FILM-maker Jahmil XT Qubeka, 34, made headlines as the director of controversial film Of Good Report which was banned then unbanned at the 11th hour at this year’s Durban International Film Festival.
He is in the news again – he has been named the recipient of next year’s Young Artist Award for Film.
Of Good Report was banned at the Durban International Film Festival on grounds that it was considered to be pornographic in parts, in its story of a schoolgirl who has sex with a teacher.
The ban was overturned and the film was released at the festival and on the commercial circuit.
Qubeka, whose films have been shown in various countries, credits his film-making education to his mentor, fashion photographer and film-maker Daron Chatz.
“My life has always been plagued by struggle and fight,” said Qubeka, who has been making films for 13 years.
“I am a loner, I am also an anarchist as well as a narcissist at heart; however, becoming a father has evolved my perspective of life and what is important.
“What informs my work is my passion for the genesis of humanity – where we truly come from, why we are the way we are and where we are going.”
In the annual awards, Durban-born baritone Njabulo Madlala, 31, was named as next year’s Young Artist Award winner for music.
Madlala was the 2010 winner of the most prestigious prize for singers in Britain, the Kathleen Ferrier Award.
Cape Town musician Kyle Shepherd was named as next year’s Young Artist for Jazz.
Capetonian dancer and choreographer-director Nicola Elliott took the award for dance; 28-year-old twin brothers Hasan and Husain Essop of Cape Town were joint winners for visual art; Joburg artist and lecturer Donna Kukama won the award for performance art; and Joburg director and academic Greg Homann took the award for theatre.
The Young Artist Awards were started in 1981 by the National Arts Festival to acknowledge emerging, relatively young South African artists displaying an outstanding talent in their artistic endeavours.
The awards are presented annually to artists in different disciplines, affording them national exposure and acclaim. - The Mercury