A Must See African Film
Thina Sobabili: The Two of Us! South African entry for best Foreign Language film at the 88th Academy Awards. Last showing at VIFF, Thursday, October 8 at 8:30 pm at the Cinematheque. Get you tickets now at ;viff.org!
Please go see the film and if you are interested in being involved in their two upcoming films, contact: ariadnes@uniserve.com and I will see that Ernest receives the information. Film director: Ernest Nkosi Music composed by: Mpho Nthangeni Cast: Richard Lukunku, Thato Dhladla, Busisiwe Mtshali and others. Screenplay: Ernest Nkosi, Mosibudi Pheeha Producers: Ernest Nkosi, Enos Manthata, Mosibudi Pheeha
. Thina Sobabili: The Two of Us is a 2015 drama film produced, written and directed by Ernest Nkosi. Set in Alexandra, Johannesburg the film tells a story of tough choices made by the youth living in the township neighborhood. Thina Sobabili: The Two of Us at the Internet Movie Database. Thina .Sobabili: The Two of Us on Facebook.Thina Sobabili: The Two of Us on Twitter: Thina Sobabili: The Two of Us on Vimeo
I was honoured to ask the Ernest Nkosi, film director, screen writer and producer of Thina Sobabili: The Two of Us the following questions and greatly appreciate his responses, wisdom and advice. My questions are in point form and his answers are in bold-italic:
.As a director of the film, what skills did you bring to it?
“I’d like to believe I brought a lot of skills to the table, but most importantly I was able to make a film that was honest and authentic to my community, that story could only have been be told by someone who has experienced and lived in a township (ghetto) in South Africa.”
. You are also the one of the screen play writers and the producer. Was it hard to have so many hats?
“Not at all, it seemed to happen quite organic really, my process is quite hands on and I love every aspect of making movies and I guess my heart was so hell bent to make the film I would have gladly worn more hats had I needed to in order to make sure the story was told right.”
. What part of film are you especially proud of?
“The credits. The film is 100% independently funded by us every cent! It took four long and painful years of sacrifice and going without plenty to see this film come to light, so seeing the credits reminds me of many difficult years we fought to have our names up there.”
. The film was filmed in a week? Was it difficult? You must have been well prepared.
“Yeah 7 days, it was incredibly difficult, it wasn’t just the long hours but sometime with the onlookers, we would easily have an average of 500 people at a go looking on at what was happening there; it was intense to say the least.. We were prepared as far as the story we wanted to tell and how we wanted to do it in the simplest of ways.”
. Your film has been honoured with and number of awards and has been selected as the South African entry for the best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards. Do you think you will win the award?
“Definitely I believe we stand a good chance of winning, this is really a special project and I believe it’s gonna shake up the world with its honesty, given a fare chance, I believe we will win.”
. How difficult is it to make a film in South Africa? What help did you get?
“Any film maker will tell you how difficult it is to make a film, and although we didn’t get any help from anyone to make the film, it was made! “No Army Can Stop An Idea Whose Time Has Come”
. What are your future plans in film creating and making?
“We are currently in North America on a month long tour to get Thina seen and also to try and partner with the right people to make our next 2 feature length films, one a tragic love story and the other a traditional vendetta fist fighting film.”
. Do you have any words of wisdom for upcoming young filmmakers?
“Dreams do come true if you have the guts to see them through. “
