François Verster
Encyclopedia
François Verster is a South African film director and documentary maker.
He has a wide background in writing, music, academia and film. After completing an MA degree with distinction under literature Nobel Prize
laureate JM Coetzee at the University of Cape Town
, he worked with Barenholtz Productions in New York and as crew member on various independent features. Verster’s acclaimed debut as documentary director/producer was Pavement Aristocrats: The Bergies of Cape Town.
In 1998 Verster formed Undercurrent Film & Television, a Cape Town
-based company that aims to produce quality documentary programmes for local as well as international markets.
After winning several prestigious local and international awards for his documentaries, Verster's A Lion's Trail won the 2006 Emmy Award
, the 'TV Oscars' for most outstanding cultural and artistic programming.
Pavement Aristocrats is a funny and deeply sympathetic look at some of Cape Town's bergie
s.
The Story of « Mbube » and A Lion's Trail track the story of the song “Wimoweh/The Lion Sleeps Tonight
” back to its Zulu composer Solomon Linda
and follows the song's rocky history from South Africa
to Brooklyn and back asking why Linda died penniless and his children live in poverty while American artists made millions off the song. The movie was screened by PBS
and helped Linda's family to find the support to take Disney, which used the song in the movie the Lion King
, to court. In February 2006, Abilene Music, which holds the copyright for “Wimoweh/The Lion Sleeps Tonight
”, settled the case with the Solomon Linda family out of court for an undisclosed sum. In September 2006 A Lion's Trail received the Emmy Award for most outstanding cultural and artistic programming. It is a modern African story of a David and Goliath fight and at the same time a joyful celebration of Solomon Linda's and South African music.
When the War is Over tells a story of two ex-Apartheid activists from the same resistance group who fought for the new democratic South Africa. Their friend has been killed by security police after having been sold out by a police spy within the group. They have won freedom but now they have to make a living in a society which is still haunted by violence, betrayals from the past and poverty. Gori has joined the South African Army
, Marlon has become a gangster. While each of them tries to make sense of his life after the struggle, they manage to maintain a friendship despite the different realities their different “career” choices put them in.
The Mothers' House is a record of four years in the life of Miché, a charming, precocious yet troubled teenage girl growing into womanhood in post-Apartheid South Africa
. Living with her mother and grandmother in Bonteheuwel, a “coloured” township outside Cape Town, she has to face not only life in a community troubled by gangsterism and drug abuse, but also what it means to break the unbearable cycle of emotional and physical violence imprisoning her own family.
He has a wide background in writing, music, academia and film. After completing an MA degree with distinction under literature Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
laureate JM Coetzee at the University of Cape Town
University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...
, he worked with Barenholtz Productions in New York and as crew member on various independent features. Verster’s acclaimed debut as documentary director/producer was Pavement Aristocrats: The Bergies of Cape Town.
In 1998 Verster formed Undercurrent Film & Television, a Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
-based company that aims to produce quality documentary programmes for local as well as international markets.
After winning several prestigious local and international awards for his documentaries, Verster's A Lion's Trail won the 2006 Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
, the 'TV Oscars' for most outstanding cultural and artistic programming.
Themes
Verster's movies have an "undercurrent" theme of social injustice and people picking up the pieces of their lives. He is not an “in and out” filmmaker but builds up a relationship with his protagonists, allowing his audience a very intimate and empathetic look into their hearts and homes. Despite severe budget constraints, Verster documents their lives, often over a number of years, and is involved with his protagonists past and wellbeing as much as with their future.Pavement Aristocrats is a funny and deeply sympathetic look at some of Cape Town's bergie
Bergie
Bergie is a term used for a subsection of homeless people in Cape Town, South Africa. The word originates from the Afrikaans berg meaning "mountain" - the term originally referred to the homeless people who sheltered in the forests of the slopes of Table Mountain...
s.
The Story of « Mbube » and A Lion's Trail track the story of the song “Wimoweh/The Lion Sleeps Tonight
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight", also known as "Wimoweh" and originally as "Mbube", is a song recorded by Solomon Linda and his group The Evening Birds for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. It was covered internationally by many 1950s pop and folk revival artists, including The Weavers,...
