Heidi Sincuba

Image from: Google Images

Artist: Simphiwe Dana
Genre: Afro-Soul, Traditional, Jazz
Release Year: 2006
Label: Gallo Record Company

Back when it came out this was a defining album. It bravely stood up against the tragic hobby of mimicking all things western and uttered a new voice of youth that preferred their own identity. Nowadays there are all sorts of imitations of that iconic Dana and that is a good thing. But I recognize Zandisile as the beginning of the fine ethnic soul genre that we can now not do without.

In songs like ‘Ingoma’ she evokes memories of great female singers like the Dark City Sisters and in ‘Ndiredi’, she channels Letta Mbulu. She has also been compared to the late Miriam Makeba. But she is not just a copy of monumental South African divas; she adds an inspiring twist by showcasing the new soul style which is indeed more universal, mixing the familiar traditional sounds with western jazz elements and vocals akin to Erykah Badu or Jill Scott.

While ‘Chula Ukunyathela’ shows off her vocal capabilities relying mainly on her sense of rhythm and the strong harmonies. Other songs like ‘Tribe’, featuring Gregory Georgiades & Ashish Joshi, have outrageously succulent percussion and authentic instrumentation.

Lyrically, Zandisile is also stylish and intelligent, mixing age old tribal concerns with more recent western diction. There are conscious tones, but also a sweet and natural romance. Simphiwe Dana’s confidence does not fail to shine through and that might be part of what makes it so significant.

Because of Zandisile, Dana has now become the epitome of Afro-cool, but it took two years to release. This is supposedly because of the efforts to make it marketable for the international market. My only criticism is that I felt that effort. If only out of insatiability, I wanted it to be even more strongly influenced by ‘home-sounds’ than it was. I have a feeling it would have been so much better without the smooth jazzy finishes. And perhaps then it might have reached those otherwise unaffected western markets.

This album deserves to be in your collection. Its implications will not impede its natural, lazy mood. Because of its nerve; because of the ingenuity and sheer soul, this album deserves top marks. It best recaps the narrative of post-apartheid youth culture. According to me it is our generation’s most impeccable Afro soul album.

Image from:IMP Awards

Director: Neill Blomkamp
Writers: Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
Genre: Action, Science Fiction
Cast: Sharlto Copley, David James, Jason Cope, Kenneth Nkosi
Release year: 2009
Runtime: 112 min

You would be forgiven for dismissing this film because of its disastrous potential. Science fiction can so easily be reduced to hogwash as George Lucas (Star Wars) and James Cameron (Avatar) have demonstrated. But get that sickly memory out of your mind. This story is actually worth a gander.

Twenty years ago, an extraterrestrial ship landed in the heart of Johannesburg, South Africa. After a mission is launched to find out what was in there, a whole community of starving, ill aliens was discovered. For some time the aliens were all the craze; this is a media phenomenon, but as always something else makes the news and the aliens are forgotten.

The aliens are made to live in the concentration camp like District 9. As the world leaders convene to decide what to do about these extraterrestrial visitors, the aliens are ostracized by the humans. Government field operative Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is sent to District 9 to serve eviction notices to the aliens in an attempt to move them to District 10, but what happens on that trip makes him change his view on the downtrodden aliens.

This film clearly relates to apartheid – the black/white dynamic becomes the human/alien one. In a country of such gritty cultural heritage, this film depicts classism and discrimination to a tee. It uses a format we can all relate to as human beings and then questions that. There is Wikus the average Joe working for the man who is not appreciated but instead taken advantage of, and then there are the aliens stranded in a foreign land, mistreated and homesick. You feel how much District 9 is invested in its characters and its narrative.

There is baggage yet you are able to enjoy the fiction. The references to xenophobia and politics do not take away from the film’s comedic inclination. Because it doesn’t take itself too seriously and because the protagonist is so charismatic and funny, the scenes feel natural and plausible. Copley makes an impressive bid to be that bridge between the humans and the aliens. He represents the self and the other and seemingly does it with such ease. The film is satirical and it is visually stunning. I would dare to call it one of the most important sci-fi films of our generation.

