Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

New twist emerges surrounding the opening night film at Durban Film Festival

01/06/2016

1 June, 2016 - 08:32

Playing out like a taut political thriller, a new twist emerged: one of the three photographers of the Durban Film Festivals opening night film The Journeymen has been accused of sexual harassment. By Charl Blignaut

Sipho Mpongo was the subject of a City Press investigation into sexual assault and harassment at Michaelis Art School at the University of Cape Town. Mpongo was found guilty of sexual harassment of a fellow student and charged with community service by the university.

Earlier this month, City Press reported on a string of resignations at the festival, including that of manager Sarah Dawson, because of alleged interference by the University of Kwazulu-Natal, which owns the event.

We reported that when Anant Singh's latest big-budget apartheid-era production, Shepherds and Butchers, directed by Oliver Schmitz, was offered a gala screening but not the opening slot, Singh questioned the decision and copied the university's deputy vice-chancellor, Professor Cheryl Potgieter, in on his email. Potgieter then decreed his film would be the opening film, leading to the resignations.

This week, the festival's new manager, Peter Machen, announced the opening film - and eyebrows shot up because it wasn't Shepherds and Butchers. Instead, the film granted the honour is a documentary called The Journeymen.

The Journeymen is the first documentary to open the 37-year-old festival since An Inconvenient Truth in 2007 and proves that local doccies are coming into their own.

It is, by all accounts, an innovative and relevant film. In it, three young photographers with very diverse backgrounds travel the country for months, recording their encounters with fellow South Africans - from the Cape Flats to Orania - on GoPro cameras strapped to their chests.

When I saw the latest version, I just thought, wow, this is perfect and appropriate to open the festival. It is certainly no artistic compromise, said Machen, who did not heed Singh's later request to set up a committee to choose the opening film.

Many social-media commentators were alarmed that he can now be held up as a hero at the opening night.

Documentary producer Jolynn Minnaar said: I condemn Sipho's actions and any instances of sexual violence.

Mpongo has subsequently spoken and blogged about his journey to realising how harmful his actions had been.

Minnaar said she believed Mpongo had shown grave remorse and continues to work earnestly on his process of rehabilitation , but that none of the photographers intend on shying away from conversation or deny or defend Sipho's case .

Machen told City Press he was in no way dismissing sexual violence, but felt it was important to separate art from the artist and also to use the festival to discuss the issues the films raise.

He said he thought long and hard about accepting the job, but was worried the festival would be cancelled if someone with experience didn't step in.

Dawson said it was a shame that the curatorial process had been compromised.

www.citypress.co.za

Film Festivals

Africa South Africa
LINK: http://www.filmcontact.com/news/south-africa/new-twist-emerges-surroun...
See more stories from filmcontact

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

06/05/2026

Zeiss Launches CinCraft LensCore

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Gomez Urges Rigorous FCC Review of Paramount-WBD Merger

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Wisycom Solves Extreme RF Challenges Across Miles of Live...

DARTFORD, UNITED KINGDOM, MAY 5, 2026 When live cycling races and international marathons stretch for miles across cities and countryside, there is no margin ...

06/05/2026

ZEISS CinCraft LensCore - Cinema Lens Looks for Compositi...

Oberkochen/Germany, May 5, 2026 ZEISS announces the launch of CinCraft LensCore, a novel solution for creating physically based cinematic lens looks for visual...

06/05/2026

May 05, 2026

How changes to proteins can alter drug interactions for new precision therapies Scripps Research team maps how chemical modifications to proteins affect drug bi...

05/05/2026

Lessons from fragile contexts on responding to disinformation

Experts from the world of academia, tech, business, politics and media convened for a Thomson Talks at the Cambridge Disinformation Summit in April. It's th...

05/05/2026

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Phone Cameras Bring New Excitement to Street League Skateboarding

Three phones were hardwired for power and transmission to the truck; camera feat...

05/05/2026

Case Study: How Zaki Rose Rebuilt Its Production Infrastructure, and What It Means for Sports Content Creators

The creative studio behind campaigns for the NBA, Fanatics Sportsbook & Casino, ...

05/05/2026

Nielsen Co-Viewing Pilot Shows Average 4% Viewership Increase for February Live Events

Nielsen has announced results from a co-viewing pilot program covering February&...

05/05/2026

Nippon TV and FOR-A Win NAB Product of the Year and Future Best of Show Awards for viztrick AiDi

viztrick AiDi, an on-device AI solution developed by Nippon TV, delivered global...

05/05/2026

ARRI Introduces Omnibar LED Linear Fixture for Film, Live Entertainment, and Content Creation

ARRI has announced Omnibar, a battery-powered, IP65-rated multi-color LED linear...

05/05/2026

France Tlvisions Becomes First Broadcaster to Deploy Imagine Communications SNP-XS

Imagine Communications has announced that France T l visions is the first broadc...

05/05/2026

WNBA Announces Historic Canadian Media Rights Agreement with Bell Media

The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Bell Media today announced a multiyear agreement to broadcast and stream WNBA games in Canada beginni...

05/05/2026

Save the Date: SVG Remote Production Forum Heads to WBD's Techwood Studios in Atlanta on Sept. 23-24

SVG is proud to announce Warner Bros. Discovery's Techwood Studios in Atlant...

05/05/2026

Look Who's Talking: ESPN Integrates New Automated Commentator-ID Technology Into Scorebar Graphic for UFL Coverage

With no operator required, AutoMic workflow automates talent identification on U...

05/05/2026

Return Flight: How Live Broadcast Drones Died - and Were Reborn - on the Ski Slopes of Northern Italy

A crash in 2015 set the industry back, but this winter proved that drones are he...

