Namibia’s budding film-makers put their best foot forward as 50 applicants submitted scripts for this year’s Goethe Stage short film funding.
Emerging as the cream of the 2021 crop, multidisciplinary creative technologist Mark Mushiva, NBC TV producer Othilia Mungoba and second-year College of the Arts TV production student Denzel Eiseb will be producing their films within a four month period.
The beneficiaries were selected after comprehensive deliberation by an esteemed panel of industry judges namely the late David Ndjavera, Tim Huebschle and Senga Brockerhoff.
Mushiva, famed as one third of rap trio Black Vulcanite, will be presenting a film called ‘Grootman’, which centres around three childhood friends facing a consequential situation at the brink of adulthood.
Mungoba will turn her film’s lens towards real life in ‘Currency of Scrap’, a documentary which follows the lives of five men selling scrap material to make a living in the often harsh Namibian capital.
Denzel Eiseb will imagine Namibia as a place of fast-paced action in a film titled ‘Hard Choice’, in which a young man faces temptation at a crossroad in his life.
“The diversity of submissions received this year highlights the great potential of the short film genre and Namibian film in general,” says Goethe-Institut Namibia press and communications officer Lendl Izaaks.
“Each of the three beneficiaries’ ideas have potential to be developed into interesting stories that are relevant to Namibians. The story lines of each explore the human condition and contemporary context of lives in Namibia.”
While Goethe Stage Short Films’ primary mandate is funding, Izaaks adds that it is more than just a financing platform.
“The Goethe Stage also connects beneficiaries with experienced creatives and other professionals in the relevant industries,” he says.
“Therefore, a series of workshops in the coming weeks will be open to not only the beneficiaries but also any other interested persons for them to gain knowledge on topics such as the basics of scriptwriting, directing and acting for screen as covered in the Goethe Stage project.”
Goethe Stage Short Films also includes training, skills development and a two-day shoot later this year.
“Due to not only financial constraints but also the unpredictability of the current global situation of the pandemic, applicants were encouraged to make the filming as short and concise as possible for human contact to be as limited as possible,” says Izaaks.
Reflecting on the content and quality of the submitted scripts, Izaaks is enthusiastic and cites relatable substance over spectacle and multidisciplinary experimentation as positive trends.
“It also emerged that local creatives are keen to explore cross-disciplines by combining theatrical, poetic, photographic and novel writing skills with film-making, which is great to see when focusing on arts and culture development in Namibia.”
Goethe Stage Short Films exists in partnership with the Namibia Film Commission and Pegasus Entertainment Productions. Since 2017, the development and training programme has funded over 20 projects including exhibitions, plays and workshops.
“Goethe Stage hopes to continue with its core mandate of contributing to the development of Namibia’s art and culture sector through projects that allow for skills transfer which enable young and emerging creatives to identify and engage in opportunities,” says Izaaks.
“We are looking forward to the final productions and wish the beneficiaries, facilitators, cast members and production crews a safe production space that allows them to shine.”
For more information, follow Goethe-Institut Namibia on social media.
– martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on Twitter and Instagram; marthamukaiwa.com
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