With shouts and screams and opportunities for selfies and pictures with TV and film personalities such as Israel Matseke-Zulu, Robert Mpisi, Didintle Khunou, Thembile Botman and director Vincent Moloi, the inaugural “Khuma Film Festival” brought some excitement to learners from local schools in Matlosana.
These personalities facilitated workshops in a bid to inspire the youth to find possible areas of specialisation in the country’s diverse film and television industry. They shared personal experiences and insights on how to make it in the local film industry.
These leading stars were part of the official line up of speakers earmarked for the four-day long festival which kicked off its business with the opening film, “Who’s My Daddy,” on Wednesday night.
The four-day film festival which wraps up its business later today (Saturday) was hailed as a game-changer and a much-needed endeavour to inspire the youth hungry for inspiration.
On Thursday, before two film screenings, these professional actors and actresses took more than 200 young people on a journey of discovery. They shared their expert knowledge of what goes on in the industry that has the potential to create employment to a diverse range of skills.
With a tour to townships on Friday, the third day of the festival continued where the previous day left off as scores of young people turned up to see their favourite personalities up close and personal.
Former CEO of The Nelson Mandela Foundation and the founder and CEO of Hatang Mmoho, Sello Hatang, urged young people to follow their dreams in spite of obstacles standing in their way.
He used as an analogy, a tragic personal and family experience which almost resulted in his death and that of his children “to stay the course, trust in the Lord to take care of your troubles” as a way to inspire the youth gathered for the opening night at the Hoerskool Stilfontein.
“Never forget where you are going. The road might be full of hurdles as you try to establish this brand, but I urge you to never lose hope as hope is the one thing we have in abundance. May your dreams for this brand be realised and to all the young people, I urge you to also do the same. Trust in the Lord and that one day your good deeds will make away for you,” Hatang told the youth during the opening night of the film festival.
The opening night was also attended by Mayor James Ntsulela who delivered words of encouragement to festival director Naomi Mokhele and to the young people eager to learn from experts.
“We are gathered here in celebration of one of our own. We rarely see people who leave their homes come back to plough back into their communities. What I am saying is that, as Khuma, we do have talented people among us. In fact, Khuma is the heart of this province and not just Matlosana as a city. This festival is a platform that we must use to change the lives of our people,” the mayor said.
Representing, the MEC for Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation, Kenestswe Mosenogi vowed to stand behind the film festival as it is one of the industries with the potential to create jobs for the youth of the province.
“Our local film industry is our own Hollywood, and we can use this industry to create opportunities for our young people. The Nigerian industry is doing it because of the support it gets. If we work together, we can create jobs as this is the most diverse industry in creating jobs,” she said.
The Star