Press Release – Palace of Bone

Claire Angelique, Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year for Film 2010, screens her Jhb premiere of her new feature film PALACE OF BONE on FRIDAY 5 AUGUST 7PM at the BIOSCOPE INDEPENDENT CINEMA, 6 FOX STREET (MAIN STREET LIFE) which showed to rave reviews at the recent National Arts Festival, Grahamstown 2011. PALACE of BONE, is the documentation over a couple of months of the strangely unstable day to day life of Faith – a scarred but brazen and quirky twenty five year old. Filmed entirely on cellular phones by her devoted best friend, the enigmatic Po, (who is rarely seen in front of the camera except in reflections, turning her back to Mecca…), we are allowed a voyeuristic peek into their friend’s squats, downtown bars and are privy to bedroom confessions. That is all until we realise that the ominous sequence of Faith’s actions due to likely severe psychological problems have forced Faith to escape the city and take to the hills. What we as an audience get to experience is Po’s last days with her comrade in the Palace of Bone; a euphemism for both the backstreets, backrooms and backdoors of the city of Durban and the cache of queer insights and outlooks of Faith, a girl who feels she is bigger than her world and thus has some rather unorthodox answers to curb her frustration. The film ends with us only sort of certain that Faith was last seen on August 15 2008, smoking a joint beside rusty train tracks north of Botha’s Hill. What we are certain of is that there are six dead bodies in Durban harbour…. The film will be introduced by Claire Angelique who will be available to answer questions after the screening

 ”After the intensity and catharsis of My Black Little Heart, her new film Palace of Bone is a step away from savagely personal. In fact it’s anything but autobiographical. Still, Angelique’s trademark dark, beautiful imagery pervades, as do the thematic obsessions with the underbelly and the underdog.” – Cue

 “To be assaulted by a South African film made by a young Durban girl which is totally original and unique and which is made with a total respect and understanding of film language is very rare, She is one the best that we have in South Africa, and her talent should not be ignored.” -Trevor Steele Taylor, film curator National Arts Festival, Grahamstown

‘’Claire Angelique’s extraordinary Palace of Bone will undoubtedly create a far-reaching impact. Although it is an unconventional film, it is rooted in mainstream popular culture. In particular reality television and the technological devices that have engendered a culture of (self) documentation. Angelique enjoys blurring the lines between fact and fiction, so the reality/documentary mode suits her aesthetic well…. In a way Palace of Bone is a twisted whodunit. But there are so many levels of meaning in this fascinating mockumentary.’’ Mary Corrigall – The Sunday Independent

Good for the heart

Elvis Presley once said that only fools fall in love … … and those fools foolish enough to be hoodwinked by Cupid to fall for the mistress of film know what the king was talking about. On a cold stormy night you sit alone in your bedroom and dream of her, of what she will one day look like if you are ever-blessed enough to meet her. Then one day when you least expect it she comes walking right into your mind. Strutting blood-red high-heels that stab holes in your wit. Your stomach is aflutter and your pulse is racing. You sit down and spend hours writing, you spend hours with her. Getting to know her, learning every inch of her and still she surprises you. You laugh at the smallest thing and you lay awake at night thinking about her as she rests seductively in your imagination. Then the months slip by as if tied to a silk rope and you print her out. The time has come to share her with the world. As these things happen the moment comes when you have turned your back and she catches the eye of a producer from across the bar. Now it’s not long until she slips from your fingers and her pages get folded by the clumsy thumbs of a producer. He takes her to the biggest parties. He swings her around and dresses her in the finest dresses and jewellery the town has to offer. This is how it happens, but she is only the flavour of the week to him. Soon he finds a new shiny thing to play with and he leaves your girl on the shelf. Then one day you get a call, it’s her. She wants to come back to you, but there is someone else. The jealousy bubbles in your blood like a cauldron. The producer passed her along to him along with a box of other girls, but he likes her. He likes her a lot. He is the director and he says he understands she is not his, but he wants to share. “Okay, I’ll share, but she is mine.” you reply. Yes, sure. Whatever you need to believe. He strips her down and leaves her bare in front of the camera. No matter how hard you try to keep her pieces together he makes her unravel. It hurts and it breaks you. If you only knew the worst was still to come. When he is done with her, she gets passed on to the audience and is made to entertain them. Over and over again until the light that made her shine starts to fade and they lose interest. The music turns to silence and the lights in the theatre go black and they all leave. All but you. What fool would do this to himself?

