Sense-(re)-memory

Production by Raphaela Linders

Sense-(re)-memory deals with the reliving of memories triggered by the conventional five senses sight, sound,hearing, touch and taste.
The film follows Mardou as she experiences the strength of her senses and the memories that they trigger. She has to a certain degree lost control of her senses, everything she sees, tastes, touches, smells and hears brings up a memory that she does not necessarily want to remember. Mardou has even gone to the extreme of stripping all the objects around her of any visual stimuli. Her sensory memories are told through the eyes and words of four other people.

The Big Mesh

Production by Katja Schreiber

While KwaZulu-Natal’s gill nets protect bathers from shark attack, the same nets threaten the province’s sensitive marine life.
The nets work as fishing devices, but rather than merely killing sharks — of which the vast majority are harmless to humans — they trap a wide variety of other marine animals as well. Dolphins, rays, whales, and even critically endangered turtles are all suffering. With bathers facing a 1% risk of shark attack, can the use of shark nets be justified at the expense of our rich marine ecosystem?

Conversations with Paul Myburgh

Production by Jacek Kaminski & Raphaela Linders 24min

“If you want to know then we must talk. There are no short answers, not if you really want to know” – Paul Myburgh.

After living with the Bushmen in the Kalahari Desert for over seven years, Paul John Myburgh shares his thoughts and concepts on their ancient wisdom with modern humanity. Filming numerous conversations with Myburgh, this documentary aims to convey some of his more fundamental philosophies from his film and book, and to remind modern humanity what we have forgotten from the knowledge and way of life of the /Gwikwe bushmen.

I seek a Safe Place

Production by Amaal Salie, Debbie Potgieter & Palesa Mashigo 24min

Over 500,000 Congolese refugees have flocked to South Africa over the past decade, escaping the civil war that has plagued the DRC. Many of them leave their countries with professional qualifications only to arrive in South Africa and are then forced to do menial jobs like car guarding. In addition to this, refugees are often victims of xenophobia and other forms of discrimination due to the misconceived Ideas about why they fled their country of origin. This documentary follows the lives of three Congolese refugees and attempts to change the stereotypical perceptions attached to foreign nationals in South Africa.

Xakhubasa: The White Pride

Production by Robyn Perros and Tassyn Munro 24min

An inside look into the lives of South Africans with albinism; a story of the challenges and the triumphs of living in a country where they are largely marginalized by others who struggle to place them into the proverbial “rainbow nation”. Albinism is a medical condition, yet the social manifestations of albinism are faced on a daily basis by those affected by it. Through the stories of Sphonakaliso Mpisi and Jake Scott, the many myths and misconceptions surrounding people with albinism are tackled in an attempt to bring an end to the ignorance that persists.

Paper Dragons

Production by Minette van der Walt, Katja Screiber & Kirsten Allnutt 24mins

South Africa’s patchwork-quilt of cultures ranges from Khoisan to Afrikaners, Cape Malays, Indians and many others in between. So where do Chinese and Taiwanese fit in? Do they fit in? Who are ‘they’? And what are they doing here? Paper Dragons is a documentary that explores the experiences of Chinese and Taiwanese descendants living in South Africa. The film delves Into the lives of seven individuals, taking the viewer on a journey of cultural exchange. From the rural Free State to Johannesburg’s second China Town, Chinese and Taiwanese communities have a presence that Is both nation-wide and historically significant.