We are a team of five passionate & inspired student filmmakers at the University of Cape Town making our final graduation film, There’s Still Good. We are looking for investment in our film so that we can share the important story it tells with South Africa & the rest of the world. Our dreams and passion have brought us this far, your investment can take us further.
There’s Still Good
“There is never a single story”
This is a film about the danger of a singe story, exploring how the fear of difference complicates relationships in contemporary South Africa.
Synopsis:
Will is a young, black architecture student living in Cape Town. He and his white boyfriend, K, travel to the suburbs for the weekend so that he can meet K’s mother. An awkward dinner forces the characters to interrogate their dependence on stereotypes as a means of understanding each other.
Our Message:
“The single story creates stereotypes and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue but rather that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.”
– Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Right now in South Africa, we are at a space where we’re not sure what we can say or who we can be because we’re constantly being labeled and placed in boxes. There’s Still Good broadens the discussion about how we perceive and understand each other, and points to our dependence on stereotypes as our only source for knowledge of others. The film explores these issues by presenting a slice of life in contemporary South Africa, and appealing to human feelings of frustration, love and fear. The film seeks to create the opportunity for self-reflection and the acknowledgement of how we look at those who are different from ourselves.
Our message is simple: there is never a single story. We need to realise the importance of an intersectional approach to dealing with the multitude of identities that coexist in today’s South Africa.
We are people. We can’t be boxed.
About Us:
Ciaran Maidwell, Writer & Director
Ciaran is a third year Screen Production student at the University of Cape Town. His passion for film was cemented in 2013 when he attended a Film and Arts program at the University of California Los Angeles via the People to People Leadership Ambassador Program. Additionally, he majors in English Literature and drinks an exceptional amount of tea. Having experimented with cinematography as the DOP for La Douleur Equise, an experimental short film about unrequited love selected for the short film corner at the “All Lights India International Film Festival”, Ciaran infuses both technical knowledge and practical impossibility into his writing and directing of There’s Still Good. He aims to create a film that is both honest and relatable in terms of character and situation, a film that communicates directly to people who don’t often see their stories onscreen.
Erin Macpherson, Director of Photograpy & Editor
Erin is a student from the university of Cape Town who is in her third year of Screen Production and Gender Studies. Her love for film stems from a young age, wherein she coerced her childhood friends to dress up extravagantly and film improvised skits with her, pro Bono. her choice to embark on a project like “There’s Still Good” is fueled by her passion for telling authentic stories, especially regarding the lives of authentic people whose voices have historically been marginalised in the media. In addition, much like Ciaran, she too drinks an exceptional amount of tea.
Daniel Ndevu, Producer
Daniel studies Screen Production at the University of Cape Town. A creative at heart, Daniel has difficulty limiting his interest to one field. It is thus with producing that he finds fulfillment and involvement in all areas of the film, from beginning to end. “There’s Still Good” holds particular resonance to Daniel, who was born to a white mother and a black father. The intersection of race difference and homosexuality have therefore been real issues that he has dealt with through his own life, and he is able to bring his experiences to the film. Unlike Ciaran and Erin, Daniel prefers double-shot lattes; these maintain his stress levels.
Kiara Ramklass & Thandie Ndebele, Art Directors
Project Information:
There’s Still Good is a final graduation film for the University of Cape Town. Principle photography is scheduled to take place over two weeks in mid-September 2016. Our University-allocated budget is R8 000, falling short by 50% of what we’d need in order to make our film truly spectacular. Most of the budget is needed for Production and Art departments (see budget below) and is thus needed for principle photography. Post-production will be carried over a period of a month, seeing the film’s private debut in late October.
Dates
Principle Photography – begins September 9th
Post Production – begins September 19th
Film Submission – October 17th
We are a team of five passionate & inspired student filmmakers at the University of Cape Town making our final graduation film, There’s Still Good. We are united in our belief that film should represent diverse identities in equal and authentic means. Our love for film and our passion for defying the hegemony has solidified our bond as both filmmakers and as friends.