A budding Centane filmmaker who grew up in the dusty village of Qoboqobo, and was only ever able to watch television at a neighbour’s home, envisioned his name one day appearing in the credits on the big screen.
Odwa Kolwane, 25, has now fulfilled his dream, having written and directed his film, Side Effects, which is on Showmax.
At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Kolwane, a film and television graduate from Tshwane University of Technology who is now completing his honours, saw how underprivileged people struggled to make ends meet.
Many people lost their jobs, the scourge of gender-based violence increased, and others lost their lives.
He wrote the script in a month, and shot it in Soweto in Johannesburg in only two days in 2021.
The film, he said, was aimed at encouraging people to be kinder to and more caring towards each other.
Kolwane said the storyline centres on a desperate young girl, Thandi, who is stuck in a fruitless life when her disadvantaged family is forced to find ways of surviving the Covid-19 pandemic.
The film boasts a cast including award-winning Jet Novuka, who produced the film, Luzuko Nkqeto and Mahlatse Tlaka.
Speaking to DispatchLIVE on Friday, Kolwane, who financed the film through his bursary funding and with assistance from Novuka, said he wanted to show the struggle impoverished people faced during the lockdown.
“It questions why when the government shut down the country it did not take care of those people.
“Many were jobless, had no food or resources ...
“I was inspired by those events and that’s how the film came to be.”
It was first screened at the Ugu Film Festival and Mthatha International Film Festival in December.
It aired on Showmax on Monday, and Kolwane said the trailer had already garnered more than 1,000 views.
“It’s like a dream come true.
“I’ve always envisioned my work appearing on TV.
“I started writing short stories in primary school.
“The day before the screening I was so scared and didn’t believe it.
“Working with tat’uJet and Luzuko was eye-opening and they mentored me. I was blessed to work with them.
“I want people who watch the film to learn to help each other.
“In the story you see a person looking for help, but someone who has resources doesn’t lend a hand and only realises later he should have done something.
“From watching the movie, people must learn ubuntu,” he said.
It will be available on Showmax until January 2024.
Kolwane said he wanted his breakthrough to inspire upcoming filmmakers to never give up on their dreams.
“I want to inspire them to do 10 times more than me so we can rise.”
He is now working on a short film, Rasta The Art, which will be screened next week at the Durban International Film Festival.
DispatchLIVE
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