Also read this article on Artslink.
http://www.artlink.co.za/news_article.htm?contentID=27491

Frankly My Dear, I Don’t Give a Damn

Damsels in distress. A nineteenth century phenomenon or a thoroughly modern idea?

Classic movies such as The River of No Return and Pretty Woman see female characters being rescued by their knight in shining armour and swept off into the sunset with their prince charming. It’s a popular narrative. Just read or watch any fairy tale. Cinderella is saved from a life of torture at the hands of her evil step mother by the handsome prince with a dainty glass slipper. And not to forget Sleeping Beauty who was awoken from her eternal slumber by a dashing prince on a white steed. However, the fabulous young women making up the cast and crew of Pale Republic are anything but damsels in distress, although some of the characters may feign to be in order to have things go their way. Although we have to give big ups to the males on set (they are awesome, of course). It has to be the female members of the Pale Republic team that keep things entertaining. Never a dull moment with the freak tarts! I mean, how many people can say they created an entire country in one night, inspired, of course, by the decadent wonders of the Cafe Capellini’s Greek Chocolate Cake.

Well, it’s all in a day’s work for Lindsay Basson, Odette Kemp and me; Melissa Sydie. We have so much fun on set, often beginning with an impromptu photo shoot in the Sunridge Village Shopping Centre. And that’s not even a tenth of the strange and wonderful adventures we have encountered since we started filming last year.

So, although we appreciate your chivalry gentlemen, we can take care of ourselves and look fantastic doing it! To the fabulous girls of Pale Republic, I salute you and Lemony Snicket.
Melissa @ dollparts

Interview – Claire Angelique

Claire Angelique on her relationship with film.

Durban film maker, Claire Angelique says that film is like a monkey on her back, a creative need that borders on addiction. “You know those dreams you have that haunt you the whole day it kind of becomes like that. It’s a gnawing agitation that you can’t shake. ”

She remembers the first film she saw as an eight year old girl, Silkwood. An eighties melodrama about a woman getting purposely exposed to plutonium by her employers. “It was good film to linger in my head even at the age of like 8. I’ve always had a morbid fascination with atomic power, nuclear technology, retro death.”
These inspirations can be traced to her directorial debut, My Black Little Heart, a film that deals with the shadier side of life in her home town. “I just wanted to make something modern and also to serve as a document about a certain time period in my life”. The subject matter masterfully put through the lens by Slumdog Millionaire’s cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle earned her Standard Bank’s Young Artist of the year award and put all eyes on this young film maker.

 Even so Angelique says she doesn’t feel any pressure or judgement while writing. “I just want to get it right but it keeps going wrong, you know and then there’s something really good about that.” She is known for her dark and very personal narratives that can be shocking, but is such an honest expression of emotion that audiences can’t help but relate.

Her next film, Palace of Bone, premiers at this year’s National Arts Festival in June before it moves on to the international festival circuit.  Angelique is also ready with her next screenplay, 888, but finds herself in “the hunt for a great producer”, a crucial piece in doing it right. 

Charles @ Dollparts

This article is also available on Artslink:
http://www.artlink.co.za/news_article.htm?contentID=27103
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Friday, in April.

The ANC is laughing at COPE. Burglars are peeking between curtains to find housewives desperately watching last nights 7de Laan. Grillers at your local Spur are sweating over Monday Burger Specials and children are vandalising DA posters with no other political motivation than the simple joy of drawing a penis on Helen Zille’s face.  

Quietly we sit. Clipping images together, writing down these moments, waiting in silent rebellion. This is South Africa after all the soccer balls have gone flat.

Dramatic Irony

I wish I could tell you that we are alright, but after last Sunday I’ve been tormented by the images I’ve seen and fear I might expire in seven days. Probably not, but that is the effect that George Van Rooyen’s powerful and emotional performance had on me. Talent can be scary.

