WINDHOEK
After premiering five years ago in Namibia, the winner of the Best Documentary at the Cape Winelands Film Festival in 2011 “Afrikaaps by Dylan Valley is re-screening next Wednesday at the Franco-Namibia Cultural Centre (FNCC).
The 2010 60 minutes South African documentary in (Afrikaans/Afrikaaps) with English subtitles will screen at 18H30 and entrance will be N$30. Ottilie Abrahams, principal of the Jakob Marengo Secondary School, an expert in language politics in Southern Africa, and a dear companion to late Professor Neville Alexander, who features in the film., will be the special guest.
“Afrikaaps” explores the untold Creole history of Afrikaans, using what he knows best: HipHop, humour and personal perspective. The film follows a group of local artists creating the stage production, AFRIKAAPS, as they trace the true roots of Afrikaans to slaves in the Cape. It features the musical greats, Jitsvinger, Kyle Shepard, Emile (black noise), Moenier Parker, Shane Cooper, Blaq Pearl, the powerhouse b-boy, Bliksemstraal, and the poetic genius of Jethro Louw. The film reclaims and liberates Afrikaans from its reputation as the language of the oppressor, taking it back to the people who own it.
“Afrikaaps” premiered at Encounters documentary festival in August 2010 and screened to sold out houses at the V & A Waterfront’s Nu Metro Cinema in Cape Town. It received the runner-up audience award for best South African documentary. It has since screened at the Tri-Continents documentary festival in Johannesburg, the Cultavaria festival in Paarl and is currently screening on Mnet’s Msanzi Magic Channel.
In March 2011, it won the Best Documentary at the Cape Winelands Film Festival.
AfricAvenir presented the film to Namibian audiences in June 2011 as Namibian premiere. Language expert Dr. Becky Ndozo-Ojo, now Education, Arts and Culture minister, was the special guest at the time.
Cape Town born Dylan Valley studied Film and Media at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and interned for two months at E-TV news. As his final research project in 2005 he directed a ten minute documentary on the history and current tensions in the Cape capoeira (Brazilian martial arts) scene. At UCT he was a DJ on UCT Radio and was an active member of the universities TAC branch as well as the UCT Film Society.
In 2006 he obtained his Honours degree in Film Theory and Practice from UCT. “Lost Prophets”, a film about the personal stories of South Africa’s hip hop pioneers Prophets of da City, and where they are now, was his honours thesis project in partnership with co-producer and collaborator Sean Drummond. The film was selected for the Encounters documentary festival in 2007.
After obtaining his MA in Specialized Journalism from the University of South California he directed work for Al Jazeera, SABC, and independently. Valley is currently an associate lecturer of the University of Witwatersrand and is the film editor for the website “Africa Is A Country”.