1. What was the inspiration behind the film?
I was rereading a lot of Jack Kerouac around the time when we had to start writing the scripts, doing research for a roadtrip film. And when the roadtrip film fell through, I didn't know what to write about. But I remembered being really taken by the jazz sequences in On the Road, and I started thinking about telling a story involving jazz. So for me the first place that came to mind was Sophiatown, and soon I was reading Hugh Masakela's autobiography, and Jurgen Schadeberg's photographs of the time. So the story grew out of a combination of these two sources, the beat poetry and energy of Kerouac, and the madness of the time.
2. Is it a film with a message?
I hope so. It's definitely not a message film, but I hope the audience take something from the story that can enrich them. I don't really know what the exact message is, there are things in there that are personal to me, and I hope these themes come through, but the message will probably be individual to whoever the film touches.
There's a quote by Jack Kerouac, which inspired the title of the film, and it might come closer to defining the message of the film than I really know how. "A gang of colored women came by, and one of the young ones detached herself from motherlike elders and came to me fast - »Hello Joe!» - and suddenly saw it wasn't Joe, and ran back, blushing. I wished I were Joe. I was only myself, Sal Paradise, sad, strolling in this violet dark, this unbearably sweet night, wishing I could exchange worlds with the happy, true-hearted, ecstatic Negroes of America."
3. To that extent, are Harry's experiences an allegory for life?
I hope so. Obviously, a short film can never capture what LIFE means, and it will always remain a heightened reproduction of it, but if it can capture some magic of real life, I guess we were pretty damn successful.
4. What was the most exciting part of the making of this film?
Working with the band was really exciting. I've never had any of my films scored, so to be in a professional recording studio with such brilliant and talented musicians and a crazy Eric Clapton like producer, me standing in the middle watching the screen and conducting the band on which marks to hit, that was amazing.
For our exterior scenes, we took over a street in Joe Slovo township for a night. Most of the residents came out to watch us work, and the energy and excitement, and rush to get things done, was one of the wilder days of the shoot.
We also broke a bottle over an actor's head, and we only had one sugar bottle, so we rehearsed and rehearsed the shot endlessly, but when it was finally time to take the shot, the tension was incredible. And it went off just fine, me spinning around and asking Bevan (the cinematographer) how it looked. With everyone there, holding their breaths, he said it was perfect. But afterwards he secretly told me that the track was bumped during the shot, so suddenly there was all this tension over whether the shot would come out at all. And then, after weeks of waiting for telecine, it turned out that the shot was just fine.
5. What did you use as a reference to depict the world of this film?
Jurgen Schadeberg took amazing photographs of Sophiatown, and he was one of our main sources for the accuracy of the period. I'd also spoken with him over email, because there was such a lack of photographs from the shebeens, so that helped flesh out the period even more.
I read a lot of the drum writer's short stories, and that along with Hugh Masakela's writing also helped. Visual inspiration came from all over however, I have hundreds of references and I can't remember where I got nearly half of them. And then every department also come with their own references, so sometimes it can get quite messy trying to define your visual style. But I think we have a very consistent film visually.
Films that brought inspiration were Y tu mamá también (for the shot design), this one single scene that I had seen from a film called Werckmeister Harmonies , and then some short films from the fifties, one by Robert Frank and Jack Kerouac called Pull my Daisy, and Desistfilm by Stan Brakhage, which inspired most of the fight sequence near the end of the film. I'd watched South African films for references as well, but after seeing Drum I knew immediately that our film would have to be different, and the faux-Hollywood African style was not what we wanted to do at all.
6. What's your favorite scene of the film and why?
There are sections in the dancing sequence that are really great, when the music is in full swing and the audience are going wild. Some of that is really beautiful, and it was one of those things where the image and the music combined did something more than you expected they would when they were still separate. I really love the scene between Harry and the tenorman, when Harry gets chased out the shebeen, and I wish there was more time in the film to explore that relationship. I also get goosebumbs whenever the police enter the shebeen.
7. As a director are you more interested in watching and making avant-garde films or commercially driven blockbusters?
I don't think I'm really interested in making either. I enjoy commercially driven blockbusters, some of them are so great, and I think this class division between the art film and the commercial film is silly. The only division for me is between good film and bad film, and both these sectors make bad films a plenty. I think it would be really hard to make blockbusters here in South Africa, and I'm generally more inclined towards smaller films anyway, so I guess you could bracket me with the avant-garde films.
8. As a writer-director, which aspect of filmmaking do you enjoy most? And do you see yourself directing films from other writers?
There's stuff from all the aspects of filmmaking that I enjoy, but I guess at the moment my favourite time is post-production. That's where the real magic happens, where you have to lie, steal and cheat to squeeze every last emotion and possibility out of the footage you have. I think I'd enjoy shooting films more once I reach the big time, but I end up doing so many little jobs on set where needed, that I don't spend as much time as I'd like directing the film.
I'd really like to direct the work of other writers, if there was ever a script that interested me. It's really painful to write a script, and I don't enjoy it much. Hopefully, someday a really talented writer will just hand me the perfect script.
9. With modern technology now taking people out of movie theaters and into their homes, do you still go and watch movies at the theaters?
I love watching films in the theaters, there is something so good about being forced to sit and watch the film through, not having the option to pause or rewind, or watch the rest of the film later. By seeing it this way the first time, the full force of the director's vision comes through best. Something about watching films at home make you lazy, and it feels as if people don't engage with and participate in the film as strongly as they would having seen it at home.
10. Is there a directors career that you would like to emulate? If so, who would it be?
I don't know, any director really who started out small and ended up super successful. There are many filmmakers that I look up to, but I'm not really sure I want to emulate them, even if I could. I just have to plot my own way.
11. Do you intend on moving into television, film, or advertising? And Why?
I intend on moving into film. It would kill me to work in television, and although I would enjoy advertising if I get to direct great adverts (like the Xbox ads), it's a long road to get anywhere near those productions, and I might as well spend that time being a filmmaker. Hopefully, once I make it as a film director, I'll get offered great adverts to direct anyway.
12. Have you got your next project lined up? Or are you going to take a break for a while?
I have a film concept that I hope to turn into my first feature film, but I think I need a break for now, so I'm planning to go the England, work there and see more of the world. Hopefully, after a year or two, I can come back with enough money to take six months and write the film.
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