SA film on GBV wins two awards in Germany

“Thank you for the hashtag but the trend is we are dying here.”

This is a punchline in SA short film We Are Dying Here, which won two international awards at the Female Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, on Monday night.

We Are Dying Here is a story about the prevalence of gender-based violence (GBV) in the country.

The film had received five nominations and walked away with the Best Short Film and Female for Change award.

The film was co-written by cast members Siphokazi Jonas, Hope Netshivhambe and Babalwa Makwetu.

It was initially a stage play and premiered at the Arts Cape Theatre in Cape Town, Western Cape, in 2019.

It opened at the Joburg Theatre in Johannesburg in February last year.

But when the cast was set to tour the world, everything was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Jonas, who is also a co-producer, said the news of winning two accolades had not sunk in yet.

“Finally, the film is now referred to as an award-winning film. This film was just a pure labour of love. It is one of those films that were shot under difficult circumstances, under lockdown, in November. The film industry had shut down and theatres were not opened either.

"We did it because everyone was just grateful to have work during that hard time. We created the production that speaks against a culture of gender-based violence in South Africa, and winning these two awards is an acknowledgement of team work.”

On turning the stage show into a film, Jonas said: “We were approached by Optical Film after we streamed a video of the stage performance. They wanted a collaboration and we said yes. The results have been amazing. We then approached the Siya Kolisi Foundation because we know that they have been doing a lot of work in advocacy against gender-based violence. They backed the project and they are executive producers.”

The film was screened at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles in February and it was nominated for Best Short Film.

It will be virtually screened at the Poetry Africa Film Festival that is hosted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday.