The evening was lit as beautiful people entered the room. It was almost like being in one of the South African awards ceremonies where a little cute butterfly like me felt welcome as soon as I entered. The red carpet was laid and stars in the making from University of Cape Town mingled in a language that seemed like poetry.
The host for the night was Chairperson of the Film Society, the lovely Blair Inglis, who came in stunning little black number and took on the event like a pro.
Image by photographer: Domenic Gorin – Infinity Studios
Shotties is an annual film competition that takes place at UCT where, out of a total of 26 script submissions, the top 9 were selected to be filmed and shown on screen for an audience and a panel of judges. Films made by students from all walks of life are showcased and awards are given at the end of the event for various film categories. The theme for Shotties 2019 was ‘Transformation and Justice’. Through their humour and horror, the students displayed various kinds of transformations using things like human robots and homosexual relationships. The short film called Side by Side portrayed intersectionality in terms of gender: Two young men talked about the problems they may experience if they decided to become a couple. In a society where a particular subgroup or culture experiences discrimination based on race, class, gender etc., these films created a platform for intersectional discussions and liberatory discourses. The audience took home with them a lot of knowledge that will help transform our society and unify people across all identities.
Many genres of film were tackled from horror to comedy to drama. It was the kind of moment where the audience’s eyes were glued to the screen to the point where it was hard to take them off. However, popcorn and drinks (even alcohol) were already prepared as everyone unwillingly left their seats for interval. While on the red carpet and enjoying some wine with the stars, I stole a moment to take a photo with Ishmael Ngubeni who is one of the actors from the winning film Social Justice Hotline. I realized I hit the jackpot when the film took home many awards at that event!
Image by photographer: Domenic Gorin – Infinity Studios
Social Justice Hotline won Best Script, Best Editing, Best Picture, and the People’s Choice award! These was well-deserved indeed. Although it seemed like they took every award home, there were other awards well-deserved by other films: The Best Sound award went to Side by Side while Best Cinematography and Best Director went to the film Good Night.
Images by photographer: Domenic Gorin – Infinity Studios
All nine films were outstanding. They were not just entertaining, they also gave important lessons about transformation and intersectionality outside of academia. More information about the films are available on UCT Film Society Facebook page.
I sincerely encourage students to attend this event next year to get a glance at what students can do to make changes in the way we see the world through films. It was a fulfilling and educational experience for me. Be sure to look out for many more short films that are going to be screened on campus where I will be one of the actresses!