Represent Shesha: VUKA! call for entries
We urged you last year and we urge you again in the rapidly disappearing 007. If you want a chance to show your work as a director to the industry at large, the Vuka’s certainly give you a platform to do that. Now we’re not going to nag you, you know who you are, all Representah’s who are already directing or still dream of directing, make it happen! Find your charity partner and make that public service announcement. We look forward to seeing your name on the finalist’s list. You know you can do it! You got about 7 weeks – entries close the 20 Oct so get a move on brothers and sisters with vision, determination and talent. Represent! Every year, without fail, South African film makers dare to make PSA’s about important issues to enter into the MultiChoice VUKA! Awards. This year we dare you to do it again. Entries for the 9th annual MultiChoice VUKA! Awards have just opened. You don’t have to try hard to avoid reality. We live behind high walls, electric fences. Our car windows are up, doors locked. The MultiChoice VUKA! Awards dare you to open your eyes. We dare you to see, to hear and to feel. We dare you to make a commercial that encourages viewers to buy into humanity and not a product. We dare you to put your heart on your sleeve and move people. Come on, we dare you. If you cast your eyes over a list of the people who have dared to make MultiChoice VUKA! Awards it reads like a South African filmmakers guide to Who’s who. Luminaries like Keith Rose, Miles Goodall, Sunu Gonera, Cindy Lee, Kevin Fitzgerald, Mike Middleton, Werner Maritz, Sergio and Lizelle Mes pop out at you. Whether they initially entered as newcomers in the hope of launching their careers, or as professionals flexing their muscles; they all hold some things in common; the daring, the drive and the determination to be successful in this industry. “The MultiChoice VUKA! Awards aims to encourage South Africans to focus beyond the lens, creating empathy, inspiring action, building national pride and, ultimately, generating income and awareness for the charities”, says Marilyn Watson, corporate communications manager, MultiChoice. You can hear the same note of daring in the voices of last year’s winners. Best Overall Newcomer winner, Leon Von Solms says that participating in the MultiChoice VUKA! Awards gave him the confidence and the affirmation he needed to continue following his dream. Best Newcomer Director Matthew Bilton says creating a MultiChoice VUKA! is a rite of passage for any young filmmaker because it gives you a strong understanding of the production...
Represent! LIVE EARTH – this Sat 07.07.07.
It’s all happening this special day 7 of the 7th of 07 – here’s the final line-up – even Naomi is in the house… We want to know who’s going to Live Earth and who you’re excited to see – please write a comment at the bottom of the post. Joss as a headline with our faves UB40 and Zola, plus superb talent of Angelique Kidjo and Vusi Mahlasela and all the others – it all adds up to be a proudly SA and Africa gig – 24 hours, 2 billion viewers – wow. It gets a big thumbs up. We hope the people… Represent! JOSS STONE, UB40, ANGELIQUE KIDJO, BAABA MAAL, SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR, DANNY K, THE PARLOTONES,VUSI MAHLASELA & ZOLA LINE UP FOR LIVE EARTH SOUTH AFRICA. R371.00: Retractable Blocks A to J and ZA to ZB raised seating R346.00: Golden Circle Standing, R269.00: Retractable Blocks K to Z raised seating R269.00: Floor Standing, Disabled Platform R191.00: Mezzanine raised seating Tickets Available at www.computicket.com Live Earth SA, now staged at the Coca-Cola Dome, is part of the 24 Hour, 7 Continent Concert Series to Combat Global Warming which begins in Sydney on July 7 2007, and continues across 7 continents with events in Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Johannesburg, London, Hamburg, and Rio de Janeiro, before concluding in New York. The concerts will be broadcast to over 2 Billion people world-wide. The Johannesburg leg of the series will feature British soul, R&B, and blues singer, songwriter, JOSS STONE. Joss has sold over nine million albums worldwide, with her electrifying mix of vintage soul, ’70s-style R&B, Motown harmonies and jazzy grooves, and won numerous awards, including 2 Brits and a Grammy. She also holds the record for the youngest female to top the UK Chart, and the highest debut for a British solo female on the U.S charts. Along with Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin and U2 lead singer Bono, Joss joined Band Aid 20 in 2004, to benefit Darfur, and also performed at 2005’s Live 8 concert in London. Fellow Brits UB40 will also be performing. Their combined single and album sales exceed 70 million, featuring 51 hit singles, and they’ve had No.1 hits in almost every known chart. The group has won the highly prestigious Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement, joined other music greats for a historic performance at LIVE 8, and were nominated for Best Reggae Album at last year’s Grammy Awards. The eight self-taught musicians have combined musical excellence with social conscience in a way that remains unrivalled in this or any other era. Beninese four-time Grammy-nominated, singer, composer, and performer ANGELIQUE KIDJO will be one of...
