On the anniversary of the violent Soweto youth uprising of June 16th,1976, an affluent group of adolescent friends living in city of Johannesburg, South Africa are startled by the live-streamed suicide of a young girl in her parents' family home. A year and some months after the incident, two disillusioned new generation Zulu youths, Jabz and his best friend September, rummage through the sleepy manicured northern suburbs of Johannesburg in search of answers, drugs, distraction and salvation. The suicide stained their youth forcing them to examine the city that surrounds them as well as their own lives. Under the hood of Jabz's fathers sleek new black jaguar, the two boys attempt to reacquaint themselves with the carefree hopefulness of their high school years. Jabz realising that the passionate Johannesburg he remembered existing not so long ago has slowly shifted into the visage of a conflict zone in his mind. Desperately desiring a sense of rhythm in the world, Jabz attempts to connect the dots. Somehow trying to make sense of why the friends he loves need to die. Jabz finds less redemption as the wheels of the car roll on, painting a portrait of the new South Africa that shakes him out of his usual ecstasy. In a city still divided by an Apartheid legacy, the boys exchange their realities for hedonistic relief. Somewhere in the north are beautiful girls and moments much better that tower over the silent anguish that threatens to engulf them. With a bottle, a pack of cigarettes and their parents platinum American Express, the boys attempt to find the loving humanity buried under the stacks of mini malls and dilapidated buildings that decorate their scenario.
A film by Sibs Shongwe-La Mer,
2015, South Africa / Netherlands, Drama, 93 min
starring Bonko Khoza, Sibs Shongwe-La Mer, Colleen Balchin, Kamogelo Moloi, Emma Tollman, Jonathan Young, Kelly Bates, Ricci-Lee Kalish, Giovanna Winetzki
DIRECTOR Sibs Shongwe-La Mer
CAST Bonko Khoza Sibs Shongwe-La Mer Colleen Balchin Kamogelo Moloi Emma Tollman Jonathan Young Kelly Bates Ricci-Lee Kalish Giovanna Winetzki
Anyone who grows up in Sandton spends a lot of time hanging out at pools and drug-filled parties - for this part of Johannesburg is the richest spot in the whole of Africa. NECKTIE YOUTH portrays this first post-apartheid gilded youth in striking black-and-white. Soft colours are reserved for their childhood memories of the early years of the rainbow nation. White 19-year-old Emily did not understand the codes of their set and could not take the pace of the ever-changing, fleeting liaisons, says the super cool, black and privileged September when he tries to explain to a TV reporter why Emily hung herself in her parents' garden. She even positioned her camera in such a way that her suicide could be streamed live. In his film - in which he also plays a leading role - filmmaker and multimedia artist Sibs Shongwe-La Mer portrays a world in South Africa he knows like the back of his hand, a world where Mandela is now only a gold-framed icon. In today's Johannesburg this icon collides with reality: it is no longer a question of the conflict between black and white, instead confrontation plots a rapid zigzag course, moulding the dreams and excesses of young people of every colour. Source: www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/2015/02_programm_2015/02_Filmdatenblatt_2015_201502894.php
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Wer in Sandton aufwächst, verbringt viel Zeit in Pools und auf drogen-beflügelten Partys, dieser Stadtteil von Johannesburg ist das reichste Fleckchen Afrikas. NECKTIE YOUTH porträtiert diese erste post-Apartheid jeunesse dorée in grellem Schwarz-Weiß, die soften Farben sind ihren Kindheitserinnerungen aus den frühen Jahre der Regenbogen -nation vorbehalten. Emily, 19, weiß, hat die Codes dieser Szene nicht begriffen und das Tempo schnell wechselnder Verbindlichkeiten nicht ausgehalten, meint der ultra-coole September, schwarz und privilegiert, als er versucht, einer TV-Reporterin zu erklären, warum sich Emily im elterlichen Garten aufgehängt und ihre Kamera so positioniert hat, dass der Selbstmord live gestreamt wurde. Der Filmemacher und Multimediakünstler Sibs Shongwe-La Mer zeigt in seinem Film - mit sich selbst in einer Hauptrolle - eine ihm bestens vertraute südafrikanische Szene, für die Mandela nur mehr eine gold -gerahmte Ikone ist. In der Gegenwart prallt sie auf eine Realität, in der die Konfrontation nicht mehr zwischen Weiß und Schwarz verläuft, sondern in einem rasanten Zickzack-Parcours, auf dem jugendliche Träume von Exzessen jeglicher Couleur geprägt werden.
2015, Südafrika/Niederlande, 86 Min. · DCP · Schwarz-Weiß & Farbe
Regie, Buch Sibs Shongwe-La Mer
Kamera Chuanne Blofield
Schnitt Matthew Swanepoel
Sound Design Janno Muller
Ton Justin Shepperson
Production Design Ronmari Van Tonder
Kostüm Tamsyn Hobbs
Maske Tamsyn Hobbs
Regieassistenz Cole Matthews
Produzenten Elias Ribeiro, John Trengove
Co-Produzenten Nicole Kitt, Gijs Kerbosh, Roel Oude Nijhuis, Gijs Determeijer und Sibs Shongwe-La Mer, Kabeer Shaik, Maurice Turk
Darsteller Bonko Khoza (Jabz) Sibs Shongwe-La Mer (September) Colleen Balchin (Tanya) Kamogelo Moloi (Bogosi) Emma Tollman (Nikki) Jonathan Young (Travis) Kelly Bates (Emily) Ricci-Lee Kalish (Rafi) Giovanna Winetzki (Tali)
Alcuni ragazzi della prima generazione libera del Sudafrica cercano di dare un senso all'ambiente in cui vivono, a se stessi e agli altri, nel giorno dello Youth Day (festa nazionale).
di Sibs Shongwe-La Mer Sudafrica, 86', Fiction
Produzione: Elias Ribeiro, John Trengove (Urucu Media, Johannesburg)
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