Local documentary wins Hare Krishna 'Oscar'
My Hare Krishna Family, a 48-minute documentary directed and produced by local film-makers Frank Opperman and Denise Slabbert, won three awards at the first Hare Krishna Film Festival in Mayapur, India, on Saturday 11 March, 2006.
Opperman, the director and narrator, says, "It's a real honour to have won the awards, not only for best film but for best soundtrack and script as well. A highlight of this production is the soundtrack which consists of a number of songs from a band of street children from Kenya called Little Gokul, and it's great that they have been recognised as well."
Slabbert, the producer, says that expanding the audience across South Africa's borders has been a real bonus: "I think it's incredible that My Hare Krishna Family has received recognition as far away as Mayapur, one of the holiest places in India. To get accolades from the international Krishna community for a documentary with a totally independent voice is praise indeed."
My Hare Krishna Family was first aired on SABC2 during August 2005 and has subsequently been rebroadcast during February 2006, as well as appearing on SABC Africa. It was produced by Darling Lama Productions in conjunction with Mafisa Media, consisting of Frank Opperman as directory and narrator; Denise Slabbert as producer; Piet Snyman as director of photography; and Tiny Laubscher as editor.
The film tells the story of Frank and his relationship with his younger sister Yvonne, a Hare Krishna devotee. The documentary follows the story of Yvonne Opperman (aka Ila Devi Dasi), her Ghanaian husband, Shastra Das, and their little son (and Frank's nephew) Ramananda Raya. The documentary was shot on two locations, the first being Frank's home in Melville, Johannesburg, when his family comes to visit from Ghana. The other location is a rural village, outside Accra, when Frank visits his Hare Krishna family in West Africa.
Yvonne Opperman and Shastra Das, who recently left Ghana and are now living in Mayapur (some 150km from Calcutta), were on hand to collect the awards that night. "It was really nerve-wracking," says Yvonne Opperman, "There were over 4000 devotees and I was really nervous."
She comments that the South African devotees attending the awards were very pleased at the outcome of a local film winning the Hare Krishna 'Oscars'.
