack was a masterclass in how to write an authentically South African film score.
Speaking of masterclasses, one of the film’s co-directors, Pule Mabe, who, in true Barbara Streisand style, occasionally jumps in front of the camera to play one of the characters, took time out of his busy shooting schedule to speak to the press about the cinematography behind the show. He also shared great philosophical insights about the way the ubiquity of the camera lens in daily life shapes 21st-century life.
Unpacking the events of the first episode of this genre-busting gonzo-style scripted-reality Afro-political documentary mockumentary true-crime fictional drama series, the auteur took time to explain to the press all the different camera techniques that they incorporated to bring dramatised chaos to such spectacular life, and how in true modern collaborative filmmaking, they too helped shape the film.
“Yesterday I’m sure you saw, we had to ask you to turn your cameras and face the President, because it’s human nature, when your cameras are watching delegates even when they were not singing, they see. ‘yo TV!’, then they start singing the loudest now, because the camera is there. We see cameras then we start showing some courage,” he explained.
Deep stuff. There is so much to unpack here, a thesis, really. Are we even authentic humans any more? Or are we just algorithmic ubuntoids waiting to be activated by the nearest camera lens? Just how much of our actions are merely performative because of the hypervisibility brought on by the ubiquity of camera lenses in the social media age? Are we still woke when no one is watching? Does the pursuit of Radical Economic Transformation even matter if it can’t get us views and likes?
“I’m sitting here [and] cameras are watching my direction. What do I do?” the great director asked rhetorically, “There’s a point I want to raise, here is an opportunity to make my point known, heard by the world. I scream ...
Dear Diary
The South Africa Show: ANC Conference Xmas Special continues to blow my mind, as per my notes on yesterday’s episode, the soundtrack was a masterclass in how to write an authentically South African film score.
Speaking of masterclasses, one of the film’s co-directors, Pule Mabe, who, in true Barbara Streisand style, occasionally jumps in front of the camera to play one of the characters, took time out of his busy shooting schedule to speak to the press about the cinematography behind the show. He also shared great philosophical insights about the way the ubiquity of the camera lens in daily life shapes 21st-century life.
Unpacking the events of the first episode of this genre-busting gonzo-style scripted-reality Afro-political documentary mockumentary true-crime fictional drama series, the auteur took time to explain to the press all the different camera techniques that they incorporated to bring dramatised chaos to such spectacular life, and how in true modern collaborative filmmaking, they too helped shape the film.
“Yesterday I’m sure you saw, we had to ask you to turn your cameras and face the President, because it’s human nature, when your cameras are watching delegates even when they were not singing, they see. ‘yo TV!’, then they start singing the loudest now, because the camera is there. We see cameras then we start showing some courage,” he explained.
Deep stuff. There is so much to unpack here, a thesis, really. Are we even authentic humans any more? Or are we just algorithmic ubuntoids waiting to be activated by the nearest camera lens? Just how much of our actions are merely performative because of the hypervisibility brought on by the ubiquity of camera lenses in the social media age? Are we still woke when no one is watching? Does the pursuit of Radical Economic Transformation even matter if it can’t get us views and likes?
“I’m sitting here [and] cameras are watching my direction. What do I do?” the great director asked rhetorically, “There’s a point I want to raise, here is an opportunity to make my point known, heard by the world. I scream ...