Speelman Mabena has set his sight in producing films

One of the filmmakers is Speelman Mabena, a graduate of the Big Fish School of Digital Film Making.
Born and bred in eMalahleni, he started school at Khayalethu Intermediate School and matriculated at Kopanang Senior Secondary School. Studied filmmaking at the Big Fish School of Digital Filmmaking in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

His interests in the art began as a member of Bambanani Theatre group in 2001 and then developed to be a poetry director and a storyteller till 2004. After Bambanani dissolved, he established his own theatre company called Speelman Mabena’s Production Theatre focusing on filmmaking, Siyathuthuka Theatre Production focusing on theatre and the 3 Masters, a karate demonstration group and all that happened in 2005.

He has written, acted, directed and produced several TV and theatre productions in English and Zulu.
“I am a poet, musician, actor, choreographer, composer, filmmaker, playwright, a producer and director of my plays such as ‘A fools Hope,’ ‘Finders Keepers,’ ‘Trauma,’ ‘uZenzile,’ ‘The 3 Evil Heads,’ ‘Around the Corner & the latest play’ ‘Fair To be Un-Fair’ a play which was staged at the State Theatre in Pretoria for the 2010 Mzansi Fela Festival Program. The play was later staged at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival in the same year (2010),” said Mabena.

He has participated at the National Arts Festival Grahamstown four times in different productions such as the ‘Pulse of Mpumalanga Spirit 2005,’ ‘Who to Trust’ in 2008 as an actor, an in-house production for the Witbank Civic Theatre. In 2010 he staged his own play ‘Fair To be Un-Fair’ at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, a play he had written, directed and acted. The play featured Zanele Mahlangu, Theo Rantsu and Katleho Mokoena. Witbank Civic Theatre in association with Sihlangene Sisonke Development Project supported the project.

Mabena believes that his school prepares students to enter the vibrant and rewarding world of film and television. He said the school was a multi-award winning South African-based school that is supported by entertainment and media industry giants, as well as big business and government.

“The school has maintained close ties with the media industry, their courses are always relevant, hands on and simulate the workplace. 85% of the graduates from the school find their work in the industry while the other 15% will work on their own productions. Their courses cater for already employed students who want to further their competitive professional skills, as well as newcomers to film and TV.”

In theatre he has won several awards like: Best drama group, best poetry group and winning the eMalahleni mayoral’s award in 2009 for best theatre group. His group was nominated as the Best Group in Musical Drama at the eMalahleni mayoral award also in 2009. His group participated at the State Theatre in Pretoria in the Mzansi Fela Festival in 2009. Participated at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown in 2010, won third place at the Premiers Youth Excellence Award in 2010 as young a developer in the Performing Arts (Theatre), was a top student at Big Fish School in Cape Town in 2011 in documentary film making.

His story was published at a Cape Town newspaper – Sheet. Won Best Film Score at the Mpumalanga Film Festival in 2013 from one of is film titled: ‘Lala kahle Mama.’

Maben has produced, directed and written a film titled ‘No Hands Land’ in 2010 a 10 minutes documentary about the acknowledgement of construction works that worked and built the FIFA World Cup stadiums, yet they themselves can’t even build house for themselves and their families. The film has been shown at Architect Film Festival in Johannesburg, Cape Town as well as in Bloemfontein. It was also shown in Europe and in Canada. He was a director and editor of ‘A God Given Gift,’ in 2010, a eight minutes documentary that tells the hardships that artist are facing and the achievements that one can have once they believe in their dreams, the documentary was shown in Johannesburg.

Mabena was producer, editor, light and sound engineer for the Remix Dance Company in 2011 for a promotional video about the integration of the disabled and normal people-combining dance without discriminating each other. In ‘Lala kahle Mama’ it is a personal documentary about a young filmmaker’s life and a journey encountering hardship and the difficulty of losing a loved one. This happened when his mother passes away, he also losses himself in the pain of grief. The documentary was shown in shown in Cape Town and in Johannesburg film festival, DSTV, eTV as well as at the Mpumalanga Film Festival in 2013. Mabene has also won the Tine Rage and CNCI Film Competition in producing and directing the documentary ‘No Hands Land’ in 2010.