Thursday, January 26, 2012
7:00pm at Popopstudios
Contact: 322-7834
The Creators is a 2011 South African documentary film produced and directed by Laura Gamse which interweaves the lives of diverse South African artists including Faith47, Cashril+, Warongx, Emile Jansen of Black Noise, Markus Wormstorm and Spoek Mathambo of Sweat.X, Blaq Pearl and Mthetho Mapoyi.

The full title of the documentary is The Creators: South Africa Through the Eyes of Its Artists.

Step into the lives of six artists sculpting South Africa’s future from the fragments of a tumultuous past. Born into different areas of the formerly-segregated country, the artists separately recraft history — and the impacts of apartheid — in their own artistic languages. How does creative expression traverse the divide? Weaving through the lives of Faith47 (street art), Warongx (Afro-blues), Emile (hip-hop), Sweat.X (performance), Blaq Pearl (spoken word) and Mthetho (opera), the film culminates in an intertwined multi-plot. As we grow closer to the individuals, we notice stark differences between their perspectives, exposing an intimate, refreshing, and deeply revealing portrait of those remolding the legacy of apartheid.

Directed by Laura Gamse and Jaques De Villiers
Produced by Laura Gamse and Nahum Deke
Running time: 83 minutes
Country: South Africa
Language: English, Xhosa, Afrikaans

The Creators won “Best Documentary” at the National Geographic All Roads Film Festival and “Best Documentary – Music” at the World Music and Independent Film Festival. The film has screened at festivals across the globe including the 2011 Bahamas International Film Festival.

Reviews:
“A profoundly human and humane portrait of an inhumane reality,” The Creators introduces the chaotic sociocultural reality of modern day South Africa through the eyes of its diverse artists. The documentary brings into focus the invisible connections among strangers’ disparate lives, and the creative expression used to traverse the divide. Ranging from graffiti artist and mother Faith47 to self-taught opera legend Mthetho Mapoyi, the artists craft music, visual art and dance to communicate across boundaries and refute apartheid’s myth of separation. An intimate, refreshing, and deeply revealing look at those remolding the legacy of apartheid, The Creators has been praised as “a beautiful and important contribution…to the literature of creativity and its endless capacity to fuel transcendence” – Ian Biederman, Executive Producer of Shark

“The Creators proved true art is not restrained by politics or religion — or even life. Expression in this sphere is unrestrained. The film proves that anyone’s vision must be developed into its full artistic potential. If there is a message to be told by modern South Africa, it’s that art will save your sanity.” – Mambo Magazine

“Given the unrest in the Middle East that fills our television screens each night, The Creators is a worthy companion piece. It shows people who refuse to toe the line, whose music will not be silenced, who use their art to combat brutality and injustice.” – The Huffington Post