Inspired by his own life experiences, acclaimed Eastern Capeborn filmmaker and director Jahmil X T Qubeka’s latest cinematic offering Sew the Winter to My Skin has already got tongues wagging ahead of its official nationwide release.
Qubeka, 39, originally from East London, is no stranger to the world of filmmaking, with his previous films premiering at international film festivals such as the Toronto Film Festival – where Sew the Winter to My Skin also made its debut in 2018.
“I wanted to tell an authentic South African tale in the epic scale of the adventure films of my childhood,” Qubeka said.
“Sew the Winter to My Skin is a dream manifested.”
The film was shot over five weeks in 2017 in Somerset East and Hofmeyr.
Qubeka said he had found the inspiration for the story after visiting Somerset East, where he was exposed to the story of John Kepe, a legendary South African outlaw.
“Spending time in my mother’s hometown of rural Somerset East exposed me to the legend of John Kepe.
“The epic nature of his capture, the spiritual poetry of his calling, the impending horror of apartheid and the power of Kepe’s fervent belief in something greater than himself drew me to his intriguing tale.”
For Qubeka, one of the biggest challenges in making the film was to set the scene by ensuring intricate details including costume design were adhered to.
“It was very important for me to get the set right.
“I wanted the detail to be more authentic.”
Qubeka said the shooting of the film – set in the period between 1948 and 1952 – had some landscape challenges, with the crew needing to be careful to avoid getting cellphone towers and the like in various shots.
“We needed to be careful of these things so that they would not detract from the story.”
After matriculating from Gill College in Somerset East, Qubeka first went back to East London before making his way to Johannesburg in 1999.
Originally enrolled to study fine art through the then University of Port Elizabeth, Qubeka, who at the time was working at Vodacom’s call centre, quickly turned his attention to filmmaking and shortly after arriving in Johannesburg he shot his first documentary.
He then became involved in producing commercials, which he says helped him understand the technical aspects of filmmaking.
Qubeka’s latest film focuses more on Kepe the myth than the man, re-imagining the elusive and mysterious sheep rustler as a powerful emblem of resistance to white colonial rule at the time.
In Sew the Winter to My Skin, Qubeka creates the fictionalised posse that is on Kepe’s trail, led by Nazi sympathiser General Botha and a flamboyantly moustached sidekick, Black Wyatt Earp.
According to Qubeka, the film explores the settler mentality and offers insight into the posse’s perspective and context.
Punted as a Western-style manhunt thriller, the film is distinctly South African in flavour, but universal in theme.
It reinterprets the tale of Kepe (played by Ezra Mabengeza), the self-proclaimed “Samson of the Boschberg”, born around 1898, who became a type of Robin Hood figure in 1940s South Africa.
“The community in the town continue to build upon the narrative with increasingly creative versions of this symbol of resistance to oppression,” Qubeka said.
“Although the Karoo weather was a constant challenge, with misty, freezing and even snowy days, John Kepe’s bold resilient spirit kept us pushing to the end.
“His story needed to be told.”
Sew the Winter to My Skin will be released in cinemas nationwide on February 8.