Cape Town filmmaker Weaam Williams is back with her latest offering, The Rise, which she will showcase to a local audience this weekend before she takes it to the international screens.
The award-winning writer and director with her cinematographer husband, Nafia Kocks, teamed up to create her latest feature documentary, which was five years in the making.
The Rise tells the story of Bo-Kaap via the intersecting journeys of four mense who are activists and share their story of community, identity and access to land pre-, during and post-Covid 19.
Williams emphasised that the film is not another historical documentary: “The film captures Bo-Kaap in its celebratory mode and at its lowest moments during the pandemic.
“The key protagonists in the film add further insights into the gender challenges faced by women and the class struggle within the community.”
Williams’ maternal family hails from District Six and her paternal family from Bo-Kaap, which gave her the insight she needed to unearth the hidden gems found within these close-knit communities.
She explained: “While it became clear to me growing up, that my mother’s family had lost their sense of place in District Six, Bo-Kaap for me is a place of childhood magic and wonder.
For Williams, her childhood and traditions play a large part in executing a perfectly balanced storyline, giving first-hand detail on the experience of growing up in a Cape Malay community.
“I am particularly emotional to have arrived at finishing the film,” she said.
“It was not an easy task undertaking principle photography during Covid and trying to fund-raise for a project during a period when there was very little funding available for films.
“As with many of my projects, there have been several re-cuts, revisits and new insights into editing over a long period of time.
“However, I eventually needed to have closure on this film.
“There were times when I believed it to be complete and then changed my mind and revisited the material.
“In essence I am sharing the film publicly for the first time, before participating in film festivals.”
The Rise will be showcased at the Robben Island Museum, V&A Waterfront at 4pm on August 12.
Tickets to the event cost R100 and is available to purchase on: https://tribalalchemy.carrd.co/#work.
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