Filmmaker Enver Samuel started in mainstream media however shifted to doing social remark documentaries that create a significant affect.
Enver Samuel tells of his decades-long quest to inform tales about social justice from the apartheid period
In a quickly evolving media panorama, Enver Samuel stands out as a documentary filmmaker dedicated to impactful storytelling. With a profession that spans three many years, he has navigated the challenges and alternatives introduced by shifting consumption patterns and a dedication to social justice and activism.
On this interview, Samuel shares insights on his journey from mainstream media to documentary filmmaking, the challenges of funding and the significance of partaking numerous audiences by relatable narratives.
A private journey to documentaries
Q: What motivated your transition from mainstream media to documentary filmmaking?
Samuel: My shift got here from a want to create content material that has a significant affect. After engaged on Indians can’t fly — a documentary about anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Timol who was thrown from the tenth ground of John Vorster Sq. police constructing whereas beneath interrogation in 1971 by the South African Safety Police — I realised the facility of storytelling to handle vital social points.
Documentaries present a possibility to discover matters like transgenerational trauma, which are sometimes neglected in conventional codecs. After I made it, I realised that that is my house. That is the content material that I need to make.
The remainder of the work that I used to be doing was nice. It took me all around the world with journey exhibits and journal exhibits, however by no means did something to fulfil my coronary heart. As corny as that sounds, it didn’t transfer me. And neither did it have any impact on the viewers in my view. They’d watch it and eat it, however then overlook about it, as a result of it didn’t do something
As a documentary filmmaker you’ll be able to really transfer and alter issues, . So, yeah, it was a shift in my perception system. What I used to be doing earlier than was paying the payments most undoubtedly and really properly, however I wanted extra.
Q: Some folks query the give attention to previous occasions. How do you reply to that?
Samuel: I perceive these considerations, however inspecting our historical past is so vital to addressing present points. Documentaries can function a bridge to understanding the previous and its implications for the current and future. “Indians can’t fly” was about an inquest that modified the previous model of historical past from suicide to a present model of homicide.
Then I did Homicide in Paris a political crime documentary that traces the motives for the assassination of anti-apartheid activist Dulcie September. The story travels from the guts of Paris in March 1988 to the pursuit of justice in 2021. Now we’re petitioning to reopen the case in France, which went chilly. I began to see the worth of elevating previous occasions to affect the present psyche and future generations.
A toddler’s eye view
Q: You talked about utilizing a toddler’s perspective in your documentaries. Why is that strategy important?
Samuel: By framing narratives by a toddler’s perspective, we make them extra relatable to a broader viewers. Youthful viewers usually resonate with private tales. That is very key to me. The narrative shouldn’t have a didactic strategy. That’s very old fashioned, and a few folks nonetheless do it. I desire if the story unfolds like a homicide thriller.
And for me, that’s form of key. It wants to face out a bit bit extra like Homicide in Paris.
We because the viewers are on a quest to search out the killers of September, led by the investigative journalist, however I twinned it with the kid’s story. So there are two narratives flowing by the documentary on the similar time, criss crossing paths.
I did the identical with the Reality Be Instructed sequence, a have a look at the Reality and Reconciliation Fee by the unsolved instances of Phila Portia Ndwandwe, Bheki Mlangeni, Ntombi Kubheka and Topsy Madaka, through which the reality has not been informed, and no-one has been held accountable for his or her grotesque killings throughout apartheid.
By the kid’s eyes, the childrens’ tales cross with their mother and father, which makes a way more attention-grabbing linear strategy to storytelling, as a result of it disrupts it, and it’s not simply the straight story or simply the historic narrative. By the kid’s eyes, you get to see the previous, current and future.
Q: Are you able to share an instance of how your documentaries have sparked group motion?
Samuel: One notable occasion was a screening of Homicide in Paris that led to a mural undertaking of September in a Western Cape group. The movie impressed viewers to mirror on its themes, leading to a collective effort to create a public artwork piece. They even named the centre the Dulcie September Group Centre.
This then escalated into requests from different communities like Eldorado Park in Gauteng the place younger “colored” folks noticed a relatable heroine who died for “them”.
