New-bie Image Afrika releases six-minute film
Spira Tlhankane | Friday May 29, 2020 17:10
They have released a six-minute-long short film called Dark Spot. The short film is about an abortion pills store in a township area that masquerades as a hair salon.
It is a low-budget film and the cast includes upcoming young actors who performed their roles to their best levels.
The protagonist in the film, Nonofo Masase, plays the character of Irene, the hairdresser.
The supporting acts include Tidimalo Gasetshabelwe, who plays Sam the barber and Gaone Montshosi, who plays the role of a student.
According to the film editor, Leano Ennetse, the film was shot in 16 hours and he managed to edit the whole six-minute production in just two hours under the supervision of Image Afrika members being, Terry Motseokae and Koone Boikaego, who are the cinematographers.
“We want to tell our African stories. We have a lot of short films produced locally. We managed to get three nominations at the Durban 48hour film festival and made a lot of connections with international acts,” Ennetse told Arts & Culture.
He said as a new crew in the film industry, they would like to applaud the people who have been in the industry and urge them to welcome Image Afrika. Ennetse revealed that they were fresh from varsity, hungry and keen to showcase to people what they can offer. “We want to get recognition as filmmakers. During the (coronavirus) COVID-19 era, Image Afrika found a gap in our industry,” he admitted.
“We don’t have enough content to attract local people to move their attention away from international films, so we found it better to start an online page to share with people the short films we produce,” he stated.
He added that they would like to thank the Amastardom, formerly known as Makavelli, for their songs that boosted the storyline and showcased township lifestyle.
“Shout out to all filmmakers for believing that we can be the new generation that is going to change motion picture in Botswana. Yes, we are going to produce more local content and I am sure other colleagues as well, are working on something for the film industry. We are the game changers and future Oscar winners,” he said.