The Wooden Camera

Last updated

The Wooden Camera
WoodenCameraDVD.jpg
Directed by Ntshavheni wa Luruli
Written by Yves Buclet
Peter Speyer
Produced by Olivier Delahaye
Richard Green
Ben Woolford
Starring Junior Singo
Dana de Agrella
Innocent Msimango
Cinematography Gordon Spooner
Edited by Kako Kelber
Distributed by TLA Releasing
Release date
Running time
92 min.
CountriesSouth Africa
France
United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Wooden Camera is a 2003 South African film directed by Ntshavheni wa Luruli and starring Junior Singo, Dana de Agrella, and Innocent Msimango.

Contents

Plot

The film takes place in and around Cape Town and a nearby township, Khayelitsha. The film centers around two teenage friends, the younger Madiba (Junior Singo) and the elder Sipho (Innocent Msimango). One day, as they are playing alongside the railroad tracks, they find a dead body. With him they find a gun with one bullet and a video camera. Sipho takes the gun and Madiba takes the camera, which he puts inside a wooden toy camera to make it seem a not-working toy. Sipho seems to harmlessly joke about the gun at first, but begins spending more time in Cape Town, robbing parking meters and paying for glue to sniff. He eventually starts living in abandoned places in Cape Town with a group of thugs.

Madiba films the world around him, finding beauty in both Khayelitsha and Cape Town. He tries many filming techniques and is skilled, but finds his videos very personal and does not normally let other people see them. While in Cape Town, he meets and forges an unlikely friendship with a white Cape Town girl, Estelle (Dana de Agrella) from a rich family, who gets into conflict with her racist father about this. Sipho uses the gun to rob people. Madiba disapproves and does not want any of the stolen money, but still considers him his friend. One of Sipho's robberies goes wrong and he is killed. In the end Madiba and Estelle run off and take a train together.

Awards


Related Research Articles

<i>The Learning Tree</i> 1969 semi-autobiographical film by Gordon Parks

The Learning Tree is a 1969 American coming-of-age film written, produced and directed by Gordon Parks, who also scored the film. It depicts the life of Newt Winger, a teenager growing up in Cherokee Flats, Kansas, in the 1920s and chronicles his journey into manhood marked with tragic events. Based on Parks' 1963 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, The Learning Tree was the first film directed by a black filmmaker for a major American film studio, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts.

<i>Places in the Heart</i> 1984 film by Robert Benton

Places in the Heart is a 1984 American drama film written and directed by Robert Benton. It stars Sally Field, Lindsay Crouse, Ed Harris, Ray Baker, Amy Madigan, John Malkovich, Danny Glover, Jerry Haynes and Terry O'Quinn. The film follows Edna Spalding, a young woman during the Great Depression in Texas who is forced to take charge of her farm after the death of her husband and is helped by a motley bunch.

<i>Something Wild</i> (1986 film) 1986 film by Jonathan Demme

Something Wild is a 1986 American comedy thriller film directed by Jonathan Demme, written by E. Max Frye, and starring Melanie Griffith, Jeff Daniels and Ray Liotta. It was screened out of competition at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. The film has some elements of a road movie combined with screwball comedy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spoons (band)</span> Canadian new wave band

Spoons is a Canadian new wave band, formed in Burlington, Ontario in 1979. They recorded several Canadian chart hits between 1982 and 1989, and in 1983, they were nominated for Most Promising Group of the Year at the Juno Awards. Their most popular songs include "Romantic Traffic", "Nova Heart", "Old Emotions", and "Tell No Lies".

<i>Dear Wendy</i> 2005 film

Dear Wendy is a 2005 crime film directed by Thomas Vinterberg and written by Lars von Trier. It stars Jamie Bell, Bill Pullman, Michael Angarano, Mark Webber, Danso Gordon, Novella Nelson and Alison Pill. It was an international co-production between Denmark, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, filmed on-location in Copenhagen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khayelitsha</span> Suburb of Cape Town, in Western Cape, South Africa

Khayelitsha is a township in Western Cape, South Africa, on the Cape Flats in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. The name is Xhosa for New Home. It is reputed to be one of the largest and fastest-growing townships in South Africa.

