Wanna visit India? Get inspired right here.
In search of enlightenment, weight loss shortcuts and spiritual enrichment to ease the path into her wiser/slimmer/better 30s, Beverley Houston followed her dream of visiting India. And just did it. She shares her highlights and photo’s with us: My India I had visions of returning from India feeling enlightened and looking emaciated – the enlightenment would be from the morning, noon and night yoga sessions that I would partake in and the drop in dress size would inevitably be caused by the worst bout of Delhi belly ever recorded by man. The pressure was on – not only did my 30th loom a mere two weeks post my return (hence the quest for enlightenment and all other things related to turning the big three oh) but I had a bridesmaids dress to fit into – the dire need for Delhi belly need not be explained further. Sadly – my trip to India, the land of Saints, gods, demi-gods and all things mystical and magical, bestowed upon me neither. Setting off from Johannesburg with my vegetarian, yoga-loving best friend, we arrived in Delhi with a number of pre-conceived, post Shantaram reading notions on India. Rather grubby, smelly and definitely full of all sorts of nasty bugs, Delhi is a thriving city, which constantly and unpredictably contrasts between the old and new, extreme poverty and extreme wealth. Western, especially blonde female tourists are a fascination for the locals who, if you fit the description, will stop you to have their picture taken with them. Great for the many family portraits that we now feature in but not so great for the ones taken with the young single guys who will forever onwards claim to have bedded either one or sometimes both of us – the digital revolution has made photo taking a new sport in India. From Delhi we set off with driver to the Rajasthan district – think Agra and the Taj Mahal, the pink city of Jaipur, the one horse hippy town of Pushkar and the city of lakes and palaces Udaipur, which will be forever immortalised by the 1980’s James Bond movie Octopusssy. Rajasthan highlights: The Taj Mahal at sunrise. Sadly it was a gloomy day, but a spectacular sight nevertheless – sans sunshine. A three-hour long Bollywood blockbuster, which we watched minus sub-titles, in Jaipur’s famous art deco meringue shaped movie theatre. Camel trekking – we hooked this up in Pushkar – a Hindu pilgrimage city which has banned all public displays of affection, alcohol, eggs and meat – if you want to smoke pot however, look no further. A cooking course in Udaipur – we learnt...
Call for Entry: Africa in Motion short film festival
For the second year, the Africa in Motion (AiM) film festival is inviting African filmmakers to submit short films of up to 30 minutes for the festival’s short film competition. In order to target the competition specifically towards young and emerging African film talent, filmmakers who enter a film for consideration must not have completed a feature-length film previously. Films entered must have been completed in 2006 or after. A shortlist from all the entries will be selected in July and announced by the end of August 2009. From this shortlist, the competition winner will be chosen by a high profile jury and announced at an awards ceremony at the Africa in Motion festival in October 2009. The jury will consist of local and international film specialists and established African filmmakers. All shortlisted films will be screened at the festival. In addition to the overall first prize selected by the jury, an audience choice award will be selected by the audience at the screenings and announced at the end of the festival. The deadline for competition entries is 30 June 2009. Please see below for full submission guidelines and to download the entry form. Alternatively, AIM please read carefully through the submission guidelines and email the festival director Lizelle Bisschoff for further enquires at: submissions@africa-in-motion.org.uk SUBMISSION GUIDELINES • We accept entries from all filmmakers of African nationality working in Africa or abroad. We are particularly interested in giving exposure to young, emerging African filmmakers living and working in Africa. To this end, filmmakers who enter a film for consideration must not have completed a feature-length film previously. Films could be fiction, documentary, animation or experimental and shot in any format. • Only recent films directed by filmmakers of African nationality will be accepted. The film must have been completed in 2006 or after and could have been screened on television, at festivals and in cinemas previously. • Films should be no longer than 30 minutes. • We will only accept films in English or with English subtitles. Participants are responsible for all translation and subtitling, but please get in touch with us if you need advice/support on this. • The viewing copy should be on VHS PAL or DVD (any region). All films submitted should be accompanied by a completed entry form and all viewing copies should be clearly labeled with the title of the film and name of the director. • Unfortunately viewing copies and promotional materials submitted cannot be returned to the sender and will be stored in our festival archive. These are kept exclusively for our own research and non-commercial purposes. • All deliveries from outside...