Luckily our new face, KK, was brave enough to keep her cool with fists hammering the desk and spit flying through the air as she gets verbally assaulted by a young man at the end of his tether.

Charles @ Dollparts

You are Your People.

It’s true much more home-grown entertainment has been filling our screens. Often I can’t help but feel that I’ve seen this one before. Mostly it’s because the stories are portrayed in such a generic way that it might have well been made in another country. Few dare to delve into the guts of the issues that face every South African, every day; the highs and low unique to us taxi-driving, braaivleis-eating rugby lovers. Even less dare to point a finger at our contemporary government and their dealings. We need to see stories coloured in African shades to better understand ourselves, to see that others in this country go through the same things you do and to find love for those things that annoy us about living here. Film and television carry that power if only we’d dare to wield it.

Click on this link to read the entire ArtsLink Article:
http://www.artlink.co.za/news_article.htm?contentID=26498

On the Road

There is a beat ringing in my ears as we leave Pretoria. It’s so loud the noise of the road drowns away and suddenly I’m alone. Deaf for the entire trip back to my home town with nothing to keep me company, but my thoughts and this beat. Memories start to unfold in my mind like a giant origami crane. I think of the moment I started tapping away on my keyboard attempting to give a shape to the story we now call “Pale Republic”. I’ll be honest the aim was to write something with a broad appeal, but the more I worked on it the more it became clear to me that you already have enough people giving you what you want, presenting you life from the surface view where no matter how fierce the storm things always returns to a placid stillness in the end. Is it possible that sometimes you want someone to give you something that’s not so perfect? A real moment of struggle to validate who you really are as a South African no matter where you find yourself in the world. The beat aligns with the tyres as they sing down the N1 and I realize we will answer that question together in a few months.

Charles @ Dollparts

The Party Scene

Sex, drugs and smudged mascara: just another Sunday night shoot for the Pale Republic gang. Let’s be honest, there is never anything average about these famed end of weekend shoots. While the rest of the world recover from heavy drinking binges or head off to church, the cast and crew of Pale Republic find ourselves delving into the dark mysterious world of what it might feel like to chop a couple of lines and stumble drunkenly down a eerily lit passage way. Okay, so the cocaine was actually Eno and the mascara and eyeliner smeared across my face had less to do with the intake of alcohol and more to do with Lindsay and I splashing water onto my eyes and rubbing vigorously. Ah, the glitz and glamour of show business. Did I mention that I spent a considerable amount of time lying beside a toilet on the bathroom floor? However, despite several mishaps (i.e.: Odette’s car trouble forcing her to leave us after Charles’ failed attempt at acting mechanic; and our distinct lack of party goers for our, er, party scene) it was truly heart warming to be reunited after the brief interlude of the Festive Season. Excitement is mounting as we draw nearer to the conclusion of all our hard work. After all, that’s why Sundays are for shooting.

Melissa @ dollparts

 

The Road to Candy Mountain.

Drum roll please! Introducing the EPIC Nangamso Mtyingizane and his music video debut. And we were there to revel in the madness that unfolded at Candy’s on a sunny afternoon just this Saturday. It’s mildly disconcerting to discover how quickly it all zooms past you and you’re left feeling a little bit like Wile Coyote desperately wondering how the Road Runner managed to run rings around you. Cartoonish psychosis is what probably most aptly describes my first experience behind the camera. And I loved every minute of it. When Charles approached me with the offer to AD on a music video I jumped at the chance. After a fortnight of desperately attempting to locate and coerce six willing and open minded lasses to assist in the loveliness of the music video and ready to beg, borrow and steal to establish costumes we did it. Despite ending up with 5 girls instead of 6 due to last minute cancellations and a frantic day of pulling together the craziest outfits we could find, I reckon we did a brilliant job. The girls, Kristi, Bianca, Nakita, Rebecca and Semon, looked stunning, Candy’s proved to be the perfect venue and what we managed to achieve in a mere six hours, I dare say, was admirable. And Epic himself? A truly humble and amazingly talented guy. What can I say? Never a dull moment when you’re hanging with Charles and Roaan and the gang. I wait in anticipation to witness the release of the final product.

PS. If you are not a fan on facebook yet. Now might be the time. 😉

Melissa @ Dollparts