<i>Skyscraper</i> (1996 film) 1996 American film

Skyscraper is a 1996 direct-to-video American film starring Anna Nicole Smith. It was directed by Raymond Martino and written by William Applegate Jr. and John Larrabee. Its plot borrows heavily from the film Die Hard, with Smith taking the lead role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City of Cape Town</span> Metropolitan municipality in South Africa

The City of Cape Town is a metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of Cape Town and surrounding areas. As of the 2016 community survey, it had a population of 4,005,016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whatever the Case May Be</span> 12th episode of the 1st season of Lost

"Whatever the Case May Be" is the twelfth episode of the first season of Lost. It was directed by Jack Bender and written by Damon Lindelof and Jennifer Johnson. It first aired on January 5, 2005, on ABC. The character of Kate Austen is featured in the episode's flashbacks.

<i>U-Carmen eKhayelitsha</i> 2005 South African film

U-Carmen eKhayelitsha is a 2005 South African operatic film directed and produced by Mark Dornford-May. The title, "Carmen in Khayelitsha", refers to one of the poorest areas of Cape Town.

François Verster is an independent South African film director and documentary maker.

<i>The Notorious Landlady</i> 1962 US comedy mystery film by Richard Quine

The Notorious Landlady is a 1962 American comedy mystery film starring Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon, and Fred Astaire. The film was directed by Richard Quine, with a script by Blake Edwards and Larry Gelbart.

<i>Killshot</i> (film) 2008 film by John Madden

Killshot is a 2008 American action thriller film directed by John Madden and starring Diane Lane, Thomas Jane, Mickey Rourke and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It is based on Elmore Leonard's 1989 novel of the same name. The story follows a couple who, despite being in a Witness Protection Program, are being chased and confronted by the criminal they outed.

<i>Mother</i> (2009 film) 2009 film

Mother is a 2009 South Korean neo-noir thriller film directed by Bong Joon-ho, starring Kim Hye-ja and Won Bin. The plot follows a mother who, after her intellectually disabled son is accused of the murder of a young girl, attempts to find the true killer to get her son freed.

The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon is a 10-minute short film that was released in 2008. It was filmed entirely in California over the course of 22 days. It was written, directed, and narrated by Richard Gale.

<i>Macabre</i> (2009 film) 2009 Indonesian slasher film

Macabre is a 2009 Indonesian slasher film by The Mo Brothers. The film tells the story of a group of friends headed to the airport who meet a woman claiming to have been robbed and needs a ride home, which begins a dark turn of events. The film is based on 2007 short film Dara.

Encounters South African International Documentary Festival (Encounters) is the premier documentary festival in Africa and one of the oldest film festivals on the continent. It remains one of only a few on the continent that is solely dedicated to the genre. The festival is organised by the Encounters Training and Development Institute. Since its inception, the festival has advanced the currency of documentaries in the country and region, supporting new productions and giving an African platform to international documentaries.

<i>Django Shoots First</i> 1966 film

Django Shoots First is an Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Alberto De Martino.

Funeka Soldaat is a lesbian community activist from South Africa, who works with the Triangle Project and is a founder of Khayelitsha-based lesbian advocacy group, Free Gender. Both of which are non-profit, non-governmental organizations that benefit LGBTI individuals in South Africa. A survivor of corrective rape, she advocates against gender violence and homophobia in her country. Soldaat spoke to a Khayelitsha commission of inquiry in January 2014 about the 1995 rape.

<i>Hell Is Where the Home Is</i> 2018 film

Hell Is Where the Home Is, also known as Trespassers, is a 2018 American home invasion thriller film directed by Orson Oblowitz. The film stars Angela Trimbur, Janel Parrish, Jonathan Howard, Zach Avery, and Fairuza Balk.