” back to its Zulu composer Solomon Linda
Solomon Linda
Solomon Popoli Linda , also known as Solomon Ntsele , was a South African Zulu musician, singer and composer who wrote the song "Mbube" which later became the popular music success "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", and gave its name to the Mbube style of isicathamiya a cappella popularized later by...
and follows the song's rocky history from South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
to Brooklyn and back asking why Linda died penniless and his children live in poverty while American artists made millions off the song. The movie was screened by PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
and helped Linda's family to find the support to take Disney, which used the song in the movie the Lion King
The Lion King
The Lion King is a 1994 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series...
, to court. In February 2006, Abilene Music, which holds the copyright for “Wimoweh/The Lion Sleeps Tonight
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight", also known as "Wimoweh" and originally as "Mbube", is a song recorded by Solomon Linda and his group The Evening Birds for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. It was covered internationally by many 1950s pop and folk revival artists, including The Weavers,...
”, settled the case with the Solomon Linda family out of court for an undisclosed sum. In September 2006 A Lion's Trail received the Emmy Award for most outstanding cultural and artistic programming. It is a modern African story of a David and Goliath fight and at the same time a joyful celebration of Solomon Linda's and South African music.
When the War is Over tells a story of two ex-Apartheid activists from the same resistance group who fought for the new democratic South Africa. Their friend has been killed by security police after having been sold out by a police spy within the group. They have won freedom but now they have to make a living in a society which is still haunted by violence, betrayals from the past and poverty. Gori has joined the South African Army
South African Army
The South African Army is the army of South Africa, first formed after the Union of South Africa was created in 1910.The South African military evolved within the tradition of frontier warfare fought by commando forces, reinforced by the Afrikaners' historical distrust of large standing armies...
, Marlon has become a gangster. While each of them tries to make sense of his life after the struggle, they manage to maintain a friendship despite the different realities their different “career” choices put them in.
The Mothers' House is a record of four years in the life of Miché, a charming, precocious yet troubled teenage girl growing into womanhood in post-Apartheid South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. Living with her mother and grandmother in Bonteheuwel, a “coloured” township outside Cape Town, she has to face not only life in a community troubled by gangsterism and drug abuse, but also what it means to break the unbearable cycle of emotional and physical violence imprisoning her own family.
Filmography
- Pavement Aristocrats (1998) (1999 Avanti Award Best Documentary & Avanti Craft Award)
- The Story of « Mbube » (1999) (TV) (1999 National Television & Video Association Silver Stone & Stone Craft Award)
- The Man who would kill Kitchener (1999) (1999 NTVA Silver Stone & Stone Craft Award) The life of Fritz Joubert Duquesne, a Boer captain and German spy during both world wars, was the subject of this documentary film.
- The Granite War (2000)
- Guilty (2001), (Cinema film) (2002 NTVA Silver Stone & Stone Craft Award)
- A Lion’s Trail (2002) (2006 Emmy Award) (2003 Best Documentary, Portobello) (2003 Silver Dhow, Best Documentary, Zanzibar International Film FestivalZanzibar International Film FestivalThe Zanzibar International Film Festival , also known as Festival of the Dhow Countries, is an annual film festival held in Zanzibar, Tanzania. It has been described as the largest cultural event in East Africa. During the festival, films are shown in Stone Town in Zanzibar City, as well as rural...
) (2003 Special Selection, Parnu) (2003 NTVA Stone & Stone Craft Award)
- When the War is Over (2002) (2004 Best Documentary, Milan African Film Festival) (2003 Best Film, Norwegian Documentary Film Festival) (2003 Signis Award, Zanzibar) (2003 Official Selection, Fespaco) (2003 NTVA Gold Stone & Stone Craft Award) (2002 Official Selection Silver Wolf Competition, Idfa)
- The Mothers' House (2005) (2006 Best Documentary Apollo Film Festival) (2006 Best Documentary Zimbabwe International Film Festival) (Jury's Special Mention, Norwegian Film Festival) (2005 Best Documentary, Cape Town World Cinema Festival)
- Sea Point Days (In production)
- The Dream of Sharazad (In development)