Image from: NFVF SA

Director: Craig Freimond
Writers: Craig Freimond (screenplay), Robbie Thorpe (story)
Genre : Comedy
Cast: Carl Beukes, Lionel Newton, Jenna Dover, Nick Boraine, Lindiwe Matshikiza, Moshidi Motshegwa
Release year: 2010
Runtime : 101 min

James (Carl Beukes) is a comedic writer who loses the plot in the volatile city of Johannesburg and escapes into perilous drug use. Because of the dark, crime ridden city, his family has even moved to Australia and his girlfriend (Jenna Dover) is on the brink of leaving him. On top of it all, he has lost his sense of humor, which is a crisis when that is your livelihood. His friends stage an intervention and convince him to go to rehab.

In rehab he is confronted with some strange characters including Martin (Lionel Newton) who seems to take a special liking to him. After a short stay he realizes that he wants his life back and returns to Johannesburg in order to try and fix things. We follow James as he tries to come to terms with Johannesburg and reclaim his funny bone.

But the film has received a lot of criticism. Critics have claimed that it was made for white audiences. I will come to the film’s defense as I felt that in its own small way, it contributed to the South African film uprising. It remains comic without avoiding the grimmer South African realities like race and class.

I must say that although I am a sucker for dry comedy, I did sense a bit of cheese. I felt the scriptwriters skimmed a bit on the content. I have no problem with the wayward plot, but I was slightly put off by the flatness. With the risk of exposing myself as quixotic, I was disappointed with the romance aspect. Since it was such a hefty part of the script, a lot more should have been done with it. I’m not really sure what happened there since I thought the casting was appropriate and believable. At the end when James shows up at his lady’s door, they don’t kiss – they hug!!! What the fuck is that??? After all, we’re in Jo’burg, not preschool!

Regardless, it really was a laugh a minute. Carl Beukes pulled this role off. Props to the casting also. Although many of the actors are actually soap actors, they were supreme as a comedic cast. While South African big shots like Moshidi Motshegwa, Robert Whitehead, Abena Ayivor, Kagiso Lediga, Hamilton Dlamini and Fiona Ramsey make cameos, they were all short and sweet and it worked.

A refreshingly unexaggerated angle that is more relevant to everyday South Africans than to famously bloodthirsty outside audiences. And yet it isn’t specious. The film says yes Jozi will swallow you whole, but the hard part is swallowing it right back and finding a way to laugh about it.

Image from: Penguin USA

Friedrich Nietzsche
1995 - 2011 Penguin Books Ltd

The complete book, Ecce Homo was only completed shortly before Friedrich Nietzsche’s death; he never lived to see its publication. The Polish-German author suffered a complete mental breakdown and died in 1900. His mother and sister, who had cared for him in his last days withheld Ecce Homo because of its ‘distressing’ content.

As someone who is not yet familiar with the complete works, I am still quite wary of his self-proclaimed genius. In Why am I so Wise?, he writes, “I am not a man, I am dynamite” and unremittingly repeats this contention throughout. At first, before he gets to the point, one does become a little bored with the great man. But if one is patient, it turns out the juicy disclosures squash the obnoxious preamble.

How fortunate one feels to witness, as if first hand, his aversion to the human condition contrasted with his own convolution! What a thrill to get some insights into his tumultuous relations including that much publicized friendship with Wagner. It seems Wagner’s Christian approach drove them apart. He wrote: “I have need of washing my hands after contact with religious people”.

His miniature references to Zarathustra, thoughts on morality and philosophy are transfixing as always. All the while, he talks of his ailing health and one trembles hungrily at the thought of his rumored syphilis.

This is just an introduction to his collection, but already one is lured into the gallows of nihilism. Nietzsche is the sort of emblem that is either loved or hated.
His sinister and dreadfully poignant persona grips only those who have a stomach for gore. But let there be no mistake, his philosophy and its consequent, benevolent donation has helped form reality as we know it.

Image from: IPM Awards

Director: Robert Rodriguez
Writer: Robert Rodriguez
Genre : Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Comedy
Cast: Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodríguez, Josh Brolin, Marley Shelton with Bruce Willis and Neveen Andrews
Release year: 2007
Runtime : 105 min

It’s quite hard to review this movie as the storyline is basically non-existent. The whole point is the pointlessness of it all.

Everything takes place in one evening. During a bio-chemical-zombie invasion, stripper Cherry (Rose McGowan) plans to leave town; she meets pint-sized, boisterous ex-boyfriend Wray (Freddy Rodriguez). They are the power couple who help the other survivors in a bid for survival. If you are unable to suspend your disbelief, then you might as well leave it as it only gets more bizarre from here on in.

