Samuel’s year that was
LITTLE FALLS – With two Saftas under his belt, Enver Samuel aims to create another award-winning documentary.
Local independent director/producer and reality content director, Enver Samuel, reflects on the year and looks forward to creating his new documentary next year.
This year, Samuel attended film festivals in Rotterdam, Berlin and Toronto’s Hot Docs documentary festival. In Berlin, Samuel was also invited to a workshop held by actress, Meryl Streep.
“With the level of work that you see, you cannot help but be inspired and want to reach higher and achieve that level,” said Samuel.
One of the biggest highlights of his year came in April, when Samuel’s documentary Indians Can’t Fly, won two South African Film and Television Awards (Saftas) for best achievement in directing a short documentary and best short documentary. The documentary tells the story of Ahmed Timol, an anti-apartheid activist who lived in Roodepoort.
Samuel spoke about his win, “It was a nice shock and it was nice to be recognised for my work.”
He spent the rest of the year working on reality shows, such as the Great South African Bake Off, SA’s Got Talent and Now or Never.
He is currently working on a cooking show called Van Skaapstert tot Camembert with Marlene van der Westhuizen, which will air in January on Via, channel 147 on DStv.
In the new year, Samuel wants to take his experiences and channel them into his new documentary, The Battlefield of Love, which tells the story of three members of uMkhonto we Sizwe or MK, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC).
Watch the teaser trailer for The Battlefield of Love
Samuel will work on raising funds for the documentary, while he continues his duties on the bursary panel for the National Film and Video Foundation, as a Safta judge and a KZN film commission mentor.
“It is hard work. Most people don’t realise how much hard work gets put in behind the scenes because you just see the glamorous part of TV. It is not uncommon to work from 8am to 10.30pm.”
To keep his sanity, Samuel said he enjoys running and cycling. He completed this year’s Telkom 947 Cycle Challenge in under three hours.
Details: Enver Samuel, ems@eject.co.za