Tumi’s call to artists, brands, people, Africans
It’s about time us Africans did something to stand up for our continent and people rather than waiting on others to do it for us. Not that we are unappreciative, we just believe that in addition to the global efforts for Africa, it would mean so much more if we were initiating action ourselves. One of Represent’s favourite musicians and MC’s Tumi Molekane has decided to do just that. In an open letter, Tumi is asking for aknowledgement, support, cooperation and help to put together an event highlighting the Darfur region’s horrific strife and ongoing humanitarian disaster. Some may mutter that charity starts at home, but if you know anything about the situation you’ll know that they need all the help they can get before it’s too late. If you believe that we have the power to make a difference to our continent, read his letter below and share it with everyone you know, particularly those who can get involved and make a difference. We’re behind you Tumi. As always. Let us know how we can help. You can see satellite images from Amnesty International and catch eyewitness reports here. An open letter from Tumi For Space, for Dignity, for Recognition, for Survival, for Darfur Peace folks, Since 2003 the Darfur region in Sudan has been plunged into a bloody and disturbing conflict that has seen 200,000 people killed and 2 million displaced according to U.N figures. The conflict has many interwoven causes; from the structural inequality between the centre of the country around the Nile and the peripheral areas such as Darfur, to environmental calamity, political opportunism and also absurd Arab-African regional politics. The cause of the conflict is not the purpose of this letter. It is the devastating effects of the conflict that drive me to this point. In scenes frightfully resembling Rwanda, villages have been depopulated, looted, burnt to the ground, non-combatants have suffered dismemberment and brutal killings at the hand of militias. Rape has also been employed as a weapon in this conflict, women are raped in the open to humiliate them as they are ostracized and culturally considered unclean. “ITS HAPPENING AGAIN, ARE WE GOING TO JUST MAKE MOVIES ABOUT IT ONCE THE MURDERERS HAVE THEIR FILL” For the longest time I thought, these things get sorted out by governments and leaders with the profile of Kofi Annan and that all i could do about it is pray that my government was somehow involved in trying to secure a lasting peace agreement that could be honored by the warring parties. For others the apathy is a worsening illness that sees many desensitized to a chilling numbness by...
Have you had a rough May? Fight it! Move on!
Today is the 1 June – Fabulous. Put May behind you and MOVE ON! Editorista has rare esoteric moments where she goes a little mushy, lets go a bit of the cynic and sceptic that are close at hand and gets a little deep. While having a chat with a friend about mind power and then researching it a bit, she came across this list of “70 Things to Always Remember”. A couple of lines in the list, though simplistic and cheesy, really hit home for her and she wanted to share them with all the Representers today! So if you or someone close to you is going through a rough patch- be it business, family, matters of the heart or you’re just plain miserable, angry, frustrated or blaming others or the world, read the list or send the link on for some cheese and biscuit therapy. If any of these hit home for you, let us know 🙂 . But whatever you do – MOVE ON!!! The list comes from Danielle Hollister of Ezine articles – click here. Photo by one of the wisest people I know – Ipps K. 70 Things To Always Remember 1. To the world you might be one person, but to one person you might be the world. 2. Your presence is a present to the world. 3. You are unique and one of a kind. 4. Your life can be what you want it to be. 5. Take the days just one at a time. 6. Count your blessings, not your troubles. 7. You will make it through whatever comes along. 8. Within you are so many answers. 9. Do not put limits on yourself. 10. Decisions are too important to leave to chance. 11. Reach for your peak, your goal and your prize. 12. Nothing wastes more energy than worrying. 13. The longer one carries a problem the heavier it gets. 14. Do not take things too seriously. 15. Live a life of serenity, not a life of regrets. 16. Remember that a little love goes a long way. Remember that a lot … goes forever. 17. Remember that friendship is a wise investment. 18. Life’s treasure are people together. 19. Realize that it is never too late. 20. Do ordinary things in an extraordinary way. 21. Have hearth and hope and happiness. 22. Life is 10% of what happens to you, and 90% of how you respond to it. 23. Don’t be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily. 24. Take the time to wish upon a star. 25. Words are windows to the heart. 26. You are richer today if you...
