The tell-all documentary about one of Benoni’s favourite discount stores, Benoni Discount Stores, was made available for live streaming worldwide on February 15.
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Local business features in documentary
The creator of Taking Stock, Ben Stillerman, said there are three ways South Africans can view the documentary.
The first is to rent or buy it on iTunes; the second way is to rent or buy it on Vimeo, which he explains as a “more professional YouTube”; and thirdly, one can order a DVD on Taking Stock’s website.
The documentary is about Ben filming his father, Clive, in action as the storekeeper of the Benoni Discount Store in the Benoni CBD.
Taking Stock touches on some serious topics such as being a black employee during apartheid.
Clive explains how white citizens would buy trunks to store canned foods in preparation for a suspected civil war after the 1994 democratic elections.
The footage also reveals true emotional hardship as the monthly turnover decreased.
Clive struggles with his temper and as events unfold, the viewer discovers a deeper reason for this.
Ben confronts his father about his anger and Clive defends some actions, but accepts critique.
Ben explained he received some push-back from his family while he was filming, but said it wasn’t based on anger but nervousness instead.
“The reaction I received from non-family as well as family when the film was done, was warm and sympathetic,” he said.
He admitted that during filming the idea of the documentary wasn’t clear to his father and said Clive “took a while to digest the film”.
Ben said he hopes people will be able to relate to the film and possibly identify their own relationships.
He also said that there are many family-owned businesses in Benoni and explained that his film is a community story.
The film won the award for best documentary at the Massachusetts Independent Film Festival and was selected for official screening at BendFilm, Encounters South African Film Festival and Shutter Creek international Film Festival.
Ben now lives in California in the USA where he works as a film-maker.
READ:
Documenting a piece of Benoni’s history
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