Behind the scenes with Durban International Film Festival winners

AFTER nine jam-packed days, the 43rd edition of the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) drew to a close on the weekend. The much-anticipated award ceremony was held on Monday, August 1. This week, Berea Mail goes behind the scenes to chat to Michael Mutombo and Simon Wood on their award-winning films 1960 and Girl, Taken.

Best South African Feature Film was awarded to the period piece, 1960, co-directed by Mutombo and King Shaft. The jury described the film as a ‘powerful historical re-imagination that lays bare some of the chasms of trauma in (South Africa’s) history and the effect that this has generationally’.

The film takes place in three eras – the 1940s, 1960s and 2019 – as a retired singer revisits her past to help with a police investigation when the remains of an apartheid-era policeman are discovered 60 years after he went missing. Speaking to Berea Mail, Mutombo said 1960 is not a film about apartheid, but rather a film set during apartheid.

“It’s a love story between a young girl and music – inspired by the greats, like Marian Makeba,” he said.

Mutombo added that the film was initially written as an eight-part miniseries.

“The film was privately funded – we didn’t really have resources and tried to keep everything in-house. The writing process was a group effort. We initially wrote 1960 as a series and shot the pilot episode, hoping to sell to gain funding to shoot the rest of the episodes. We failed dismally. We couldn’t get anyone to watch the film, let alone buy it. As Covid-19 broke out, we took a backseat and decided to re-write 1960 as a film. As we shot the film, we realised we needed a few more scenes, and the writing process began again. In the end, it took just as long to write the film as it did to film it – the whole process took about three years,” he said.

ALSO READ: Durban International Film Fest announces winners

From tough beginnings, Mutombo and his crew received a warm welcome in Durban with a sold-out screening of 1960 on the opening night of the festival.

Girl, Taken

The Best South African Documentary accolade went to Girl, Taken, directed by Francois Verster and Simon Wood. The film tells the harrowing story of a baby taken at birth and found by her parents 17 years later. On 28 April 1997, Morné and Celeste Nurse welcomed their first daughter and named her Zephany. Three days later, she was taken from her cot in the hospital. By a miraculous coincidence, 17 years later, the couple’s second daughter enrolled in a school where she met her sister. Zephany, who had grown up as Miché Solomon was taken to a place of safety, and the woman she had known all her life as her mother was taken to custody.

When director Wood heard the story, he reached out to journalists to find out more.

“We started filming in 2016 when the trial was beginning. We contacted journalist and asked for an introduction to the parents, during a very difficult time in their lives – in the build-up to a verdict,” said Wood.

The film has turned heads on a global stage.

“This is a story that asks the biggest question of all – nature vs nurture. I knew it was a universal story, and we were excited to tell it. It’s not every day that an SA story is seen in the Washington Post,” said Wood.

ALSO READ: Review of ‘Girl, Taken’ from the 43rd Durban International Film Festival

As the story unravels, audiences see Miché/ Zephany choose to stay with her kidnapper’s husband rather than return to her biological family.

“Every country has a Zephany Nurse story, and the sad truth is most children don’t come home. What no one really considers is what would have happen if they did – it’s very complex – it’s not a fairy tale,” said Wood.

The filming process spanned over six years – following an emotional journey for the families involved.

“You have to be extremely sensitive to the people in the film. During the six years of filming, opinions shifted. When making a documentary, you are involved in a very intense relationship with someone for years,” said Wood.

The film was partly financed by M-net which will screen the film next year in February. It is also currently streaming on Paramount plus in UK and Ireland.

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