Join the Green Drinks group in Joburg
We’re hoping there are at least a few activist tree-huggers in our readership who are concerned about the environment and willing to do something about it. (I know at least three of you 😉 personally) If you live in Joburg and would like a chance to have a good yak on eco issues and at the same time meet some like-minded peeps, get to Joburg’s first GREEN DRINKS session next Wednesday. BTW it’s free – but please note if you will be attending you need to holler at the organisers to let them know you’re coming (see below). The Mail and Guardian give you more info here. Here’s the scoop: Green drinks groups are active in 224 cities around the world, including Cape Town and Stellenbosch and now a new group is starting up in Joburg. Green drinks was started in the UK back in 1989 and calls itself an informal, organic, self-organising network where anyone environmentally minded can go along meet like-minded people and get chatting over drinks. Green Drinks Johannesburg is launching on Wed 30 May at Primi Forum in Melrose Arch and is being organised by former Big Brother housemate and eco-entrepreneur Irvan Damon. “Green drinks is a small beginning and gives a voice to those wanting to make a difference,” says Damon. The events will deal with topical, relevant issues that affect South Africans, from our current energy crisis to debates around what effect the car you drive has on climate change, says Damon. Each month there will be a mini-panel to discuss the latest trends and developments in the environmental sector, ensuring that South Africans aren’t left behind as the green cause advances globally. “Any kind of forum where environmental organisations can get together to share information and ways to help one another is very important,” says Jeunesse Park, founder and CEO of Food and Trees for Africa, “and it’s nice to attend that sort of thing in an informal setting.” Read a full press release over here More details on http://www.greendrinks.org/ or contact Irvan Damon at irvand[at]mweb.co.za or call him on 073 692 7386...
Digital solution for Zim Crisis: Mukuru.com
Interesting… an sms/cell phone service has been set up by enterprising Zimbabweans and South African’s in London that enables UK based Zimbabweans and South Africans to easily help their cash-strapped friends and family at home. It’s a voucher-based system – cash is paid over in the UK for a specific service like petrol or fuel at a garage, friends and family are sent an sms voucher to redeem the goods. So in other words, you can buy petrol for your family in Southern Africa in pounds and all they have to do is show the voucher at the garage and fill up with petrol. Author CK Prahalad talks about exactly this kind of notion, how creative digital solutions can help the developing world, specifically in reducing poverty. It’s a great concept – well done guys. Let’s not get bogged down but look for solutions instead. See Makuru here. BBC Africa has more here: Text messages from abroad have never been received so eagerly by cash-strapped Zimbabweans. The “beep beep” signals an end to hours spent queuing at petrol stations. “Hey… you have been sent a Mukuru Voucher for 40 litres of Petrol from…” reads the message. A voucher number follows which allows the recipient to swap the pin number for coupons redeemable at certain garages. This is all the handiwork of Mukuru.com – a website set up by Zimbabweans in the UK to help their fellow countrymen in the diaspora pay for petrol, satellite TV or transfer money to their friends and relatives at home. It properly got off the ground last year, and its customers are steadily growing as news of it spreads. [Click here for rest of BBC Africa article]...
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