The film is the second part of a two part series called Grindhouse. The name is based on a retro genre that’s comprised of cheap, tacky films shown mostly outdoors in generally shabby areas. Because of the overall low budget, the main content was gore, violence and nudity. The films were so often reused that they were discernable by their wear and tear, sometimes even missing reels and being out of sync.

Rodriguez pulls this technique off by digitally adding that 70s feel with scratches and other effects. He also creates his own retro soundtrack and writes an appropriately tawdry screenplay. The amount of gore involved will please zombie lovers everywhere. With everything from a man who keeps a jar of his enemies’ balls to a gun legged stripper; there is never a dull moment.

Because of the typical self-indulgent and long-winding film making technique of Tarantino and Rodriguez, Grindhouse was not really well received. In fact many critics found the films cheesy and boring. But the greatest consensus was that Planet Terror was better than Death Proof, the first part of Grindhouse. I respectfully disagree.

Although Planet Terror was indeed full of gore, laughs and sex on a gun, I am always reminded of its twin sister who has just a little bit more panache. Additionally, from the director of From Dusk til Dawn and Desperado, this is a bit of a downgrade. But comparisons aside, I can hardly fault Planet Terror. It did precisely what it was meant to do: Grossed me out, scared me, made me laugh my ass off and at times even got me hot and bothered.

Image from Penguin Books
JM Coetzee
Viking Penguin, Inc. (2008)

Australian based, 2003 Literature Nobel Prize winner, JM Coetzee’s 19th book takes another jab at the ‘genius novelist’ canon. Diggin deeper than all the accolades, he presents us with an uncertain philosophy on his stance. Falling into the sad category of old white male writer’s who focus not on their status, but on the one thing they really yearn for - sex with young women, it becomes all the more enticing.

Predictably, Diary of a Bad Year is semi-autobiographical. He has often fictionalized his experiences as a writer, academic and former South African resident. Here his gloomy, childless, self-critical and lonely self seeps through the fiction. The main character is not JM Coetzee but Señor C, a white 72-year-old South African writer living in Australia.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part consists of a series of essays written by the main character from a collection and is called Strong Opinions. The twist is that the writer introduces a character, a typist he hires partly because of his health and partly his loneliness. Initially, she is merely there to help him document his ideas. As the relationship develops, so does her influence in the book. Eventually, the narrative takes over, and the conflicting perspectives drive the murky account.

As I have said, there are the signature signs that Coetzee fans know and love. The essential themes conveyed in Slow Man and Disgrace remain. The writer’s pessimism made beautiful by his candor and that unsettling sincerity produce a chilling read. This book is different from Coetzee’s previous offerings in that it is also quite funny. It is a new trick for the writer, so it is anomalous. For this reason, I thought it was not the writer’s best work, but there is something ceaselessly satisfying in comedic tragedy.

Image: Juxtapoz

Director : JR
Genre : Documentary
Release year: 2011
Runtime : 1h 25mn

I don’t often cry during a film, in fact I can’t really say I’ve ever done it. If I have then it has been a while. When I first found out about the film, I definitely considered it because I respect the artist, but I thought: Not another boo-hoo poverty film. Even as I headed for the theatre I was dying to abandon ship and see a silly commercial film instead. But I stuck to it and boy did I make the right decision.

JR is an internationally renowned artist whose identity is unknown. He mainly works with black and white photography and his concept focuses on appropriation of public spaces and the investigation of common perceptions, mainly the compressed semantics of advertising and the media. With the combination between art and action, he deals with issues of identity and freedom.

Surprisingly this is JR’s directorial debut. As an artist he began making work on the streets of Paris with a camera he found in a train. His projects involve pasting large scale photographs around cities, sometimes reaching an illegal status because of regulations. Women Are Heroes depicts his project where he interviews and takes photos of women in slums, pastes the products in their cities and captures the reaction of onlookers. The women he interviews are based in Brazil, Kenya, India and Cambodia.

It was such a visually explosive movie and the contrast between the densely bright footage and the black and white photographs was nothing but fulfilling. At some moments I was bursting out in laughter and at others, I had a lump in my throat. This is the kind of cinematic experience I live for. I also really enjoyed the musical score, which was constant and unintrusive, composed by Massive Attack. It aided the atmosphere so that you realized it was there when you were considering how adaptive it had sounded.

