Rapelang Ntamu wins 2020 Jozi Film Fest Discovery Rise competition

15 Dec 2020

South African filmmaker, Rapelang Ntamu, has been announced as the winner of the Jozi Film Festival (JFF), Save the Children South Africa, and Discovery Rise 2020 filmmakers competition.

The competition called on young filmmakers to submit their rationale for participation along with examples of their works for the chance to tell the incredibly impactful stories of some of South Africa’s most vulnerable youths.

Rapelang Ntamu

Rapelang Ntamu’s film, Learning to Teach, tells the story of Nthabiseng, a student teacher who joined the Save the Children South Africa District Based Recruitment Strategy (DBTRS) Project in Qwa-Qwa, Free State. The project takes student teachers from various universities to test and apply differential teacher training in the district. The aim: to keep teachers informed, prepared to handle their classrooms and employed in the same district. Rapelang Ntamu received the grand prize of a Canon professional camera worth approximately R50,000.

“Thank you to everyone who contributed to making the film (Learning to Teach), I really appreciate all the support the film got from the beginning to the last day of voting. Any new project comes with its own challenges but being able to commit and overcome those challenges is what makes winning worth a while” says, Rapelang about his journey towards winning the competition.

This competition is something very dear to JFF because it does not just lie in promoting films, but working alongside young filmmakers to pursue their passions and giving them access to an audience of millions, while telling the stories of our most vulnerable in a way that is both sensitive and respectful”, says Lisa Henry, Founder of Jozi Film Festival.

10 films shortlisted in Discovery Rise competition

7 Dec 2020

The project shines a light on the difficult circumstances so many of South Africa’s young children deal with and face daily, providing a platform to bring these issues to the forefront, creating a dialogue to address these hardships. With 250 entries and 10 young filmmakers shortlisted, finalists were each tasked with producing a powerful short film to depict the true-life stories of those who have survived some of the harshest realities that a child can face. Funded by the Discovery Rise, each of the finalists was given R10,000 to produce their features which were then uploaded to the JFF website for public consumption and voting.

Each of the storytellers received a contribution towards their academic or professional development, the funding needed to produce their films.