THE 34th Durban International Film Festival (Diff) officially wrapped up on Sunday with its last batch of screenings, among them what effectively became the preview of Jahmil XT Qubeka’s Of Good Report which was unable to screen throughout the fest because of its initial banning by the Film and Publications Board, which was overturned by an appeals tribunal on Saturday.
The controversy surrounding the film’s banning was the biggest talking point of this year’s festival, with the issue making news head- lines for its duration.
Speaking to Tonight after Of Good Report’s preview screening on Sunday (the film will be released commercially on Friday in Joburg, Pretoria and Cape Town and next weekend in Durban, East London, Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein), Qubeka said he never doubted that the ban would be overturned.
“I always felt common sense would prevail. It just needed people who understand the language of cinema and who knew what I was trying to do with this film. I am no child pornographer,” he said.
Qubeka explained that the “indictment” is really on the country now as once the film has screened across South Africa and the world, people will also wonder what the fuss was about.
That certainly was the case at the preview on Sunday where, judging by the comments made to Qubeka and in conversations around the Suncoast cinemas where the film screened, the audience felt much the same way.
After watching the movie I, too, agree and can’t see what could have provoked a banning of Of Good Report which, since its appeal, now carries an age restriction of 16.
The film’s storyline is hinged on a psychologically damaged high school teacher who has a penchant for young girls.
A number of issues are high- lighted in the piece including what are commonly referred to as “sugar daddies” – older men who abuse their sexual power over young girls.
But Of Good Report also high- lights and provokes thought around a host of related and other issues common in South African commu- nities today, such as the lack of proper vetting of teachers.
Now that the film is available for everyone to see, we asked Qubeka what debate he felt the commercial release would provoke: “It’s always been an issue that is close to my heart. I could not have foreseen how events (around the film and its banning) have played out.
“This week alone, it has been all over the news with related stories and dialogue around the issue of sugar daddies.
“It’s a call to politicians to say, ‘look at the power of cinema. It tells stories that have impact’. To the parents, it says, ‘ask the question: who is looking after my kid?’ Just because they (teachers) come ‘of good report’, look deeper into who is looking after your child. It is a call to parents and children.
“When kids see this film, they will think twice about getting into that car (with a sugar daddy).”
The manner in which Qubeka chose to portray the subject is more suggestive than in-your-face, which the initial censors would have easily gleaned had they viewed the movie to its end and in context.
On the technical front, Qubeka has toned down what effectively may have been too harsh for some by excluding too much sexual con- tent and has also filmed in black and white, so the bloody scenes, which in colour may be a bit much to view, are easier to absorb.
On the creative front the teacher, Parker Sithole, played by Mothusi Magano, is actually a silent charac- ter, but his background and troubled personality speak volumes. Kudos to Magano for really giving this character a resounding voice purely through his physical performance by using body language, facial expressions and the like.
The 23-year-old Petronella Tshuma, who plays the troubled, yet vulnerable Grade 9 pupil Nolitha Ngubane, does an excellent job of introducing the audience to this complex teenager. While she portrays all the characteristics of a sexually mature young woman as she flirts with these older men, at the same time you can’t help but identify with the innocence and vulnerability of someone who is, in effect, a very troubled youth caught up in a very adult world, where the real adults ought to know a whole lot better.
Tshuma’s performance has given these girls a voice. After watching this film it won’t be so easy for anyone to make a superficial judgement on young women who are caught up in this dilemma. We see them in our communities daily, but we don’t really know who they are or the kind of backgrounds they come from.
Through Nolitha’s actions we now have a more intimate knowledge of what they may be going through.
Had Of Good Report screened at Diff in time for the judges to consider it, it would probably have walked off with a few awards. But that did not stop the film-makers from receiving a wide array of acknowledgement during the festival’s awards ceremony, which was held on Saturday.
Not only did Qubeka’s film make history at this year’s festival, and will probably now become part of case history in terms of film classi- fications in South Africa and the laws regarding how films are classified, but he also became the inaugural recipient of the Durban International Film Festival Award for Artistic Bravery.
The award was created specifically to acknowledge Qubeka and will now be an annual award handed to a worthy recipient.
During the awards ceremony Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Head of the College of Humanities at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Professor Cheryl Potgieter, said: “We believe the director and all involved have been extremely brave in the issues they have been dealing with.
“Given the unbanning, I don’t think we should stop fighting and challenging what we feel should be challenged.”
Also commenting on Of Good Report during the presentation of their awards, the International Jury said through one of its members, June Givanni, that as a jury they were privileged to be taken on a global journey through cinema, but had to express their regret that this journey could not include Of Good Report – which the Film and Publication Board did not license in time for them to consider.
Potgieter also gave special mention and a prize to festival manager Peter Machen for his outstanding work during and contribution to the festival.
“A manager and a leader show their strength not under normal circumstances, but under circumstances we would not expect,” she said.
Machen said his time in the post had been the most challenging and rewarding experience of his life. He also thanked the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s team for their hard work.
The Durban International Film Festival is organised by the Centre for Creative Arts with support from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, the National Film and Video Foundation, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development and Tourism, Hivos (Humanist Institute for Co-operation), the City of Durban, the German Embassy in South Africa, the Goethe Institut of South Africa, the French Season in South Africa and a range of other partners.
2013 DIFF WINNERS:
• Best Feature Film: The Land of Hope (director Sion Sono);
• Best South African Feature Film: Durban Poison (director Andre Worsdale);
• Award for Artistic Bravery: Director Jahmil XT Qubeka (Of Good Report);
• Best Short Film – Mercy (director Eliza Subotowicz);
• Best South African Short Film – The Brave Unseen (director Duan Myburgh);
• Best Documentary Film – Far Out isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story (director Brad Bernstein);
• Special Mention: Best Documentary Film – I Am Breathing (director Emma Davie and Morag McKinonn);
• Best South African Documentary Film – Angel’s In Exile (director Billy Raftery);
• Special Mention: Best South African Documentary Film – Orania (director Tobias Lindner);
• Amnesty International Durban Human Rights Award – Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer (director Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin);
• Audience Choice Best Film – Felix (director Roberta Durrant);
• Audience Choice Best Documentary – Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer (director Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin);
• Audience Choice Best Wavescapes Film – Stand (directors Anthony Bonello and Nicolas Teichrob);
• Audience Choice Best WildTalk Film – 2 Wings Many Prayers (director Lloyd Ross);
• Best First Feature Film – Wadjda (director Al-Mansour Haifaa);
• Best Direction – Xavier Dolan for Laurence Anyways;
• Best Cinematography – MatÍas Penachino for Halley;
• Best Screenplay – Asghar Fahradi for The Past;
• Best Actor – David and Eitan Cunio for Youth;
• Best Actress – Paulina Garcia for Gloria and Suzanne Clément for Laurence Anyways.
– sourced from The Durban International Film Festival
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