It is said that the South African film industry is enjoying a bit of a boom, with numerous films released in the country recently. by Kulani Nkuna
News of Otelo Burning was greeted with much anticipation, especially as it travelled to many of the world’s film festivals.
The opening sequence relies on the oft-used film device of setting up the story with a dramatic incident. After that, it meanders on, initially building up in depth, character and texture as the story drives forward.
The premise of black boys surfing against the backdrop of late-Eighties apartheid South Africa in KwaZulu-Natal smacks of freshness and something new.
This is not necessarily compelling stuff to begin with, but the characters and their plight slowly draw in viewers.
“New Year” a happy-go-lucky type of guy, is played superbly by Thomas Gumede, who also narrates the film. Gumede enjoys a close working relationship with director and writer, Sara Blecher, and the pair have collaborated on various projects in the past.
“My take on New Year is a young man who knows a lot and who reads a lot,” says Gumede.
“He has these opportunities that he thought he would never have had. He is driven by his environment and his environment at that time was crazy enough to make him into an interesting character.”
This coming of age story involving young people adds another dimension to the apartheid narrative.
Loosely based on actual events, the film is thrilling, and some of the senior actors, like Kenneth Nkosi and Hamilton Dlamini, invoke a sense of realism about the film.
“The film also looks at people who knew about politics but were not necessarily involved with it,” says Gumede.
“Some people just wanted to be young. But inevitably, whether you like it or not, your environment will have an affect on you. My character is well aware of what is going on around him, but he is in another world. He is all about surfing and hanging out with his friends.”
Gumede worked closely with Blecher on the script, which culminated in a well rounded effort.
“It was not that hard to connect with the character,” continues Gumede.
“I worked a lot with Sara on the script from the first reading, to the first changes in the drafts as well. By the time I got on set, I definitely knew what purpose the character serves in the script.”
Throughout the film as the characters come into their own, some of them appear to be a bit far-fetched. Gumede disagrees, saying that things should be as they are.
“When those things took place, I was very young but I was in KwaZulu-Natal. Sara Blecher is a white woman, but she’s dealt with a lot of black stories and black projects. We are black actors and we take the emotions and bring them to life,” he says.
“The film is as realistic as any film should be. I don’t think any film should be too real, because film is about taking you away to another place.
“If people insist on watching reality then they should be watching documentaries.”
The film has already proven fruitful for Gumede, who has since been cast in an international feature film.
“I was cast in A Good Man, directed by Paul Harrison. He saw me in this film and he cast me on Skype from London.
His film is based in Ireland and Cape Town and is mainly about redemption” Gumede says.
