Global limelight for SA films
TWO former Port Elizabeth photography students have shot into the international limelight on the backs of the global cinematography success of two gritty, homegrown feature films.
While Johannesburg-based Carlos Carvalho and Cape Town-based Vicci Turpin are already accomplished cinematographers in commercial, short film and feature work, tough shooting in tougher locations has brought international recognition for the two, who cut their teeth in photography at the former Port Elizabeth Technikon (now part of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University).
Carvalho, 43, who directed the photography for The Forgotten Kingdom – the first feature film to be produced in Lesotho – recently won the Haskell-Wexler Award for Best Cinematography at the 14th annual Woodstock Film Festival Maverick Awards Gala in New York. This film, which tells the story of a young, unemployed man who travels from Johannesburg to his ancestral land to bury his estranged father, has also been nominated for nine awards in the African Movie Academy Awards.
It opened in South Africa on Friday.
Turpin, 49, was the cinematographer for Four Corners, which has already gripped the imaginations of and won praise from the thousands of South Africans who have viewed it.
It was South Africa's submission for last month's 86th Academy Awards in the best foreign language category.
The film is a coming-of-age story about a 13-year-old boy living in the Cape Flats' notorious ganglands and was screened in South Africa in February.
According to Carvalho, the Haskell- Wexler award, which marks his biggest achievement to date, was like winning a "mini Oscar".
"To be recognised by Mr Wexler, an Oscar-winning cinematographer who is regarded as one of the top 10 most influential cinematographers in Hollywood, is overwhelming."
He described filming The Forgotten Kingdom as "extremely challenging on many fronts", saying a low budget saw them conquering mountainous terrain in a canary- yellow taxi that served as their camera vehicle, to film in a remote mountain village.
Speaking from Cape Town last night, Turpin – who has worked with well-known actors including Charlize Theron, Sir Ben Kingsley and Kevin Bacon – said the Four Corners shoot was technically very challenging due to the harsh realities of the locations, with many of the gang-associated places where they filmed perceived as no-go areas.
"To be honest, its was f****** hectic ... but it was really important to shoot in a real environment." She described major security issues including an attempted knife attack on location, crew who battled to work in such dangerous conditions and were continuously walking off set, and real gangsters using gunfights that were being filmed to mask their own gun battles.
"But I'm feeling good about the film and how it came out. It was done on a really tight schedule and with many issues, but the outcome has been great," said Port Elizabeth-born Turpin, whose mother and sister still live in the city.
Turpin, who is now busy with mostly commercials work, said the film industry in South Africa, and particularly in the Western Cape, "has just exploded over the past 12 years". She attributed this to the availability of high-quality equipment in the country, skilled film industry workers and diverse locations in which to film. - Shaun Gillham
