Sound on Screen Music Film Festival (SOS)
Cape Town | Labia on Orange | December 2011
MAMA GOEMA SCREENINGS:
Labia Theatre, 68 Orange Street, Gardens
- Sunday 4 December 2011 @ 16.00 *
- Thursday 8 December 2011 @ 16.00
* Fillmmakers & Musicians in attendance
“This showcase of Cape music will do Capetonians proud,” says composer Mac McKenzie. “The Table Bay Concerto in G-Major is a chronological account of Table Bay as I imagine it, my impression of its evolution from the time just before the arrival of European settlers through the era of colonialism up to the present. I’ve borrowed from various forms such as European hymnody, classical and street music (which I sometimes call tsotsi music) and assimilated them into goema, the heartbeat of the minstrel carnival.”
“The 20-piece Cape Town Goema Orchestra is a synergy of diverse performers from highly experienced classical, jazz and traditional instrumentalists to young church and street musicians, all connected to the rich culture and soundscape of our city. It’s a truly unifying force in our country that celebrates and takes our music forward with vision and passion.”
Cape Town Goema Orchestra Performances:
SABC Studios Auditorium | Beach Road, Sea Point (Cape Town)
- Saturday 26 November 2011 @ 20.00
- Saturday 3 December 2011 @ 20.00
The Tri Continental Film Festival (TCFF)
Johannesburg, Tshwane & Cape Town | September 2011
ONLINE BOOKINGS:
Mama Goema (55min) screens with Kitso Lelliott’s The Tailored Suit (17min). N.B. Most online bookings only carry the title The Tailored Suit.
JOHANNESBURG
Rosebank Nouveau
- Sunday 11 September 2011 @ 12.00 *
- Saturday 17 September 2011 @ 14.15 *
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TSHWANE
Brooklyn Nouveau
- Wednesday 28 September 2011 @ 18.00
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CAPE TOWN
V&A Nouveau
- Saturday 17 September 2011 @ 20.00 *
- Friday 23 September 2011 @ 20.15 *
* Filmmakers in attendance
“If you take a pinch of Khoi-San lament, a dash of Malay spice, a measure of European orchestral, a splash of Xhosa spiritual, the clash of marching bands, the pizzazz of the Klopse, a driving primal beat and a lot of humour and musical virtuosity, what do you get? Goema, Goema, Goema! Weaving together the ancient, the traditional and the classical into the distinctive sound of Cape Town, Mac MacKenzie, musical mastermind and founder of The Genuines and The Goema Captains of Cape Town, puts the final touches on the culmination of his life’s work: “Goema Symphony No. 1.” Musicians Hilton Schilder, Ernestine Deane and Kyle Shepherd add context while The Cape Town Goema Orchestra rehearses for its première performance at the SABC Studios Auditorium.”
Encounters South African International Documentary Film Festival
Cape Town & Johannesburg | June 2011
ONLINE BOOKINGS:
Mama Goema (60min) screens with Eddie Edwards’ Once Upon a Day: Brenda Fassie (30min).
CAPE TOWN
- Saturday 11 June 2011 @ 20:15 – V&A Nu Metro *
- Saturday 25 June 2011 @ 20:00 – V&A Nu Metro *
- Sunday 26 June 2011 @ 14:00 (Extra screening by public demand) – V&A Nu Metro *
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JOHANNESBURG
- Saturday 18 June 2011 @ 18.00 – Hyde Park Nu Metro
- Friday 24 June 2011 @ 20:00 – The Bioscope
* Filmmakers in attendance
A MUSICAL JOURNEY THROUGH THE CAPE
Cape Town came about as a result of its location and the subsequent historic forces that were visited upon it. What emerged is a city with cultural and linguistic characteristics drawn from the disparate influences of Western Europe, Maritime Southeast Asia and Southern Africa (amongst others).
