A captivating view of the indomitable spirit if one of the world’s most fascinating figures, this full-length documentary follows Nelson Mandela from his early days and tribal education to his election as South Africa’s first black president. Providing insights into his early life, the film takes us through Mandela’s childhood, adolescence, career in law and first marriage. “Mandela” is an absorbing look at the courageous life, tribulations and fortitude of Mandela the leader, while never forgetting the engaging and charismatic spirit of Mandela the man, as seen through exclusive interviews and narration from Mandela himself.

Please join us at Union Docs on the 19th!

Now I am reading Joseph Lelyveld’s Pulitzer Prize winning book on South Africa, Move Your Shadow, originally published in 1985. It opens with this terrifying extract from J.D. Bold’s Fanagalo Phrase Book, Grammar and Dictionary, the Lingua Franca of Southern Africa, 10th Edition, 1977. Fanagalo is a pidgin amalgam of Zulu, English and Afrikaans and was mainly used for communication in South Africa’s mines but according to this phrase book it can also be put to great use in a racist game of golf!

Wena azi lo golof? Mina hayifuna lo mampara mfan.
Have you caddied before? I don’t want a useless boy.
Tata lo saka gamina.
Take my bag of clubs.
Tata mabol, yena doti. Susa yena nga lo manzi.
These balls are dirty. Clean them with water.
Muhle wena tula loskati lo-mlungu ena beta lo bol.
You must be quiet when my partner plays a shot.
Tula!
Be quiet.
Noko wena lahlega lo futi bol, hayikona mali.
If you lose another ball, there will be no tip for you.
Susa lo-mtunzi gawena. Hayikona shukumisa lo saka.
Move your shadow. Don’t rattle the bag.

Anyway, blah blah blah, I haven’t formulated these ideas very clearly yet but I am feeling very excited and inspired about plans for Shooting People and for my own work.

And I am going to learn Xhosa! I said it last year and did bugger all about it but I really want to do it.

And you know how I love my photos so here are a few random pics from my trip – mainly taken in the Kruger Park and the Eastern Cape – and many taken by my marvelous sister and her marvelous new digital camera.

Elephant by the side of the road in Kruger

Impala Lilies in Letaba Camp

Giraffe munching

We saw lion three times this trip which was very exciting

Handsome old Baobab tree

Giraffe sculptures in Olifants Camp

Zebedee!

Me running down a dune in the Eastern Cape (running up and down sand dunes is one of my very favorite things in life)

Naboom – these plants cover the hillsides and I think they’re very poisonous but they’re so beautiful

Weird mushrooms on Hogsback Mountain – where everything is Tolkien-related and the liquor store is called The Ring!

Donkey cart (I love this picture because of the beautiful trees)

I did a lot of sitting and looking – the Peter Biskind book on my lap didn’t get read very much!

The wonderful Keiskamma Art Project in the Eastern Cape. You can read more about the amazing work The Keiskamma Trust does in the fields of art and health here: www.keiskamma.orgThere is also a lovely documentary I saw about it that just played at the Encounters Festival in South Africa called “Keiskamma – A Story of Love” by Miki Redelinghuys. I highly recommend tracking it down.

Beautiful things for sale in the Keiskamma shop.

This vervet monkey chased me into the house. It is humiliating to be chased by a small monkey. I know that now.

Vultures on a tree at dusk. Later we watched these vultures fight with two hyenas over an elephant carcass.

An elephant right by the side of the road in Addo Elephant Park.

A giraffe crossing the road in front of us in the Kruger National Park.

Zebedees in Kruger.

This was taken in Franschoek in the wine region near Cape Town. The town is ridiculously beautiful and the wine flows freely which is never a bad thing.

Ok, that’s it with the fun and games. Next post will be back to the gritty business of film. No monkeys.