An online short-film festival, with films representing how students have been indirectly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, was recently held by the third-year multimedia students at the Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography (Stellenbosch Academy).
This was according to Wessie van der Westhuizen, head of the multimedia design studies department at the Stellenbosch Academy.
The short films, which combine poetry, film, animation, motion graphics and special effects, are collectively titled Poetic Apocalypse, according to Van der Westhuizen. They premiered on an interactive website designed by Van der Westhuizen on 28 August.
The graphics for Poetic Apocalypse, a collection of short films created by the third-year multimedia students at the Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography, were designed by Wessie van der Westhuizen, head of the multimedia design studies department at the Stellenbosch Academy. SCREENSHOT: Instagram/Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography
“Poetic Apocalypse looks at the past, present and future through 11 unique, individual stories relating to what is going on in the world right now, in the pandemic,” said Tamarah Pereira-Surtee, who produced the film, Try to praise the mutilated world, for Poetic Apocalypse.
Alternative screenings
The annual premiere for short films created by the third-year multimedia students at Stellenbosch Academy is usually a red carpet event held at the Pulp Cinema in the Neelsie Student Centre, according to Van der Westhuizen. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the premiere had to be reconceptualised, which resulted in the use of an online platform, he said.
The premiere for the short films created by third-year multimedia students at at the Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography could not be held at Pulp Cinema this year, due to Covid-19 restrictions, according to Wessie van der Westhuizen, head of the multimedia design studies department at the Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography. However, the Poetic Apocalypse website was used to replicate the feeling of being in a cinema. The format of the website took into account the “new normal” that viewers are experiencing, whilst engaging with the viewing experience from home, explained Van der Westhuizen. PHOTO: Sibulela Bolarinwa
“We almost wanted to recapture the sense of the intimacy a viewer experiences by being invisible when sitting in the dark cinema,” said Van der Westhuizen, on the vision behind the interactive website.
The viewer’s experience
Poetic Apocalypse allows the viewer to choose which story they want to watch, without being prompted to do so, explained Van der Westhuizen. While the greater apocalyptic theme was kept consistent through the look and feel of the website, emphasis was placed on the fact that each film is a new story, experience and interpretation of our current point in humanity, he said.
Poetry often romanticises emotions such as grief, love, goodwill, benevolence and hardships. These emotions have become familiar to most people since the onset of the pandemic, according to Wessie van der Westhuizen, head of the multimedia design studies department at the Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography. PHOTO: Sibulela Bolarinwa
“My concept came through envisioning a party scene, which would be the last party before the end of the world,” said Anne Cilliers, who produced the film Wederkoms for Poetic Apocalypse.
Cilliers told MatieMedia that she hoped her film would inspire viewers to be themselves and to be comfortable with owning their truth.
Adapting to the times
The pandemic has pushed many film festivals and institutions to find alternative screening methods, according to Lanna Lamberts, student affairs officer at AFDA Cape Town.
“We hosted a drive-in cinema for our film festival screening at the end of 2020, and this year our mid-year screening had to be held virtually as well,” said Lamberts.