05/05/2026

RADAR Spotlights the Next Generation of Asian Artists, From Indonesia to Taiwan

Another year, and more proof that Asia continues to shape some of the world's most exciting new sounds. This year's RADAR artists draw from deep local r...

05/05/2026

Spotify and ACL Music Fest Team Up to Give Fans a Personalized Experience for 2026

The Austin City Limits Music Fest 2026 lineup just dropped, and this year, Spoti...

05/05/2026

Bjooks to launch Beat Gems Kickstarter

New drum machine book campaign incoming Bjooks have announced that during Superbooth 2026, they will be launching a Kickstarter campaign to fund the product...

05/05/2026

Native Instruments release Komplete 26

Flagship all-in-one production bundle updated The latest version of Native Instruments' flagship virtual instrument and plug-in bundle has just been ann...

05/05/2026

Rohde & Schwarz to host RF Testing Innovations Forum 2026, helping design engineers elevate their RF expertise

Rohde & Schwarz to host RF Testing Innovations Forum 2026, helping design engine...

05/05/2026

L3Harris Provides Key Technologies for Newly Commissioned Navy Submarines

L3Harris provides communications, electronic warfare, sensors and mission systems that enable Virginia-class submarine crews to operate with confidence in conte...

05/05/2026

AgileTV consolidates its strength in 2025: EBITDA and cash conversion increase thanks to revenue growth and operational efficiency

The company grew by 7.6% in net revenue and 16.3% in EBITDA, achieving a 33% inc...

05/05/2026

Gray Media Closes Purchase of 10 Allen Media Group Stations

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

05/05/2026

Dang Ly Joins Operative as Chief Product Officer

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

05/05/2026

CIMM, TVB Release Local TV Currency Measurement Guidelines

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

05/05/2026

ARRI Introduces Omnibar LED Linear Fixture

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

05/05/2026

France Televisions Continues ST 2110 Migration With Imagi...

Project Marks First Major Broadcast Deployment of Latest Addition to SNP Lineup Imagine Communications today announced that France T l visions is the first br...

05/05/2026

Shotoku Broadcast Systems Wins 2026 NAB Show Product of t...

Shotoku Broadcast Systems Wins 2026 NAB Show Product of the Year Award Shotoku Broadcast Systems announced today that its Swoop range of robotic cranes has be...

05/05/2026

DigitalGlues creativespace Intelligence Wins Futures Best...

DigitalGlue's creative.space Intelligence Wins Future's Best of Show Award, Presented by TV Tech creative.space Intelligence (CSI), part of the creativ...

05/05/2026

Zixi Showcases Next-Generation Live Video Workflows and M...

Zixi, a leader in live video delivery and workflow orchestration, will showcase next-generation broadcast workflows at the Media Production and Technology Show ...

05/05/2026

Stingr marks its launch with a new approach to second-screen interactivity

Stingr marks its launch with a new approach to second-screen interactivity Brie Clayton May 5, 2026 0 Comments Huge leap forward in revenues and engag...

05/05/2026

Shotoku Broadcast Systems Wins 2026 NAB Show Product of the Year Award

Shotoku Broadcast Systems Wins 2026 NAB Show Product of the Year Award Brie Clayton May 5, 2026 0 Comments Shotoku Broadcast Systems announced today tha...

05/05/2026

DHD to Promote Latest Advances in Audio Production at MPT...

Following a successful NAB Show in Las Vegas, DHD will promote examples from its wide range of broadcast-quality audio production equipment at the May 13th-14th...

05/05/2026

LucidLink Redefines Cloud Media Workflows at MPTS 2026

LucidLink today announced its programme for MPTS 2026, where it will exhibit at Stand M59 at Olympia London, 13 to 14 May. The company will showcase its latest ...

05/05/2026

Limecraft Announces Version 2026-3 of its Cloud-Based Tel...

Limecraft today announces the release of Limecraft 2026.3, the third platform update in its 2026 release cycle. Limecraft is an AI-powered production platform t...

05/05/2026

Stingr marks its launch with a new approach to second-scr...

Huge leap forward in revenues and engagement...

05/05/2026

Broadcast Solutions strengthens CTO Office for technical...

Broadcast Solutions, a leading system integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, has taken another significant step in st...

05/05/2026

Operative Appoints Dang Ly as Chief Product Officer to Ac...

Operative today announced the appointment of Dang Ly as Chief Product Officer, signaling the company's accelerating commitment to delivering the next genera...

05/05/2026

World Skills Cafe Returns to IBC2026

The Media Talent Manifesto (MTM) today announces the return of the World Skills Caf at IBC2026, positioning the event as a critical industry forum to confront ...

05/05/2026

ARRI unveils Omnibar: compact, modular, battery-powered IP65 LED bars with precise pixel control

ARRI unveils Omnibar: compact, modular, battery-powered IP65 LED bars with preci...

05/05/2026

NBC Sports' NBA Playoff Viewership Up 58%

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

05/05/2026

U.S. Court Upholds Some Patents in LG ATSC 3.0 Infringement Case

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

05/05/2026

Gray Media and Allen Media Group Close Station Transactions

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

05/05/2026

Digital Domain Welcomes Award-Nominated VFX Supervisor Jelmer Boskma

Digital Domain Welcomes Award-Nominated VFX Supervisor Jelmer Boskma Brie Clayton May 4, 2026 0 Comments Digital Domain, a global leader in visual eff...

05/05/2026

NVIDIA and ServiceNow Partner on New Autonomous AI Agents for Enterprises

Enterprise AI has learned to generate. It has learned to reason. Now companies are asking the next question: How should AI act? Early agent systems have shown ...