This film reminded me of why I’m an artist and of how very little I really know. The filthy industry of media and journalism has all but erased truthful relaying of information. Everything is sensationalized and people are happily brainwashed to see things from a fundamentally bias perspective. This film dares to break that mould. Instead of being objects of upper class curiosity, the women depicted in the film are shown as human beings, something we all recognize. They address the viewer in a rare manner of familiarity. This film does not belong to JR, it belongs to his subjects. “This film gathers the images and the words of the women he met, the day to day flow of their lives and experiences to create, through art, a reality different from the one shown in the media.”

The film was befittingly selected at the Cannes Film Festival and competed for the Golden Camera award. Although I must admit to being one of the only impressed attendees at the end of it. After a small amount of eavesdropping and some lengthy conversations, it was apparent that for most the film was ‘too long; too repetative; the music was annoying; he should have shown a larger number of women…’But this did not sway me.

I respect the film’s audacity to break from conventional ideas of women in poor, violent environments. I guess in a way this is part of his comment. It’s as if he’s saying: Look how sure you are of something you know nothing about. His subjects are beautiful, strong and most of all they are equal. He does not sell the popular subservient other, but offers a brave exposition of power and optimism in spite of adversity. How humanity survives the harshest conditions. Watch the film or linger in bliss.

Image:Google Images

Producer: Doug Fishbone
Genre: African cinema (Ghallywood)
Release year: 2010
Runtime: 90 minutes

I went to see American born, Goldsmiths graduate Doug Fishbone’s new project Elmina in Amsterdam not knowing what to expect. From the sparkling reviews I guess I was looking forward to a thought provoking artistic maneuvering of African cinema. Growing up in Africa, I have to say I was often annoyed by Nollywood cinema. I can assure the reader that good African films do exist, but the films on which Fishbone’s experiment is based are of the lousy kind.

Initially I was only faintly put off by the long lecture before the film, which was to explain Ghanaian history and culture to us; and the characteristics of Ghanaian film. This bothered me. I suppose it would be a perfect world if every artist could order a lecture to the audience before they were allowed to view the work. It was definitely an informative session especially for the majority of the audience, which clearly knew nothing on the matter, oohing and aahing when they were told how Ghanaians were.

When the film finally began, I suddenly realized that I had been transported back into the old days where bad African cinema was impossible to escape. This satirical presentation would be expected to open discourse on the nature of mass media and consumerism. The only intervention the artist has made is inserting himself into an otherwise all African production. The idea had so much potential. Imagine the sort of things an artist can get up to with this kind of offset. He is asking us to suspend our disbelief and consider our preconceptions and interactions with film and fiction. But he scarcely uses this opportunity for any kind of transformation.

For 90 agonizing minutes, one has to be content that main attraction is Fishbone as the white man was the producer and lead actor – that’s it. The artist states that by not at all acknowledging his whiteness in the film he is showing that Ghanaians do no see color, but rather otherness. The other would in this case be the Chinese who are in his opinion the real outsiders.

In the film, he defies the chief by refusing to sell his land to the Chinese businessmen and encouraging other villagers to follow his lead. While he says he doesn’t comment on his whiteness, it is quite apparent not only physically, but also behaviorally and psychologically. While other men in his tribe are seemingly servile to the chief, Fishbone’s character is portrayed as the’ voice of reason’. Even the chief of the village is shown as a buffoon in comparison to the moral and upright white (aka non-white) man.

While the other characters are laced with flaws, mistakes and sheer stupidity, his character remains rational, reflective and innocent – all cornerstones of the ideological Western male image. Even when he is defeated during a wrestling match, it is shown that he was not to blame, but his wife and his best friend had erred.

Generally Fishbone’s film has enjoyed amazing success in the Netherlands. The attendees at the screening at the Netherlands Institute for Film and Media Art seemed smitten with this project. Though I was excited to see a large number of viewers of African descent among the audience (although still few in comparison), I was proud and yet wounded when as the film progressed they left one by one before the presentation could reach its end.

After the screening, I asked about the question of exoticism, which to me was the primary implication of such a work and a crucial ingredient to it being a success in the Netherlands. Fishbone then denied any association with exoticism and repeated for the umpteenth time that since he had not written the script he should not be held accountable. It is a Ghanaian film, he insisted – he is just the lead and the financier, that’s all.

I then posed a different question: Hypothetically, if I as an African artist financed and played the lead in a traditional film that featured a Dutch or American cast and crew, would that be considered a effective and satisfactory work of art? “No”, he replied. Because I am black and there are already black people in the West and because it would cost too much money.

