Some of Ugu Film Festival Faces!

Some of the faces you will see in our festival!

Summer Of Love Film Submission

Closed in one time and place, this “love story” is about decisions which, once made, become irreversible. A boy rents a wooden cabin in the mountains for his beautiful girlfriend and it becomes a place of her 'summer of love'.

Employee Of The Day Film Submission

In a world of mass consumption, overstimulation and performance pressure three people follow their day by day routine. Two of them work on an assembly line. Two of them share a secret. Two of them are part of the show. Only one can become EMPLOYEE OF THE DAY. This is short animated film directed Alexander Isert & Christoph Kellner

Psychic Sue Film Submission

EN: “Speak not. For I am nearing the threshold of hte worlds!” Sue works as psychic to prey on believers in the afterlife. Her show has some flaws. Imagine her shock when she discovers that ghosts can indeed appear to the living! Time to consult a real medium! DE: “Scheweige still, denn ich betrete die schelle der Welten!” Sue arbeitet as Medium. Um Leichgloubige abzuzocken. Lhre Masche weist Mangel ouf. Stellf euch ihren Schreck vor, als sie entdeckt. Dass Geister wirklich den Lebenden erscheinen! Hochste Zeit, ein echltes Medium aufzusuchen!

Blue Jeans Film Submission

When Krishna(Kris) is out on a date with his girlfriend Garima, he finds his manhood challenged when she openly admires another guys fashion sense and taunts him to do better. Worried about Garima dumping him, Kris consults his friend Madhumita about the situation. Kris decides to get fashionable to impress Garima. Things take a turn for the worse……………

SPOTLIGHT ON PALM TO THE SUN FILM

Duduzile Mpase had a chat with the Director of Palm To The Sun film. Q: Please introduce yourself and your role in the Palms To The Sun film. A: I am a director of Palm To The Sun film,Tomohiko Iwasaki. I was born in Tokyo in 1966. I started making films when I was in high school. Q: Have you produced any other films besides this one? I made about 20 pcs of films,most of them are shorts. This is my first feature. Q: Who wrote the story? What inspired the writer to write this story? How long did it take to write it? A: I wrote the story and there was no obvious inspiration to write it. It took me about two months to write it. Q: Do people in your country support their local films? Do they like going to the cinemas? A: Many friends of mine like Japanese films. But,Most of Japanese don't go to cinema so often.Top answer　to the question "How many times do you go to Cinema in a year"is one!People rather like Japanese movies than foreign ones.Many of hem are continuous from TV show and based on comics. Japanese films are not supported so well,most of them are in low budget. Q: Do you think there is a room for South African films in your country? Which film genres do you think are popular with your country's audiences? A: I must admit that I don't know your country well. But, I like Neill Blomkamp　who directed "District 9" and "Chappy". Many people like them.I like Denmark Western "The Salvation” Mads Mikkelsen stars,shooted in South Africa.I think the beautiful and wild scenery in SA is great for film shoots. Q: Please tell us about your challenges/problems when you were making the film. A: There were few staffs.In first three days,only me and Akira Nobi,Director of Photography.Just two of us! After that, an assistant director joined in,but we were always arguing because of terrible staff work.But at last we made good friendship. I found that number of casts are over 50 people at last.We were just like shepherds. Q: Please share with us your funniest moments on set of Palms To The Sun. A: The scene main character Yoshio drunk. The puppet,Corona pesters Yoshio. Kota Fudauchi,roll of Yoshio,acted only by himself,just like two people arguing. Most of his idea. Q: Who selected your cast? A: I did, for the most part but some of them were introduced by Kota Fudauchi and Allen Ai (heroin). Q: Why did you decide to work in the film industry? When did you start? Did you have support and understanding from your family or not? Do you have formal training? A: I am independent film maker. After 1970's, Studio System in Japan collapsed. There were no obvious way to work for film industry in late 80's when I graduated University. Most of the director after that is from independent. I shot some shorts for TV program and received awards. My parents don't understand my filming. I don't have formal training. Q: Are you coming to SA for our Ugu Film Festival? A: Yes, I am planning to go to SA for UGUFF! It is my first trip to the African Continent. It takes almost 24 hours by air. I want to learn much about culture in SA. The Ugu Film Festival would like to thank Tomohiko Iwasaki. for sharing his story, we all look forward to hosting him!