Represent Review: H2O- More than just a jol
10:00 Am. And unusually quiet for what can only be described as a milestone event. Ten years of the biggest dance party in Africa. Yet this time around, strangely the people hadn’t camped outside waiting to be allowed in. This time, there was no queue extending down the street for people waiting to park nor an equal mass of people walking in and lining up, waiting to get in. What was going on? Upon entering the venue I felt the energy begin to heat up as the music had already started to fill the air. The crowd was small, but growing by the minute and you could feel the twinklings that today was going to be unforgettable. The sun was beating down on us as the African tempos started blaring out the speakers filling our bodies with the energy to make it through the next few hours. This was going to be insane. We milled around, checking out all the floors and getting a feel for each one. Each dancefloor provided it’s own unique flavour to the day – each perfectly located so as not to drown out one another in terms of sound and crowd. I grabbed myself a drink from one of the tents and relaxed to take in all of my surroundings. Before I knew it, the party had really begun. The crowd started getting their ankles wet and so began the cheers and whistles as the DJ began to drop some insane mixes. The next time I turned around to check out the scene, I saw thousands of people with their hands lifted jubilantly up in the air, accepting the music, letting the rhythms take control of their bodies. This was it, this is what we live for. United by music, united by one energy. This is who we are and this is our message. We are South Africans and we know how to party! One hour after the next, swaying the amassed sea of people, the music just kept coming. It didn’t let up, not even for a second. Even when the lines weren’t connected for Fresh to begin his set the crowd was entertained by a beatboxer who not only had the crowd jumping and screaming for more, he even had the one and only Vernon in the background doing his signature move. Only in South Africa can we make a party happen even when there is no sound. The rhythm is in our blood. Ironically, being a party called H2O, we were blessed by Mother Africa raining down on us. The crowds started to dwindle down which was disappointing as there was...
UJU live at House of Nsako this Friday
It’s been a long time since we’ve hear the sweet rocking soulful sounds of UJU… here’s your chance to catch them live in Brixton, Jozi this Friday at the House of Nsako . Friday 13th March 09 8pm 101 High Street, Brixton, Jozi Town. Take the Smit Str offramp from the N1 south. Turn right at the T-junction. Drive past the Garden City Hospital and the Brixton Fire Department. Just past the Pick and Pay Centre look out for ABSA on the lft and the house is on the right. Call 072 2232 648 for more...
Represent Review: Audi Joburg Fashion Week ’09
Our darling site was in the middle of being made over in preparation for it’s 4th birthday, but our boy Vincent Zondo still managed to put on his best and shmooze out at this years Audi Joburg Fashion Week. Represent! He’s put together a few overall thoughts around the beginning and end of the experience with a few clear pointers for all those wondering What to Wear…! Merci VZ… The BEGINNING of Audi Joburg Fashion Week ’09. This year presented us with a surprisingly killer start to the Audi Joburg fashion week…everyone and their ami was taken aback by the level of the designers and the craft at this opening evening. Typically the start of the shows is always quite chilled, nothing to write home about but I must say – the show unfolded smoothly as the designers went all out to impress. And impressed we were. This first show confirmed that the “New Generation” South African designers are ‘so’ on par with Global trends, the same chic – gothic look, the never-dying lace that we saw with Prada recently. I must concur that “they really made it their own”, as put by Marie Claire’s fashion fundi, Abigail. The theme this winter seems to be black, black and more black – from the fabulous head pieces, (and draping) and black stockings, black distressed metallic ponchos and jackets and bit of glitter with diamond diamante details by the waist side. I am truly excited and so looking forward to the upcoming season of glam-chic and already willing just one special black number for me… The END of the hottest fashion week Last weeks Audi Joburg’s fashion week certainly lived up to it’s promise to dazzle and make a lasting impression on all buyers, fashionistas and media alike. The designers that were showing their winter/autumn collections have definitely raised the bar this time around. Global appeal What I always do yearly as I meet and greet my fellow fashionistas, is look out for new faces especially on the front row seats – it’s quite exciting to see that a number of international buyers from Switzerland, Paris and London are taking a keen interest in our designers. – the experience – Fashion week is starting to feel like, well….FASHION WEEK – with creativity, function and aesthetic-appeal at an all-time high. The co-ordination by the organizers has also picked up a notch or two. Good job. For example I loved the fact that you got to view the collection on the models as they were gliding off the ramp and in a blink of an eye, we were able to get an up-close...
TUMI and the Volume live and in photos
Well we’ve been waiting for a loooooong long time to give you a close up with Tumi in words, but for now, you’ll have to settle for this gorgeous photostory of the band playing at Party People in Johannesburg a few weeks back. Watch this space, who knows, maybe we’ll have better luck. Beautiful photo story by Banele Rewo for Represent. Click...
Proudly brought to you by:
