#busabuntu

And so our baby got put in a corner and unlike Patrick Swayze, we were pretty happy about it. IZULU (2014) had finally arrived in a space that was created to cultivate its truest potential as a product and most importantly as a dream coming true (We're still en route...).

Arriving on the evening of the 17th of May, Francesca and I settled into our cosy room at Le Collier Hotel in Antibes, which was Affordable and close enough to Cannes for us to appreciate the wonderfully quaint French Riviera city that is Antibes. The next morning it was straight to business as I attended a productive morning networking session with some industry professionals. After this meeting IZULU (2014) is now submitted to the Locarno Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival and we're looking at more places to share the story. All very exciting stuff, even our cast agrees :D

Later in the day Sam Toles, VP of Content Strategy and Business Development at Vimeo, gave a great talk on the prospects for independent filmmakers on a digital platform. Then we enjoyed the glorious Happy Hour in the Short Film Corner bar, this became our daily ritual...well except for Monday. Monday was reserved for our recovery post-American Pavilion's Queerty event, which was to date the best party we had in Cannes. 

I continued to attend a variety of workshops and lectures (You'll note how each day ended :D ) with Hayet Benkara, who I'm hoping to have as a mentor and the President of the Jury for the Court Metrage section, Abbas Kiarostami, to name a few. The two precious moments that I will treasure long after Cannes are my encounter with Sophia Loren, who gave a touching Masterclass and certainly lived up to all my expectations of her grace and determination. Second one was my interview with The Independent European Film Festival otherwise known as ECU, these young women are inspiring and it was an honour to be a part of their movement,  

I Had the best seafood I've ever had in my life at the 4 Star Michelin restaurant, Le Don Juan Chez Florent in Antibes. At this point Line had joint us and after the heavens opened and nearly carried us away we settled into silent delight of food. We met great people, learnt not to try and go clubbing in one of the elitist capitals in the world (ARGH, what a bore!!) and how to have your own private party on the rooftop of a 5 Star hotel, we were being rogue, hence the omission of said hotels name haha!

Many thanks to Taibo Bacar and Henriette Botha Jewellery for my gorgeous outfit, until Durban International Film Festival (17-27th of July) my days will be spent writing some new scripts and telling more stories. Thank you for letting me tell you  a story and most importantly thank you for letting me tell your story.

 Above photo of me was taken by Suzanne Saroff.

BusaBuntu

London Fields, London, Earth, Milky Way

I am in awe of Dr. Eleanor Longden's courage and extensive research into 'The voices in her head'. I've been fascinated with schizophrenia for many years and truthfully love this approach and often wonder if the imaginary friends I had (have?) would be viewed as a problem? We all self-harm to a certain degree... Any thoughts? -BusaBuntu

14th of January 2014 12:42:00

Kingston-Upon-Thames, London, UK, Earth, Milky Way

                                               'SPEED!'

Who's that girl? That's our Line on location in Bergville, KwaZulu-Natal, holding down her role as the sound recordist extraordinaire, props designer and all round muscle-lady.

It's true, she opened a few bottles for me. I have really pathetic upper-body strength, so thankfully Line made sure all was well.

BusaBuntu

18/07/2013

eGoli/Jozi, eMzansi/South Africa, Africa, Earth, Milky Way 

Sanibonani,

I have been telling stories since I could express my dreams but I only began writing iZulu (Thunder) in 2007 in the comfort of my study room in sunny Jozi, South Africa, Earth, Milkyway.

Back then it was called Ndiza (Take Flight) and truthfully I am still unsure which one of these titles I will settle on in the end...the story will let me know. When I began I was fixated with the idea of creating the origin story of Africa's first Superheroine and owing to my love of comic book heroes, Star Trek and anything that had to do with Zulu mysticism Thandi's story came to life. My dreams starting speaking as such...

                              The process of writing this story has not been easy and I'm sure I am not the only Storyteller who has experienced this element of writing. I mean the first thing one gets is an idea, however one has no real concept of what to do with that idea and so one must just succumb to the process and just write. One must allow the words from one's dreams to guide the journey and so that is what I did and still do.

How are my dreams lined to my stories? I mean, I've referred to this notion a few times now, perhaps a bit of back-history might be necessary. For many people the words found in books are the first form of Storytelling, this is how many culture's history is captured, however this was not the case in my upbringing and many Zulu children in general.

For many South African people the first stories people took in from our culture came from rock paintings and vivid images, visuals that told the stories of our people. We are believed to be the exact location on earth for the beginning of all of civilisation and so I suppose believing that the visions we all receive in our dreams before we can speak are the stories we share in different forms of expression is how I was taught and still believe is the reason I can express myself as a Storyteller. It is my destiny.

So much like a dream, an idea must be expelled onto paper (or rock!) with great fever and zest. Then the Storyteller must step back and take time to reflect on the dream, give it time to breath. in the time of reflection another part of the dream will reveal itself to the dreamer, it will be more vivd with more colour and more clarity on what the dream is all about. This is when the Storyteller returns to the paper and assaults the amateur canvas with more complexity and depth, this goes on and on and on...

Once this process has been repeated several times over a long and sometime labourious period, the time to share the dream arrives. Sharing the work gives one a different perspective and from these different perspectives elements of the dream are unlocked and further elevated. I believe the mind and soul do not exist within a vacuum therefore the stories created by these elements are essentially made for the purpose of sharing. Sharing my stories validates their existence.

Once the preliminary sharing is complete and all feedback (Good and bad) has been used The First Draft will present itself. The First Draft is the most uninhibited version of the dream as a tangible and shareable product, with maps to the source of the visuals, exquisite explosions of words(wo)manship on paper and a very raw experience for any first time reader.

I have just completed the First Draft.

BusaBuntu

Kingston-Upon-Thames, UK, Earth, Milkyway