A group of talented locals from Patensie and Hankey plan to start production on their short film soon, which they hope will shine a light on how true love is able to prevail despite financial circumstances.
The production crew for the short film, titled The Photo, includes, Shaun Lewis from Patensie as the director of photography, Madoda Jacobs from Patensie, as the director and Jewnayne Engelbrecht from Hankey, as the assistant director. Engelbrecht is also responsible for the writing and producing the movie’s sound track.
The cast members are, Jenedine Jantjies from Patensie and Hankey-based actors, Zanele Katoo, Georgia Fortuin and Gabriel Plaatjies.
According to Jacobs, the short film, which will mainly be filmed in Patensie, will showcase the love between a rich woman and a vagrant who, despite their financial status or lack thereof, fall in love.
He said the film focused on what people see in each other and love allowing people to look beyond the outwards appearance.
“As we aim to make our audience laugh, we also want them to enjoy an unlikely love story between a pair that lives on different sides of the street, the have and the haves-not,” said Jacobs.
Lewis said viewers can look forward to a heart-warming comedy about seeing the beauty in each person regardless of what they have or do not have, and that persistence often brings forth good results.
He said they hope to share their short film with as many people as they can, especially towns and villages in the Eastern Cape where many can relate to the story.
The trailer will be released on August 26 while the short film will be released at a later stage.
Both the trailer and short film can be viewed on Lewis’s YouTube channel ShaQvidproductions.
However, before the short film is released, the group plans to tour to various locations to promote the film to increase the monetary value of the project.
“The talent we have working together on this project is big in our region and we will surely inspire and uncover raw talent in Hankey, Patensie and Kouga as whole.
“This is only a start of bigger things to come,” said Jacobs.
Plaatjies said since they are a small team, they each take on more responsibilities to ensure that they bring forth a good product.
While the production crew and cast members have continued to work hard on the short film, they have realised the need for a production company in the Kouga region in the hope that they could enter national and international film festivals and competitions.
The team is now in the process of establishing Bush N.Y Production Company.
“Our production company will be dedicated to sharing stories by young artists from Hankey and Patensie, using film as a medium,” said Plaatjies.
“We will focus on creating short films, feature films and online series.”
Plaatjies is the co-founder of Hankey Performance Art Development, which focused on developing young people for a career in the arts.
He is also in the process of registering his own production company Big Show Productions and now hopes to join forces with Bush N.Y Production Company.
“Bush N.Y is our vision to create our own industry in the bush, which is what the Kouga area is for artists, because of the lack of opportunities and infrastructure in the area.
“We want to build our own self-sustaining industry, our own New York right here,” said Plaatjies.
