Kasi Lama Kasi a short film made by the youth of Thokoza exposes talent and what art development is and is not in South Africa

Their film, which mainly showcased what occupies most of the young people in Thokoza township on the East Rand, such as dancing and creating music, is an eye opener.

By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor

Last week on Friday, I headed to Bioscope where a film by young filmmakers who technically speaking, are photographers who were given an opportunity to expand their practice of photography to film.
Their film, which mainly showcased what occupies most of the young people in Thokoza township on the East Rand, such as dancing and creating music, is an eye opener.

Not only does the film give one an insight into what occupies the minds of these young people, and what their dreams are, but what is possible when funders and sponsors collaborate purposefully and create an opportunity for real development. Not just box ticking, as unfortunately is often the case with some funders. Notorious in this practice are government funding agencies in the arts, which in most cases fund projects that have no impact at all.

And this is not because there are no creatives in South Africa that really want to develop communities, but unfortunately those whose hearts are in the right place when it comes to development never get funded. Instead it is those that are connected to officials that continue to get funding, and in most cases the results are not pleasing.

This is the gap that mostly foreign funding agencies, such as the French Institute and Goethe- Institut increasingly find themselves plugging by funding projects whose outcomes have impact on communities around South Africa. Unintended as this is, such foreign funding these projects, some of which have real impact on communities, particularly among the youth, expose the weaknesses of government’s funding models where there is no real impact to speak of, and yet public funds have been disbursed. And here you cannot blame this on the creatives alone, because the truth is, South Africa has creatives who are focused and know what they are doing when they receive financial support for their projects. For example some of these foreign funded initiatives are actually implemented successfully by South African creatives who have vision.

One such project that has been successful, and has been funded by the French in South Africa, is a photography project in Thokoza, that sees young photographers being developed into skilled photographers, telling their community’s visual narratives in an impact full way. Of Soul and Joy is sponsored by the Rubis Mécénat Foundation. It has over the years posted spectacular success with some of their alumni having an impact not only in South Africa but globally, mounting exhibitions and winning international awards.

And yes, the man at the centre of this project, implementing it to the later is a South African visionary Jabulani Dhlamini, who manages the project and works with seasoned South African photographers as mentors of the young photographers. And therefore indeed South Africa has creatives that have the right skills set, aptitude and the integrity to use public funding for development, and therefore what the industry needs is a public funding environment that prioritises delivery over cronyism, integrity over corruption and backhandedness.

Of Soul and Joy, has this time collaborated with a collective of seasoned filmmakers to expand the practice of these young photographers, who apart from learning photographic skills also teach them filming making skills and therefore extending in their practice, their oeuvre. The result of that is the short film audaciously titled Kasi Lama Kasi. And this is what happened: From September 2023 to May 2024, 15 young people from the Of Soul and Joy photography programme participated in several workshops with the film education organisation, CinemaTAKE, where they were mentored and taught filmmaking skills to ultimately provide a platform for creative expression, and foster positive community impact.

By the end of the workshops, these young people created “Kasi Lama Kasi” a documentary short film exploring the subject of filming the world, the self, and the other – a powerful angle especially in the context of their lived experiences in the township of Thokoza.

This film premiered in June 2024 at the prestigious Cinéma Cent Ans De Jeunesse (CCAJ) film festival in Lisbon, Portugal, where young filmmakers come together with cinema practitioners to exchange ideas and gain experience. Of Soul and Joy/CinemaTAKE were the first African representation that the CCAJ programme has had since its founding in 1995.

At its screening last week, this film indeed impressed invited guests at Bioscope at 44 Stanley, Milpark, Johannesburg, on Friday, September 27, 2024. What is interesting about this film is the fact that it has been filmed, directed and edited by the youth of Thokoza, while the seasoned filmmakers only guided them from the background, while the young filmmakers took centre stage in its creation. This was done over nine months. This is what development means, and not the kind of development from some of the agencies of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), that in most cases falls short. Very short actually, when it comes to real development because either the people who use their connection to get funding aimed at development do not have their hearts in the right places, with of course the officials keeping a blind eye, or the time in which they need to accomplish the project is too short, and therefore do cosmetic development that enables them to give a report to DSAC officials, often too ready to condone such blatant short-changing of the youth that are purported to be the beneficiaries of such funding as per calls ‘ requirements funding.

But not this project by Of Soul and Joy and their partnering film crew of CinemaTAKE team. Government agencies could take a leaf from this project actually. Ekasie La Ma Kasie has done so well internationally that it was part of a European film festival that is open to the young filmmakers which last year took place in Portugal. It was the first time that there was participation by non European filmmakers, and the film made it to the poster of the festival.

.You  can access the short film in the link here: https://we.tl/t-TWip3m9YyZ