FROM PUNK THROUGH PENTHOUSE TO THE UNIVERSITY
Mac McKenzie has always pushed the boundaries of Goema, the rhythmic groove at the heart of Cape Town’s carnival culture. During the 80s, he injected defiance into the idiom with The Geniunes, creating lightning-speed Rock arrangements and the resistance anthem “Struggle.” In 2002, Mac guided Goema into a more refined arena with The Goema Captains of Cape Town, cloaking the Cape vibe in Cool Jazz. Now Mac’s back with an orchestra to boot! Steering Goema into Classical territory, Mac McKenzie has assembled The Cape Town Goema Orchestra to showcase a composition entitled “Goema Symphony No. 1.”
CTGO Press Kit (220K) | Flyer (115K)
Some refer to him as the Bob Dylan of the northern suburbs but to those who share a taxi with him on the way to work, he’s just the sweaty guy in the brown vest. Jack Parow is a resident of Belleville, a ghetto located 12 miles from the centre of Cape Town. “That’s four whole miles further than Eminem has to commute from his trailer park to the city,” says the rapper. Parow is currently spearheading a hip hop movement characterised by the use of his regional Afrikaans patois. “We avoid the word pidgin,” he explains, “owing to its unfortunate association with the rats of the sky.” Moreover, Parow’s sharp tongue has earned him critical acclaim. “Jack’s indignation concerning the snake on the breasts,” says university professor B.O. Locks, “represents a rejection of phallic imagery in favour of a discourse that interrogates the social politics of superiority.” The professor insists that Jeremy De Tolly of the Dirty Skirts is only a symbol of rock star vanity, adding, “He’s probably a nice guy in real life.” As regards the two-foot peak cap, “Purely functional,” says the professor. “Owing to the even topography of the neighbouring Cape Flats, Belleville residents require longer brims to keep the morning sun out of their eyes.”
It’s a balmy evening in Cape Town and a crowd is dribbling into formation on Loop Street; early arrivers staking claims to the scattered tables of Alliance Française (while its humble kitchen dispatches slivers of quiche to those in the know). Red lights warm a stage draped in an ethnic rug; a still-life with wood and strings. Steve Newman, Errol Dyers and Hilton Schilder are shooting the breeze in the wings, their toils having culminated in the body of music they’re about to stamp on the unconsciousness of those present for the launch of their album.
If you think patting your head and rubbing your belly at the same time is a piece of cake, there’s a hip Cape Town folkster serving a slice of humble pie called “Blinking and Breathing and Crying.” Simon van Gend is a bespectacled troubadour with a perpetual five o’clock shadow, a dark mane and a name that should be avoided by the eNews Channel weatherman. If he was a gimp, you’d bring him out for sessions of soul-searching, making the contemplative heights of Tafelberg Road at sunset a fitting location for his Taxijam. Accompanied by drummer Ross Campbell on the shakes and vocal harmonies, SVG’s offering is proof that less is more when it comes to catchy songwriting and that clapping and whistling are time-tested techniques to get toes tapping. “Blinking and Breathing and Crying” reminds us that big themes don’t need fancy lyrics and that big brothers should be encouraged to bully their arty siblings in the hopes of planting traumatic memories that will flourish into great music. Putting the inside out there is what Simon van Gend knows best and it does us all some good to join him on the train of introspection. The album Guest of my Feelings (2008) is where to hop on.
Cape Town’s Alliance Française hosted the inaugural gathering of Future Shorts South Africa last month. The UK-based short film label was established in 2003 in the interests of celebrating the form and raising its status. Future Shorts operates in over 50 cities in 15 countries and channels local material to an international hub in London where it’s compiled, distributed and screened elsewhere. As such, the platform treats audiences to independent work from around the globe while providing home-grown filmmakers with the potential to reach wider audiences.
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The Cape Town Goema Orchestra and the birth of a new vision for South African music.
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Mama Goema, a documentary exploring Cape Town's most representative musical genre.
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