DURBAN - DURBAN film director Mengameli “Menga” Nhlabathi said viewers should brace themselves to see a quality story with quality pictures, a product made with a lot of love, dedication and hard work, when they tune in to e.tv to watch the drama series Imbewu (The Seed) next month.
Directed by Nhlabathi and Zuko Nodada, a Durban University of Technology alumni, the series is produced by Grapevine Productions, a joint venture between Anant Singh’s Videovision Entertainment, Duma Ndlovu’s Word Of Mouth Pictures and Luyks Productions.
Originally from Eshowe, Nhlabathi, has lived in Durban most of his life, has described directing the drama starring South Africa’s award-winning actress Leleti Khumalo as a life-changing experience.
Saying it was a whole new ball game for him, especially working on something from scratch, Nhlabathi said the process was very different to what he had been used to.
“Working with a legend like Duma, who is keen on story and performance, he has a different approach to my previous experiences on drama sets around South Africa.
“There’s a heavy workshopping culture, where we workshop actors and performance, really getting into the story to help the relationship between director and actor and help the actors bring something to the table in terms of their characters.”
He said working with legends like Thembi Mtshali-Jones, Leleti Khumalo and Mpumelelo Bhulose on set, he sometimes felt like a groupie watching a stage play.
“I would get blown away and forget my role - the talent they bring to the table is amazing,” he said.
Most of the drama’s cast are from KwaZulu-Natal and scenes were shot in a studio on Sydney Road and at locations based on the storyline, with most in Umbumbulu and uMlazi.
On his journey into the film industry, Nhlabathi said as a child he never imagined reaching the heights he has, but as he got older and began his journey in the industry, he kept focused on getting to where he is today.
“My mom used to rent a lot of movies and I would go through these and sometimes binge-watch the whole weekend. So I developed a keen eye for TV and film at a young age.
“I wanted to study at AFDA in 2004, but didn’t have the money so I went on to get a job in retail.”
In 2012, he began his film and TV training with Impucuzeko Skills and Development, “And I got mentorship then from a guy I work with now - Nodada.”
Describing himself as influenced by existentialism mixed with some Buddhism and sprinkled with some anarchy, funk and soul, Nhlabathi said.
“In 2013 I started working in the industry as an assistant director, but the vision was to fulfil my dream of being a writer/director. And I only started doing this outside of short films in 2015, when my kasi story I wrote and directed called Dali was aired - that was my first taste of my work being broadcast.”
After his short film aired on e.tv, he waited and worked on having fun with low-budget or zero-budget music videos to keep his directing eye in training. “Soon after that, Uzalo (an SABC1 soapie) came along and I began directing there, and while I was directing Uzalo my talent was spotted.
“It was around when my contract ended for Uzalo that I was approached to direct Imbewu - so this is my third gig that is a drama.”
Nhlabathi said the pace and demand for local content was growing.
“As Africans, one of our go-to skills is storytelling, and now there’s a demand for local content; the audience is becoming sharper, they’re becoming hungrier for local content.
“We want to see images of ourselves more than foreign content, so it’s an exciting time to be a content creative in South Africa now.”
He said having an active audience when it comes to local content means the quality of work increases and film-makers will have jobs and be able to feed their families.
Nhlabathi added that he was working on a Nigerian-South African musical with Nigerian film-maker Ekene Mekwunye.
“I also have a music video coming up that I have shot for an exciting new artist called Cool Zet, signed to a group called BornFree Group. He performed a rap song about xenophobia on SA’s Got Talent in 2015.
“I’m also currently writing a short film.”
Nhlabathi advised aspiring film-makers to shadow someone, work for free, shoot their own content to showcase what they can do as well as to attend film festivals and network.
“That is a definite break into the industry, you find a way in with these four things.”