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

“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

• Online Tickets at Quicket
• Cape Town Goema Orchestra Page

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

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).

While Cape Town’s musicians take inspiration from the natural wonders that surround them, they inhabit an African city in the process of negotiating how it projects itself to the rest of the world. A place of musical diversity, modern Cape Town seeks to rise above tolerance to pursue meaningful cultural integration. This challenge is reflected in Cape Town’s oldest manifestation of authentic musical culture, Tweede Nuwe Jaar and the Coon Carnival.

The Carnival’s rhythm, Goema, initially a term describing the drums used in the minstrel parades and subsequently the name of the characteristic Cape beat that emerged from these drums, was adopted as a Cape Jazz idiom in the 20th century and has been interpreted through Rock, Hip-Hop and Electro in recent times. Modern usage of the word reflects a growing re-appraisal of Klopse culture and a new movement that defines Cape Town’s “sound” by the inventive blending of cultural influences.

• Mama Goema Page

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.”

• Words by Profoundly South African
• Taxijam Website | Facebook Page
• Jack Parow Website | MySpace Page

This extraordinary combination of Cape Town musicians evokes the spirit that brought Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía together for Friday Night in San Francisco. However, unlike the virtuosic Jazz-Flamenco trio of the early 80s, Newman, Dyers and Schilder have concretised a theory for their union, appearing as All In One and gathering their recorded material under the same name. Moreover, while prescribed structure and precise execution makes Friday Night beautiful, All In One channels its power in the process of playing and finds its voice when separate contributions become indistinguishable from the new compound that’s formed; when the trio becomes what they call themselves.

Taking the stage, Newman, Dyers and Schilder exude the tempered confidence of seasoned craftsmen. That this is a profoundly South African cast, there is not doubt, but there’s also a shamanistic air that hangs about them. This could be attributed to the psychedelic drawings that adorn the stage; perhaps the white robe over leather chaps of their creator, Schilder (replete with eyeliner and Mohican). Perhaps it’s Newman’s ponytail, resembling a seafaring rope, or Dyers’ beanie, which gives him the weathered look of a cosmic fisherman. Despite appearances, that these men are at least conjurers is confirmed when the music begins.

The two sets are characterised by sonic tapestries that reference Flamenco Rumba, Gypsy Swing, Tango, Maskanda and Goema. In addition to Newman’s selection of exquisitely crafted guitars, instruments featured include curiosities like the rain stick, the mouth bow and the melodica (and even the manner in which the three wean sounds from their tools is novel). Each performer also commits a solo offering to the show, which sees Newman stroking inlays on the face of his guitar to produce the sound of a kalimba. Dyers brings a dirge to the table while Schilder’s piece, albeit acoustic, carries the aesthetics of Prog Rock.

All In One provides an engaging performance and All In One (Swett Shoppe Records) is a dazzling album. The combination of styles, instruments and influences tethered to a raw improvisational approach has produced something that bespeaks the true nature of Ubuntu. When diverse sounds unite, the result is something more than the sum of its parts. It’s a motherless sound because its origins are blurred. They may be the old guard but this is a new sound for Cape Town.

• All In One Page

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.

• Words by Profoundly South African
• Taxijam Website | Facebook Page
• Simon van Gend Website | MySpace Page

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.

The evening’s programme consisted of eight short films obtained via the Future Shorts network (a showcase representing the US, the UK and France that consisted of work produced between 1989 and 2007). Highlights included Gaelle Denis’s “City Paradise” (UK, 2003), a whimsical take on London through the eyes of a foreign resident, as well as Jamie Rafn’s reflection on the schizophrenic nature of romantic relationships entitled “She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not” (UK, 2004).

Following a short interval, three South African productions were screened in collaboration with Shortcut Wednesday. The work consisted of a stop-frame styled music video by Terry Westby-Nunn (the Simon van Gend Band’s “Minor Revelation”). This was followed by the recently completed “Epitaph” by Rowan Pybus, an instalment in a series of poetic pieces that combine the art work of Faith 47 and the music of Inge Beckmann. The screening then closed with Dave Cotton’s low-fi “Hannibal Goes on Holiday,” a story of friendship, betrayal, forgiveness, guilt (and zombies) featuring plastic dolls in the leading roles.

Present at the screening, Cotton participated in a Q&A that focused on his concern for storytelling and his mantra that “content is king.” Cotton encouraged budding filmmakers to simply produce work rather than be hindered by the trappings of high production, stating that imperfections often provide the fresh quality absent in works that are over-produced. Cotton stated that the journey to becoming a filmmaker is an evolutionary process that starts with scripts being turned into tangible works rather than being left to gather dust under a bed. Plans are currently underway for Future Shorts South Africa’s second instalment.