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A PROUDLY SOUTH AFRICAN FILM FOR ALL TO SHARE
By Daniel E. Dercksen
Not many people know who 'Ouma' is, but with the release of the Afrikaans film Ouma Se Slim Kind, everyone will be able to share in this extraordinary story of friendship set in South Africa in the 40s.
The first Afrikaans feature since Paljas, this sensational debut feature by 30-year-old Gustav Kuhn won the coveted audience award at last year's Apollo Film Festival, as well as an award for its script.
Ouma Se Slim Kind also wowed audiences at the recent Klein Karoo Festival where Jans Rautenbach, one of South Africa's most prominent producers, hailed it as one of the best local films he has seen.
In the film, a black farm boy saves an orphaned white child; 'Ouma', an Afrikaner Earth Mother, raises them. Surviving on a farm during the 40s, this unconventional family live an idealistic life until the outside world crushes their dreams.
It showcases the craft and art of South African filmmaking. It's honest in its telling and bold in its execution. During a time where issues of identity, culture and our history dominate news headlines, it is films like this that shows how important it is to not allow the differences that separate to destroy the harmony we all strive for.
Talking to Gustav Kuhn, it is understandable why the film has such an appeal. He has an inherent charm and modesty that reflects the circumstances of the film's character's and the story's history.
Ouma Se Slim Kind first made its appearance as a final year short film four years ago when Kuhn was a 3rd Year Student at AFDA in Johannesburg. As a graduation short film, it was well received at festivals in Toronto, Chicago, Manchester and several other European film festivals, laying the foundation for the full length feature.
What at first materialised as an experimental comedy about an old woman raising a young boy, became more serious and darker when Kuhn poured his heart and soul into turning the student project into a major South African feature film.
In fact, when the film was first shown to our Classification Board, its serious subject matter received an age restriction of 16 years.
"I was horrified. Films like 'Saw' received that kind of age restriction!" says Kuhn "The honesty in the film was too real, to close to the truth. It was like a double sided sword and actually a complement as a filmmaker," says Kuhn. "I want to be true to what I am saying. I think that's where you touch people's hearts."
Kuhn agrees that the emotional rape that the Afrikaans boy undergoes in the film is "way more powerful, showing it in a true and honest matter."
With some trimming and losing an important subplot, Ouma Se Slim Kind ended up with an age restriction of 10 years. Fortunately, in an age of DVD, we will hopefully be able to see an uncut 'Ouma' without the trimmings.
"One could draw a parallel to my own life," says Kuhn, reflecting on the genesis of the film.
"Having lost my arm in a motor cycle accident ten years ago and being exposed to a new side of life with people treating you differently, and living with a disability, it was important for me to make a film about that."
Kuhn did not start his career with the aim of becoming a filmmaker, but enjoyed success as a guitar player in a band that toured to Israel and Europe.
"I was introduced to filmmaking at a very late stage in my life," says Kuhn. "What happened in my life was necessary to get me on the road I am travelling today."
For Kuhn is vital for people to become aware of how people with disabilities are treated. "Not necessarily a physical ability, but a mental disability," he says, referring the character of a mentally challenged white boy in Ouma Se Slim Kind.
"Ouma to me is not only the anchor in the film, she also represents a beautiful side of the history of the Afrikaner that is not told," says Kuhn.
"It's a part of history that's been neglected. Apartheid-themed films were necessary and those stories needed to be told, but it is equally important for the outside world to realise that there was a time when a whole generation of Afrikaners grew up with black people on farms and were interdependent."
Having spent three years making the film, Kuhn is passionate about the film industry in South Africa, and feels strongly about making it here, instead of exploring the international market.
"For me, one of the biggest problems in the industry is that we forgot how to tell stories," he says. "Maybe because of focusing too hard on political issues, which as its rightful place, but the art and craft of storytelling became lost during this process."
"To get a film made in South Africa, it's easier to undergo open heart surgery," says Kuhn, commenting on making a period film of this nature for more than half the budget of what recent South African films cost to make.
"It comes down to believing in a dream. The secret is being able to get another person to believe in what your dream is about."
With Ouma Se Slim Kind Kuhn shows us the importance of friendship.
'Embedded in this theme about friendship and love that overcomes all, there's also issues of the underdog rising about his expectations in life," says Kuhn. "All those issues are relevant, not only multiculturally, but universally."
Kuhn also hopes that the film will give a voice to families who have to deal with mental and physical disabilities.
"I'm not getting stuck on any racial or political debate," he says. "I don't believe in preaching in film, but if what you are trying to say is neatly woven into the fabric of your story, you end up speaking to people while they are being entertained by a beautiful story."
For Kuhn, the secret of making a great South African film is in "trying not to tell someone else's' story, and not trying to tell our own stories in someone else's way."
"Don't tell a South African story in a Hollywood manner, in an overseas kind of package, that is a recipe for disaster!"
It is also fortunate that the film is released in subtitles, opening it up to a much wider audience.
"It is crucial that the film can be enjoyed by all races and languages," says Kuhn. "Emotion is universal and Ouma speaks to emotion. I use my medium telling stories in pictures and use it to show you what I want you to feel."
Kuhn is living proof that you've got to believe in yourself, despite all odds.
"It sounds like a cliché but you have to believe in yourself, whatever you set out to do, and be honest with yourself. You've got to be absolutely absurdly involved in what you are trying to do."
Ouma Se Slim Kind is showing nationwide and subtitled in English.
READ MORE ABOUT OUMA SE SLIM KIND
GUSTAV KUHN TALKS ABOUT DIE ONGELOOFLIKE AVONTURE VAN HANNA HOEKOM
Copyright © Daniel E. Dercksen/ The Writing Studio
Published with permission in the Weekend Argus (May 13, 2007 )
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