Film in South Africa has taken some incredible strides at both industry and educational level, with the growing international film acclaim and the film schools pioneering these advancements by fostering world-class industry training.
One such school that has been breaking all local creative arts barriers is the Film School Africa College – based in Somerset West, South Africa.
Film School Africa College has been at the forefront of reimagining the role of film as a tool to offer immersive ‘self-healing’ for students who have faced considerable trauma.
From Hollywood filmmaker to township film school director
The film school was founded by Executive Director/ Board member, Katie Taylor an experienced Hollywood filmmaker, credited for working within the casting department of esteemed productions such as Spider-Man 3 (2007); Miami Vice (2006); 10 000 BC (2008) and The Unborn (2009).
The LA native enjoyed an illustrious career as a filmmaker until her life was completely changed upon completing a ‘mission trip’ to the impoverished township of Kayamandi, hidden in the outskirts of the affluent Stellenbosch city – South Africa. It was during this trip that Taylor decided she would return to shoot a short film based in this township.
In an almost vision from God, it became clear to the young filmmaker what her next mission in life would be and that was to facilitate filmmaking classes for the young people of the underserved community and that was origin story of Film School Africa.
The original mission of the school was to simply give young people an opportunity to hold a video camera, learn how to direct actors and how to edit and ultimately spend time creating short films – quickly blossomed into a school of 13 students ranging from ages 14- 25 and today accepting students from all ages 8-70 years old.
The film classes became a safe space for students to creatively express themselves through capturing their real-live scenarios and creating riveting short films. The film school was initially created to function as an extra-mural activity however this swiftly changed as it became virtually impossible to not be distracted by the surrounding dire living conditions afflicting most of the students.
Giving back the best way we can
“Helping them process through who they are and what their traumas help enrich their characters so that when they get the job they can keep it, so it doesn’t feel that they out there on their own” – Katie Taylor
The environmental and socio-economic living conditions hindered the progress of many students, and this inspired the established of the on – campus living facilities, enrolling college level students that would be nurtured within a Christian based curricula.
The short films produced by these students often reflect the abject poverty; unemployment; substance abuse; domestic and sexual abuse, teenage pregnancy are just a few of the topics in the films. Many of these films have gone on to have life in film festivals around the world.
“Some people give us like R100, it’s R100 every single month, but it is every single month for years and years and years because they believe in what we’re doing. We get to change the lives of students because individuals give what they can.” – Katie Taylor
Film School Africa College exemplifies the power of giving back and the magic of storytelling to offer opportunities to a group of people that are too often outcasts of the arts.
The film school has managed to receive outstanding amount of support from international donors, providing the students with the array of filmmaking equipment to continue to produce thoughtful films.
Inspired by Film School Africa’s inspirational story and journey, Learning Curve extended a helping hand. As an Adobe Platinum Education Elite partner, Learning Curve has been able to sponsor Adobe Creative Cloud licenses ensuring the students stay at the forefront of film production with industry leading software.
If you would like to play a part in their journey, visit filmschoolafrica.org for both local and international donation options. Follow @filmschoolafrica on all social media platforms and watch their films on Youtube @filmschoolafrica