ONE TAKE GRACE

28 July 2023 -28 July 2023 @ 19:00 - 20:00

Details

Date:
July 28, 2023
Time:
07:00 PM - 08:00 PM
Venue:
Rhodes Theatre
Event Type:
Alumni

Organizer

Dr. Alette Schoon
Phone:
046 603 7115
Email:
a.schoon@ru.ac.za

An experimental cinematic portrait of Mothiba Grace Bapela (58), South African mother, grandmother, film & television actor, and former domestic worker for over forty years. Bapela recounts and performs some of her life experiences, observing and absorbing what goes on in the intimacy of other people’s homes and families - ranging from the banal to the macabre - while suppressing her own frustrated desires and trauma. Narrated by Bapela herself, it is the perspective of one who has spent the majority of her life servicing the dreams of others, attempting to use her experiences to break through to her own. Director Lindiwe Matshikiza leads a multidisciplinary creative process in producing this collaboratively-made portrait of the often precarious, sometimes miraculous position of an African female migrant worker. Description:  The collaboration between artist, Lindiwe Matshikiza (39), and actor and community leader, Mothiba Grace Bapela (58) began with the two women meeting as actors on a local film set in 2010. Lindiwe was struck by Mme Bapela’s reflections on her life, and on the conflict of needing steady – if poorly paid – domestic work, alongside the desire to break into a more satisfying though equally problematic, poorly paid and unreliable film and television industry. That first encounter started a process of collaboration lasting over a decade, with Lindiwe following Mme Bapela around - sometimes with the help of friends with equipment, sometimes alone, with whatever was on hand – recording her day-to-day life and past experiences. Through this deeply intimate project, a portrait of both the woman and the country begins to emerge, with certain questions being asked: How are the roles of our dysfunctional society dished out? Who’s doing the casting? What kind of set is this?? Length: 91mins 

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