Nigerian Filmmaker Shines A Positive Light On South Africa
'Sometimes
you have to tell grim stories and sometimes you have to tell love stories,'
says director Akin Omotoso
Written by Rykesha Hudson
06/04/2016 04:05 PM
TRAILBLAZER: African film
director Akin Omotoso [Photo credit: Victor Dlamini]
SOUTH AFRICA'S history and
politics are complex and dominated by the country’s grim and harrowing journey
to end apartheid – the legal racial segregation enforced by white people from
1948 to 1994.
The country has seen its share of
cinematic revisions of its history, and the majority of such films are set in
the past, either in pre or just-post-apartheid South Africa, and are often
positioned as cautionary tales of what happens when xenophobia and human nature
go awry.
While Nigerian-born actor, writer
and film director Akin Omotoso accepts that the country’s history and
“negative” aspects should be shared and discussed, he believes that movies
should portray a broader scope of South Africa.
“You want to see a full spectrum
of a country,” Omotoso says. “You should see its history, its past, its present
and its future.”
“Film industries in a lot of
other countries do that very well, like London, America, Bollywood and
Nollywood. So for South Africa, it’s important to have a wider variety of what
you see and what you expect.”
Best known for his films God Is African and
the award-winning Man on Ground –
the hard-hitting thriller about how xenophobia in South Africa affect the lives
of two Nigerian brothers – the director’s latest feature Tell Me Sweet Something was a box office hit in South Africa
and even competed against popular international films including Southpaw and Fantastic Four.
The Johannesburg-set rom-com also
earned Omotoso an Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) for Best
Director.
Tell Me Sweet Something follows Moratiwa (Nomzamo Mbatha), an aspiring novelist with
writer’s block. She hasn’t had much luck with love ever since her ex-boyfriend
Norman went out to buy milk and never returned. Moratiwa now runs a second-hand
bookshop in the hippest most vibrant part of the new Johannesburg. Tired of
having a recluse as a best friend, Tashaka (Thishiwe Ziqubu) convinces her to
party up a storm at a new club in the city; it is here that she meets South
Africa’s No.1 celebrity model Nat Masilo (Maps Maponyane).
A far cry from his past cinematic
projects, the filmmaker says: “I want the ability to tell different stories.”
He adds: “Tell Me Sweet Something is just a way to say that Johannesburg
is beautiful and, as ridiculous as it sounds, people do actually fall in love.
And sometimes the only problems that people in South Africa have are just
problems of the heart.”
Drawn to love songs and romance
films from a young age, Omotoso dreamed of making a romantic movie before he
ever considered become a filmmaker.
Explaining his decision to make Tell Me Something Sweet, he says: “I really like love
songs – it starts there. There’s just something about love songs that
fascinates me.”
He continues: “And I really like the movie Love Jones - I remember seeing it as a student. I
just love the feeling of that film. I love how you left the cinema and you felt
good. At the time, I didn’t know I was going to be a filmmaker, but I remember
thinking ‘wow, I’d love to make a film like that’.”
AFRICAN ROMANCE: A still from award-winning movie Tell Me Sweet Something
Fast forward 15 years, and an
opportunity finally came to tell that story.
“It’s something that’s always
lived with me - to tell a love story. I really enjoyed making this film -
you’re smiling on set every day. Where as when you’re doing more darker,
harrowing material it can affect you.”
A recurring theme in Omotoso’s
films is the fraught post-apartheid relationship between Nigerian migrants and
their South African hosts. Part of the reason is autobiographical: Omotoso is
the son of a Barbadian mother and Nigerian literary professor, who moved his
family to South Africa in the early 1990s. The result is that Omotoso is as
much Nigerian as he is South African.
“I always just say ‘I’m a child
of the world’,” he laughs.
Omotoso’s next film, Vaya, is currently in post-production. Vaya weaves three separate plots that
intersect in a gripping and deeply moving story about coming to Johannesburg
and struggling to survive.
The film came out of a seven-year
project the director has been working on with a group of homeless people in
Johannesburg.
“Sometimes you have to tell grim
stories and sometimes you have to tell love stories. And to be able to tell and
share these stories is a blessing.”
For more information, follow filmmaker Akin Omotoso on Twitter
@PunchNCream