Besides the fact that I found the film mind-numbingly boring (I even resorted to texting friends about how bad it was to avoid falling asleep) I am simply not for this concept neither as a film, nor as a work of art. It’s just bad.

I can somewhat appreciate it as a publicity stunt, but Fishbone does not own up to it. Nor does he claim appropriation as an attitude or at least some sort of playful primitivism. The man claims nothing except the lead role in a Ghallywood film and every form of credit.

He may want us to remember that he is not responsible for the badly made film, but he is certainly reaping the benefits of reusing the popular role of a white man in the lead.
If he had told me his idea in a minute, I would be happier to accept it. Why drag it on for 90 minutes? Especially if there is no real intention to engage the issues the project is raising. Every reviewer and fan describes the film as a film where a white man is dressed in African clothing, etc. But according to Fishbone that’s not principal.

To Fishbone’s credit, he is a master businessman. He dips his toes into two totally unattached worlds. While enjoying the success of Elmina as an artwork in the Western art world, he can sit back while audiences in Ghana pay to see the same project as a pop film in cinemas. Hence Doug Fishbone must be sitting pretty in his borderless, raceless world.

Image from Google Images

This Christmas, being away from home, I had to find more creative ways of entertaining myself. This album has been responsible for me having a perhaps not merry, but most definitely content Christmas this year. Although I’ve only just discovered it, A Christmas Album was released in 2002 by Saddle Creek records by one of my favourite bands, Bright Eyes. It was also released on 180 gram white vinyl in 2009. The album is arranged by the phenomenal Bright Eyes pair Conor Oberst and Maria Taylor.

Bright Eyes has had a long lifetime for music industry standards. Most people don’t get this from the first impression. The band was founded in the Omaha indie scene by front-man, lead guitarist and song-writer Conor Oberst in 1995. Saddle Creek is also founded by Oberst. The familiar collaborators appearing on this album include Mike Mogis on steel and electric guitar (among other instruments) and Nate Wilcott on the organ and accordion. But the line-up includes many other performers.

The Night Before Christmas stands out as one of the most hair raising Christmas tracks of my entire life. It’s beautifully spoken and flirts merrily with the imagination. Blue Christmas and God Bless Ye Merry Gentlemen are good examples of this album’s tenacity to put a special twist on otherwise mundane carols. And I have never heard the Little Drummer Boy rendered in such a sweetly alternative way. The drum section is tense and delightfully unpredictable in this stretched interpretation.

Although the album was not particularly well received with my suburban acquaintances on this corner, as a die-hard indie listener, I’m extremely impressed. It won’t give you a jolly feeling; in fact if you’re susceptible you might end up wanting to slit your wrists. But you will appreciate it if you want something authentic. The melancholic pace is just an extension of the band’s style and offers a daring albeit unnecessary commentary on the superficial nature of Christmas celebratory rituals.

Image from: IMP Awards

Director: Norman Jewison
Writers: Melvyn Bragg (screenplay), Norman Jewison (screenplay),Tim Rice (book)
Genre : Drama; Musical
Cast: Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson, Yvonne Elliman
Release year: 1973
Runtime : 108 min

When I first heard of a musical about Jesus Christ, I was cynical. On one hand I absolutely love musicals (when done well that is), but I am agnostic and expected some wishy-washy gospel film. But since I am a diehard vintage indie fan, I had no choice but to give it a go. This film left me dumbfounded.

We follow Jesus (Ted Neeley) and his entourage over the last days witnessing disciples’ (mainly Judas (Carl Anderson)) anxiety, his relationship with Mary (Yvonne Elliman) and a few other juicy Bible bits. The remarkable thing is seeing a rational version of these events and Jesus’ own struggle with his superstardom and his faith. In many films about Christ, the character falls flat unable to grip us in his shrilly majestic type. Few times has this story been made real enough to relate to.

While the whole film is sung, the drama manages to come through seamlessly. The characters and makeshift sets are all as believable as the lyrics. In spite of all the musical dramatics, perhaps even because of these, there were also some funny moments.

Norman Jewison’s 1973 film which is based on the Rice-Webber opera of the same name succeeds against the odds. Though I have not seen the play, apparently the music and words are quite tightly adapted. With that classic 70s aesthetic, the film has a nostalgic ambience while giving a modern logic to the saga.
If churches showed this movie, I too would follow Christ. Maybe that’s taking it too far, but this was an earnest and dazzling piece of cinema that really did rock my world!