PALM TO THE SUN FILM SUBMISSION

All the way from Tokyo, Japan and Tomohiko Iwasaki is the film that you don’t have to miss. Yoshio was social withdrawal in his boyhood, but one day he was attracted to puppet theater came to his elementary school, then he turned to be a groupie of the theater. Later, the theater was shut down, Yoshio was given a puppet of main character named “Corona”. He could speak well when he grabbed the puppet, so he started social life. He became familiar with the society, he learned skill of presentation、negotiation, party talk and so on. But he was always feel lonely. One day, he met a woman puppet in her hand like him. He felt love and try to date with her.

SPOTLIGHT ON THE FILM "CANDELA"

Ugu Film Festival's Duduzile Mpase interviews the producer of "Candela"

Q: Who are you and what is  your  background? 

A:  (As  a  film  producer) I'm  a  composer,  writer,  producer  and  manager  of  Tear  Blue  Productions,  a  Film  Production Company  based  in  Valencia  (Spain)  and  Calendula  Studios,  a  small  subsidiary  of  Blue  Tear.  I compose  music  for  musicals,  films,  TV  and  songs  and  lyrics  for  singers.  I  write  stories  for  both film  and  theater. Always  I've  been  fall  in  love  with  music,  so  my  parents  encouraged  me  to  study  music.  I  studied music  theory,  harmony  and  Solfeo  at  the  Conservatoire  of  Music  of  Valencia,  classical  piano  and guitar  at  a  Private  Music  School.  I  studied  Arts  and  Literature  at  the  High  School  and  I  attended at several writing workshops. Also I studied Computer Science at University of Valencia.

Q: Why  did you decide to  produce  Candela?

A: Candela  was born  at  a  lunch.  The  director  Manuel  Camacho  and  I  already  knew  each  other  a  few years  ago,  because  we  joined  together  on  the  production  of  a  music  video.  Following  that,  we used  to  meet occasionally  for  coffee  and  talked  about  movies.  That  day  Manuel  commented me that  he  was  quite  overworked,  and  he  had  to  deliver  various  projects  and  did  not  have  enough time  to  prepare  all.  One  project  was  to  write  a  script  for  a  short  film  about  time  travels,  my weakness!  so  I  offered  to  help  him.  He  accepted  and  I  began  to  develop  the  idea  of  Candela.  I was  so  excited  with  the  history  that  finally  I  developed  it  as  a  feature  film,  not  short. When  Manuel  read  the  script,  he  liked  it  so  much  and  told  me  "we  must  to  shoot  this".  I  was delighted and from then on, we decided to create Blue Tear Producciones and shoot Candela.

Q: Did  you  have  a  budget?

A: No,  indeed  not.  We  had  never  shot  a  film  like  this.  I  started  to  raise a  budget.  It  took  me  two weeks.  There  were  many  sets,  actresses  and  actors,  extras,  technical  team...  This  project  was not  economically  feasible  in  Valencia.  I  talked with  Carmen Blanco, manager of Teatrola Musical, based in  Murcia (Spain).  I  had  already  made “Make a wish:  The Musical” with her. We had a long meeting.  I  showed  her  the  screenplay  and  she  liked  it.  Murcia  was  the  perfect  place  to  shoot Candela.  Teatrola  Musical  disposed  all  the  resources  available  to  reach  the  project  forward  and finally both Companies decided to bear the cost.

Q: Who do you think  helped  you  the  most to  make  this  film  happen?

