Media Flaws

There I was crawling on the red carpet whilst ultimately ascending on the heavenly stairs of Artscape. At the top I’m swooned with a glass of champagne as I turn to catch a bird’s eye view of the next red carpet victims; needless to say they literally plied me with champagne the whole night. I think they were trying to keep me bubbly – bubbliness which came handy when I was bored stiff of low-self-esteemed film-maker-wannabees and chit-chat about film noir, visual aesthetics, cinema vérité, cinematography and the latest 3ccd camera, etcetera.

This year Sithengi outdid itself (as usual) and treated everyone like royalty. The likes of David Kramer, Dali Mpofu, Mary Watson and more schelebs mingled in-and-amongst us normal beings, until we were carpeted off to the main opera theatre to preview the latest Tsotsi-to-be South African film: Bunny Chow.

Whilst getting seated I readied myself for a nightmare of long speeches as the sex-show host and ‘O’ editor, Kgomotso Matsunyane, MC’ed this event. Once again I was proved wrong, as the speakers kept it under 5 minutes. Heck even the minister of Arts and Culture, Dr. Zweledinga Jordan, kept it short.

Directed by John Barker and acted out by the usual Pure Monate Show suspects - Kagiso Lediga, Joey Rasdien, Kim Engelbrecht and so forth; this movie is about a group of three wet-behind-the-ear comedians who embark on a roadtrip to Oppikoppi - to get drunk, high, laid and paid. I could have enjoyed this film more if I hadn’t touched the champagne earlier. Erm, er... the lack of colour and extreme close-ups were a bit irritating at times, but the presence of comedians and a few stand-up comedy scenes guaranteed a lack of dull moments. Then there was a point where the ‘F’ word became the common lexicon of each script-page; but that didn’t last long enough to even unnerve Dr. (Pallo) Jordan.

I remember having the same feeling when Tsotsi premiered and it could be another sign that South African film producers have finally grasped the concept of proliferating good movies.

As the credits rolled, guests were invited to feast on bunny chows. Imagine everyone in their almost-formal wear carrying half a loaf of bread stuffed with meat and curry. Bunny Chow! In cinemas from February 2007. Or if you don’t mind venturing off to the townships you can catch three more previews, this weekend only, at: Zolani in Nyanga, Luyolo in Gugulethu and Alliance Francaise in Mitchell’s Plain.