Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep once said: “I have a theory that movies operate on the level of dreams, where you dream yourself.”
Movies have the ability to transport you to another plane, explore worlds beyond your imagination and live free from the pressures of society for a few hours. That is why we love them. And to celebrate all things film, Reed Exhibitions Africa and ReedPOP, some of the largest producers of pop culture events, are hosting the second annual Comic Con Africa (CCA) in Johannesburg in September.
CCA focuses on all elements of pop culture including cosplay, comic books, anime, manga, film, series, games (including video and e-sports), books and authors. The festival also features a large range of pop culture and entertainment elements in animation, toys, gadgets, clothing, collectible card games, video games, web-comics, and fantasy novels and the ever-popular Artists’ Alley.
The inaugural event saw more than 45 000 eager visitors show up with 212 exhibitors and approximately 400 media representatives in attendance last year.
This year, Barry de Klerk, the man behind social media page The Movie Guy, hopes to represent Namibia at the festival.
“I was so excited and immediately contacted my best friend. I told him I’m going to take part in something I’ve dreamt about all my life. I just couldn’t keep the good news to myself. I’m still shocked that I’m the one who got invited,” says De Klerk.
The film enthusiast had been playing around with ideas on how to indulge in his passion. Having an affinity for movies and previously having done film reviews for a local newspaper, he wanted to expand on that. In 2017, The Movie Guy was born.
“It started out slow with only a few reviews per month, but as the time went by, I wrote other movie-centric articles and started sharing trailers on upcoming local and international movies.”
Earlier this year, De Klerk took his passion a step further.
“I launched my YouTube channel where I share movie reviews in Afrikaans, just to offer something more to my followers. In fact, I will celebrate my two-year anniversary of The Movie Guy on 31 August in style,” he says.
The Movie Guy’s fans praised his timeliness. Brigitte Maasdorp recommended the page, saying: “Up-to-date information and great reviews. Keep it up!”, while Mario Karelse shared her sentiments, posting “yes, very much updated about the latest new release movies”.
De Klerk fell in love with the cinematic world at the age of two when he watched the original ‘The Lion King’.
“I still remember how I fell more in love with film after I watched ‘Home Alone’, ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ and even the first ‘Power Rangers’ movie.”
The movie critic says it’s a complicated process getting invited to CCA as a majority of invitees are South African, however, his social media presence and previous journalism work earned him a coveted spot.
“This will be an opportunity to broaden my horizons as a writer and cinephile.”
Unfortunately, De Klerk still has an uphill battle facing him. “The organisers of the event only cover my entrance fees and other expenses at the event itself. I will need to cover my own transport and accommodation. So I will need financial backing to cover these expenses,” he says.
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