Apollo Film Festival Documentary Awards Speech

by Dan Jawitz

Good Evening everyone.

First of all on behalf of my two fellow Jurors, Beverley Ditse and Joan Legalamitlwa, may I take this opportunity of thanking the ADA Chairman and Board, and Reg and his team, for the excellent festival we have just enjoyed and for inviting us to Victoria West to act as judges of the documentary awards. Not an easy task, might I add.

The Documentary Jury had a particularly challenging task deliberating over the merits of 11 very different and unique films.

We were looking for honest films that touched us emotionally, that were multi-layered and managed to convey the complexity of life in South Africa. But, above all, we were looking for good storytelling that engaged us from beginning to end.

The films that the jury chose for Best Documentary and for a Special Mention, shared many of the same characteristics:

  • They had at their centre a few main characters whom we found both compelling and captivating, and with whom we identified strongly;
  • The worlds in which the films take place were instantly recognizable as those belonging to everyday South Africa;
  • The films had in common the themes of displacement, identity, the inherited legacies of apartheid and of family values passed from generation to generation;
  • Technically they maintained a consistently high standard of cinematography, editing and sound; The score on both was original, and complimented the montage and style of the film without ever becoming intrusive;
  • The cinematography was subtle, discreet and artful and the excellent editing put them in a class of their own.

And so without further ado, for his exceptional use of archival material, for the unique structure of his story, for his chronicling of the relationships between the characters as well as the directors relationship to his characters, and finally for the relevance of this story, the Special Mention Award goes to ............Nicolaas Hofmeyer for his film "Taking Back the Waves".

And now finally, folks, the moment you have all been waiting for.........

For the skill with which the film weaves music, verse and image, for it's realization of a simple story told in an extraordinarily lyrical fashion, for it's rendering of universal characters battling to right the wrongs of the past, without resorting to didactics while setting up and resolving tensions, we decided that the Best Documentary film at the 5 th Apollo Film Festival goes to .............Kali van der Merwe for "Brown".