Film about Plastic City wins big at the Echo BRICS Film Festival

Benoni’s young filmmaker Yakima Waner’s lasted feature film The Harvest was named the best documentary of the Echo BRICS Film Festival in Moscow Russia recently.

The Morehill resident said she is very honoured about the win as she was nominated against some of the best.

“Representing South Africa amongst BRICS and winning the category was very special. What makes it even more special is that in 2018 we won the best short film for To Wake Buddhi (2017) in the same film festival,” said Waner.

ALSO READ:

Help Morehill resident to continue feeding those in need

“What makes this win important is not pride for oneself, it is the recognition for our story and the entire community in which the documentary represents and creates a voice.”

The documentary celebrates the children and women of Plastic City informal settlement in Brakpan.

The 30-year-old said the feature film explores the lives of the people who call the informal settlement home and aims to share their stories and the benefit they are providing for the planet through recycling.

She said the narrative of the documentary is something they experience daily.

“I and my team Jessie and Hlengiwe Nkosi run multiple non-profit organisations which fight for justice for the children of Plastic City and other souls which are not granted equality, said Waner.

“It is very difficult for me to watch the documentary with an audience. I remember at the premiere I sat in the control room with my comrade Jessie and watched it on a tiny monitor with tears in our eyes.”

She said this documentary is very different to her previous films where she observed and detached herself as the filmmaker.

“Instead, I invested my entire life to this subject, to win the community’s trust, to love and protect their children as if they were my own, to fight and put my life in danger to witness and experience what they do as “foreigners” and as “children” in our democracy of today,” said the youngster.

“I will never be the same as an artist or as a human being. Being able to share this story with the world has changed my life forever.”

The environmental awareness documentarian said will be releasing another documentary on International Human Solidarity Day on December 20.

The documentary is called Indlala, which means hunger. It will be based on The Harvest Covid-19 Relief Project which started a week before the National State of Disaster was declared in the country due to the pandemic.

Waner said the documentary shares day-to-day experiences during the lockdown, moments of complete mayhem, moments of joy and tears, moments that they didn’t know how they were going to continue feeding 200 to 300 starving people a day.

“The project aimed at supporting and creating relief for communities and minorities that would not receive any government support during this pandemic, especially for children and the elderly,” she said.

“Through the project, we made masks and educated the masses on the devastating impact of the virus.”

She added they are still feeding hundreds of people and they have received support from different organisation and donations from individuals, which keeps them going.

Waner thanks every heartbeat who kept the dream alive, adding this quote by Camille Pissarro: “Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.”

She also thanked Jessie and Hlengiwe for everything they have done through the project.

“These two sisters are the reason the journey began, and they started it with nothing. I would like to salute them and their entire family for being so brave and for helping us during this whole journey to this point and the future. “

Also, my parents and family for supporting me during this journey, it hasn’t been easy on them but they kept on supporting us through thick and thin,” she said.