Byline: Nonjabuliso Nhlambo
17 April 2023
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) visited the Gert Sibande region on 12 April 2023 at Lillian Ngoyi hall to meet with local film makers.
The purpose of the visit was to reach out to film makers to make them aware of the presidential employment stimulus programme 4 (PESP4) which is focused on the audio-visual industry that is currently open for applications.
The NFVF has been tasked to administer PESP4 designed to continue the reactivation in the sector as per the economic recovery and reconstruction plan after the Covid19 pandemic impact.
The PESP4 package aims to assist film practitioners with projects in their implementation stages to reach completion though financial support.
The call also aims to support the sector through continuous skills development, focusing on the skills which the sector deems scarce.
R152 275 000 has been allocated for the financial year 2023-2024 to ensure that the job creation target of 10 850 for the financial year is met.
Mrs Thobile Mogale from the department of culture, sports and recreation urged film makers from the Gert Sibande Region to tell stories from the Mpumalanga province and not let people from outside the province come write about the province.
She further promised that in the region they will have a film office where they will be able to assist in giving information and assist in issues film makers are faced with.
Ms Thobile Hlatshwayo, an applications officer at the NFVF ensured that as the national boarding they will communicate further with Mrs Mogale regarding the Film office.
‘’Film to me started on set where I started with continuity and I had to learn the rough way, where I made a lot of mistakes as I constantly used flash while the film was rolling.
I would advise upcoming film makers to learn on set rather than on script or manually as it will help a lot,’’ Said Mzukisi Sengwayo.
Ms Wendy Mlangeni from Standerton, well known as Scavenger in the industry, said she had been on extras for popular TV soaps like Generations and Rhythm City but she felt she didn’t belong.
She further went for a cameo in Ring of Lies and also on Lockdown but she felt she could do better if she were to write scripts.
“After being on extras for so long, I felt I didn’t belong and I did not fit in, so I started paring myself with directors and script writers.
My first project was selected by Basetsana where my script came out no1.
Afterwards, I applied for NFVF Women in film and women in youth where my scripts, were both selected as part of the top 10. From there onwards, I started writing some of my movies which are currently on Showmax.
It is very important to ask for help with such applications as it is not easy. I am very glad that we have formed this group to help one another through this process.
