Amaza - From the streets of Muizenberg

Amaza, meaning waves, is a South African coming of age youth drama series produced by Community Media Trust (CMT) for SABC 1. The series is set in a street in Muizenberg, Cape Town which runs from the mountain, across the railway tracks, to the famous Surfer's Corner and the promenade, where a diverse group of students must come to terms with the cultural and historical legacies that mould each of them.

The four main characters are in their early twenties and have some growing up to do. Amaza follows them as they have to make life changing decisions and face the challenges that life throws at them daily.

The story was first developed in 2006 by Jack Lewis and Lucilla Blankenberg and it deals with universal themes of growing up, family responsibility, dreams and facing reality.

Lucilla, co-director of Amaza with Tim Spring and Laddie Bosch, says that after living in Muizenberg for 12 years and being involved in the creation of this story, it was a true privilege and awesome experience to have worked on the project from its inception through to completion.

Amaza was greatly supported and guided by SABC Commissioning Editor, Khulile Nxumalo and an amazing cast and crew made it happen on set with lots of laughter and a real feeling of camaraderie says Lucilla.

Lucilla and Laddie Bosch have both been in the industry for years, but they were novice drama directors on Amaza, under the watchful eye of veteran Tim Spring. This was the most unusual assignment; being asked to mentor two film-proficient people, highly experienced in their own field, and introduce them to narrative filmmaking. We had six sessions, which could at times be hilarious, and we bonded in a way I have never experienced before. I can't repeat the experience because they now know as much as I do laughs Tim.

Lucilla returned the compliment and said that Tim is a great mentor and has taught her an immense amount in a relatively short time. She says, We learned and laughed every day and Tim was generous with his knowledge and experience. He was invaluable to the project.

The four main characters are Bongani Mapanga, portrayed by Siyabonga Mayola, Ayesha Ibrahim by Shamilla Miller, Thembi Kamva by Zikhona Mda and Jaco du Toit by Sean-Marco Vorster.

Having played Zoliswa Yili in Montana, Zikhona Mda is not a new face to SABC 1. Mda said that all three directors were open to input and that she finds this to be important in a working environment. To be able to communicate with ease, to be able to discuss ideas, thoughts and concerns I'm happy to say we had that on set with all three the directors. She says, Thembi Kamva is a go-getter and doesn't let anyone stand in her way. Mda believes that her character will inspire people.

Of her character Shamilla Miller says, Ayesha is essentially the underdog which I think resonates with people. The family issues she has to deal with are also something audiences will understand.

Siyabonga Mayola says that it's been a pleasure and joy working with everyone on this project. All the actors I have had the pleasure to share the screen with have been great to work with and fun as each person brings their own style or uniqueness to the table and it's great! says Siya.

Sean-Marco, who plays Amaza's surfer Jaco du Toit, says I think it's a uniquely written narrative, with strong binaries and relevant themes. The writers did a great job by interlinking so many different cultures under one narrative umbrella. The story bids something new in every episode, with characters and exciting events, and I can only hope that the viewers find it as entertaining as I did.

Amaza was a development project in many ways, with people being trained and learning on the job and scholars and students visiting the set regularly. The writing team were all first time drama writers led by Gavin Sher. The series was written in record time and the writing team put in a lot of effort and many meetings and workshops for each scene and episode .

Lucilla, also the director of CMT, says that she feels confident that CMT has proven its capacity and competence with larger scope productions and has already been thinking about plots for series two of Amaza. Fingers crossed that we get the audience numbers.

LINK:	http://www.filmcontact.com/africa/south-africa/amaza-streets-muizenber...
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