A: Certainly  Carmen  Blanco  was  the  light  at  the  end  of  the  tunnel!  She  and  Teatrola  Musical  were our  unique  and  very  supportive.  Very  professional  and  I  very  much  enjoyed  working  with  her. Also  she's  a  great  actress  (she  plays  Paqui's  character  in  Candela).  It  was  a  hard  project  but Carmen  with  her  energy  and  enthusiasm  caught  in  and  filled  us  with  optimism  and  desire  to work.

Q: Have  you  screened  Candela  anywhere  else?

A: We  premiered  Candela  at  Murcia  Francisco  Rabal’s  Film  Library  on  December  27,  2014  in  a private screening for actress, actors, technical team and press.

Q: How long  did it  take  you  to  film  it?

A: Filming  took  us  three  months.  When  shooting  was  finished,  I  spent  a  month  assembling  the footage.  The  first  cut  of  the  film  lasted  almost  three  hours!  Luckily,  Manuel  Camacho  was  the master  key  to  lead  and  guide  us,  leaving  the  film  in  an  hour  and  fifty-three  minutes  and  having to  sacrifice  some very  intimate  scenes,  but  after  all, expendable.  Finally,  the  color correcting  was conducted by Alicia Bel, following the instructions  of Manuel,  gave the whole film a gradual color tone from the coldest to the warmest. Six months of hard work.

Q:  Please  share  your  funniest  moments  on  Candela  set.

A: We  were  rehearsing  how  it  was  going  to  be  a  scene  which  Bea  (Angie  Alma)  is  talking  on  the phone with her friend Sandra (Marta Lopez), hallway up and down. The director was giving some advice  to  Angie  and  she  used  her  hand  like  a  phone.  It  was  time  to  shoot  and  Angie  continued with  her  hand  like  a  phone.  Some  of  us  realized,  though  nobody  dared  to  cut  or  say  anything. Until  finally  Manuel,  was  fixed  and  stopped  the  shooting.  The  look  of  wonder  on  Angie's  face was  surprising.

Carmen  Blanco  plays  the  role  of  alcoholic  mother.  In  one  scene,  he  had  to  be  drinking  beer  and smoking  a  lot.  Carmen  is  a  non-smoker  and  non-drinker  and  also  we  were  wrong  with  beer  and brought  it  to  her  with  alcohol.  After  several  takes,  Carmen  became  ill  from  smoke  and  alcohol, but  endured  to  the  end.

The  nightclub  scene  was  one  of  the  most  fun  to  shoot,  but  also  the  most  exhausting.  Imagine having  to  mobilize  and  coordinate  a  hundred  people  to  dance,  laugh,  drink,  and  have  fun...  That night  we  finished  filming  at  five  o'clock,  very  tired.  We  were  scheduled  to  start  shooting  at  eight o'clock  the  next  morning.  I  don't  think  anyone  was  submitted,  except  Marta  Villa  (Candela),  -she does not appear in the nightclub scene-. She was fresh as a daisy... and alone.

Q: If  you  could  work  with  any  other  film  maker  in  the  world,  who  would  it  be  and  why?

A:  If  I  would  have  to  choose one,  he would be Steven Spielberg.  I  see  him  as a  lay person, very  near and  a  good  professional  with  a  lot  of  imagination.  I  think  he  must  be  an  organized  and  creative person.  He  enjoys  making  films  and  that  is  shown  in  them.  I've  seen  the  most  of  his  films,  as  a director or as a producer. Really I enjoy  all of them.

Q: Which  languages  do  you  speak? Spanish, English (I read and write better than I speak) and Catalan.

Q: What  does  this  film  mean  to  you?

A:  It's  a  very  special  film  for  me  because  Candela  is  a  very  human  story  that  talks  about  feelings, how  we  get  attached  to someone,  the  maturity  process  in  adolescence,  self-improvement, second  chances...  Some are  memories  of  my  own life.  For  example,  when  I  was  a  child  I  was  afraid of what could happen if  my parents  were to die  and  I  was  alone.  Candela  feels  something  similar.  The  film  is  the  real  life with  a  touch  of  imagination.

Ugu Film Festival team would like to thank José for sharing his story. We are film makers and it is stories like these that inspire us and keep us going!