23 Jun 2024

Director of Television Academy, a Botswana Ignite programme, Pat van Heerden says they will have more master classes under the Botswana Ignite project.

Speaking in an interview during the cinematography master class on Friday, he said the classes were one of the many scheduled to take place.

“We at Botswana Ignite are going to try to do master classes as much as possible once a month,” she said, adding that they would engage masters with a depth of experience particularly in Africa.

The master classes are open to all creative, not just students of television academy under the Botswana Ignite project. They are open to all, but it restricted to a number of applicants who responded to the invite after applying,” said van Heerden who explained that a big number of people have shown interest.

He said they had to restrict numbers due to small seating of the venue.

“We turned away many people, there were 270 people who wanted to come but we only have a seating for 160 of the BTV auditorium,” she said.

He said another master class would be in three weeks’ time, and would be advertised on Botswana Ignite website.

“It will be about music composing for film and we will also have a master class for editing,” she said. She encouraged people to visit the website for more information.

Meanwhile, local filmmaker Samuel Ngwenya said sessions such as these motivated the creative and encourages them to work. “I wish we could have more of these possibly monthly.

It helps us appreciates the experience of others who been in the game for a long time and their challenges in the industry,” he said.

Ngwenya said as a country still finding its space in the film industry, sessions like these were critical for the growth of the industry.

“We are still at the beginning stage, we have a few picture films and television dramas. And we want to reach the level of other countries such as South Africa where they have several productions on various streaming channels,’ he said.

He said with more of these master classes Botswana could also be among the countries with productions streaming in channels such as Netflix.

Furthermore, Ngwenya applauded Botswana Ignite project saying it was a positive step in the right direction for the local industry.

He said with all levels of productions involved in the project, Botswana film industry would grow to greater heights and more quality productions would be delivered to the audience.

Cinematographer Jonathan Kovel advised filmmakers who attended the master class to understand the science and engineering of the camera as well as the art and fashion of the film set concept in order to create a quality cinematography.

He said it was important for cinematographers to create pictures that tell a story without having volume and to understand the story through imagery.

Explaining the difference between theatre and film, Kovel said there was a huge difference as theatre was about performance on stage and audience, while film was about camera and creating shots and pictures for the screen.

‘On stage, the play is about dialogues and small location with audience engaging, and for film images are created to tell a story,” Kovel said.

Kovel is an experienced cinematographer who created visual stories such as Anikulapo, a Netflix feature film that was number one on the platform shortly after release launch.

He has also shot for Showmax, SABC/PBS, Amazon as well as USA and UK broadcasters. ENDS