The momentum grew into a web-based petition to reopen the case in Paris. We’ve got virtually hit our goal to get the police in Paris to reopen the case.
Challenges in documentary filmmaking
Q: What are a number of the challenges you face in producing impactful documentaries?
Samuel: Funding is without doubt one of the greatest challenges. Securing assets to convey these tales to life requires perseverance and creativity. That is accompanied by different points like authorities assist and coping with a public broadcaster.
As an illustration, by the media protection once we unveiled the mural, the Western Cape Training Division wished to associate with us. They jumped on the bandwagon after which we recut a one and a half hour model to beneath 50 minutes for colleges. They mentioned: “We love this concept.”
So we did a roll-out to twenty colleges the place the scholars watched the doccie. They liked it. The WCED mentioned they wished to include it into the college curriculum. Three years later, nothing has occurred. So, , these are the issues that you just get enthusiastic about however then they simply fizzle out.
Shifting media consumption
Q: You talked about the shift in media consumption patterns. How have platforms like TikTok and podcasts modified the panorama?
Samuel: The best way folks eat content material has reworked dramatically. Youthful audiences are more and more drawn to platforms like TikTok, Instagram and podcasts. It’s undoubtedly one thing that I wish to find out about extra, as a result of I’m additionally old fashioned, . However I recognise that there’s a must do it.
So if I can twin them and get the experience, I really feel I might make an even bigger affect. As a result of I’m now in my subsequent stage of the Reality Be Instructed sequence for the affect marketing campaign to rollout easily. That is the place I need to discover these points as a result of for me, it’s not solely concerning the broadcast, it’s what occurs after the printed that additionally issues.
Q: What challenges does this current for conventional media shops like SABC?
Samuel: The principle problem is the dearth of imaginative and prescient and the bureaucratic delays. However they nonetheless have the numbers. That’s why I gravitate in direction of the SABC, despite the fact that I remorse each time I cope with them. You simply can’t consider the dysfunction in that organisation. It’s such a pity, as a result of it could possibly be so innovative. Think about the viewers they might have if they’d a greater popularity for innovation.
Future tasks and campaigns
Q: What are your plans for upcoming tasks?
Samuel: I’m at present growing an affect marketing campaign for my documentary Homicide in Paris. This marketing campaign will embody digital elements and faculty screenings to increase the attain of the movie. The aim is to create a sustained dialogue across the points introduced, somewhat than limiting the affect to only the printed. As I discussed earlier than it additionally features a petition to reopen the case in Paris.
Q: Why is it vital to consider the affect after a documentary airs?
Samuel: The published is just one a part of the method. We should think about tips on how to proceed the dialog and drive actual change afterward and result in motion.
Addressing trauma and balancing affect
Q: How do you tackle transgenerational trauma in your work?
Samuel: Too lots of my associates and colleagues would query me once I inform them what I’m doing. They all the time ask, why? Why are we all the time wanting again and never concentrating on the long run, the current? You understand?
I believe it’s such a mistake as a result of when the households open the door making an attempt to cope with their transgeneration trauma. You get a look. You get a singular look into how this factor can’t be brushed beneath the carpet. It’s one thing to withstand and speak about.
Extra importantly, we should deal with the households concerned in these tales with respect and company, which might complicate the method however is critical for authenticity and to provide voice to the victims.
Participating multigenerational audiences
Q: What methods do you employ to have interaction a multigenerational viewers?
Samuel: We prioritise relatability in our storytelling. Through the use of narratives that mirror the experiences of youngsters, we will join with audiences throughout age teams. The optimistic reactions from viewers usually manifest in grassroots efforts, like petitions for justice impressed by our movies.
Enver Samuel is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and proprietor of EMS Productions who focuses on telling the lesser-known tales of unsung heroes & heroines of the battle towards apartheid. His documentary Homicide in Paris was the joint winner of the most effective documentary award on the 2021 Durban Worldwide Movie Competition, the place he was additionally awarded the inaugural Human Rights Award. Enver’s final 4 documentaries sort out poignant themes which have robust social affect components. — Documentary Africa