In the summer and autumn of 2024 I made two trips to Cape Town, South Africa, to film a series of participatory documentary shorts. The first screening of these pieces is happening in two days at the Bertha House Cinema in Cape Town. Unfortunately I can’t travel out there to attend the screening but I hope it goes well.
It will be interesting to see what journeys these films have, and which academic conferences and essay film festivals they will screen at.
It was an absolute pleasure to film with the eleven different participants. Seeing Cape Town through their eyes made for a much deeper experience than anything I’d have had bumbling about like a tourist. That said, I did manage some touristic bumbling, during which I went to see the humans watching penguins at Simons Town Beach and climbed Table Mountain the hard way, which is something I really want to do again.
The research project will also be publishing an edited collection of essays and a book of interviews with artists seeking to represent the unspectacular, everyday aspect of a number of cities.
Project link: Imagining the Ordinary City
