In the Blasse Vannie Carp documentary, director Lauren Scholz explores how people of color in the Cape embraced the language and made it their own.
Although some people believe that Afrikaans is a dying language, there are signs that this is not the case.
Director Lauren Scholz's documentary about the hip-hop group Blasse Vannie Carp explores how people of color in the Cape embraced the language and made it their own.
“As it's said in the documentary, [it] “I felt safe and proud that people were embracing their language and not making it feel second-rate or stupid or anything like that,” Scholz said. The Citizen.
“It's not just white people's jargon. In a time of oppression, we were able to take it and make it our own.”
showmax documentary brass vanny carp It tells the story of a hip-hop group from Cape Town in the 1990s who performed a rap known as “Afrikaaps.''
Also read: 'Brasse Vannie Kaap': Relive the '90s hip-hop revolution in new documentary
african apse
Afrikaaps, also known as Karps, is a language created in the settler colony of South Africa. Some claim that the African Aps predates the arrival of the Dutch.
“It's also about taking ownership of the language, because Afrikaans is a dialect of Afrikaans created by people of color themselves, and I think that's very important,” Scholz said. The Citizen.
“While it may be considered the language of the oppressors in South Africa, the fact that the colored people of Cape Town took it and made it their own is a very special and very important thing that this group has done. I think that's the case.”
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Brass Vanney Carp Document
Brasse Vannie Kaap (BVK) is a hip-hop group from Cape Town's Cape Flats. The original members of the group are Deon Daniels (Lady D), the late Ashley Titus (Mr. Phat), Roger Heunis (Hamma), and Enver Petersen (DJ E20).
Bboys Cheeze, Baby-L, and Levi joined the group soon after they started playing live. DJ Azul [real name Ricardo Nunes] I joined the group later.
This documentary pays homage to the group's influence. Scholz said the initial idea was to tell the story of the group's founding member, DJ Ready D.
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“When we put together the concept for 'Ready D,' we realized it needed to be a documentary series. Of course, it would be a bit of a high-end concept and the budget would be quite large,” says the first-time filmmaker. he said.
There was a music channel that was considering picking up the Ready D documentary, but that deal fell through due to a change in the channel's management.
Scholz's brother-in-law and BVK member DJ Azul had been sharing old footage of the group on social media when the idea to tell the group's story arose.
“I saw people reacting on Facebook and the reactions were completely emotional and it lit a spark in my heart.”
She was rushed, prompted by the Silwerskelmfees rule that those who are granted funding for a film must screen it at the next Silwerskelmfees festival the year after they secure funding. I worked on document creation.
“It basically took us eight months to do all of this before we actually got the money, the budget, the green light, and it was a lot of work,” she said.
Mr. Scholz is the founder of Dara Films and has been producing television commercials for 15 years. A few years ago, she switched her production activities to screenwriting and began working as a story liner for kykNET TV novels. arenzfrei Diepe Waters and.
brass vanny carp ' is her debut feature documentary.
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funding
Scholz first pitched the idea for the film at Silverskelm 2023. “When you're making a film and pitching a concept, it's important to understand your audience, and who you're pitching to in terms of commissions,” she said.
“When I saw that KykNet had an open call for Silwerskermfees, I also realized that this would be a great fit as KykNet is an Afrikaans channel.”
Much of the documentary's archival footage was obtained from KykNet, as the group performed at many Afrikaans festivals.
There are also interviews with David Isaacs of Joe Barber fame, Oscar Petersen, Karen Zoid, Kurt Dalen, François Van Coke and Valiant Swart.
Due to BVK's size and the way it operated, dancers and contributors came and went to the group, making it a challenge for Scholz and her team to keep track of them.
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Hama's absence
The lack of voice from Hamma, who left the group in 2001, made the documentary a little off-putting. The artist initially discussed it with Scholz, but later asked him to remove it from the film.
“That was very disappointing. As a documentary filmmaker, you try to be as objective as possible, and we all know that true objectivity doesn't exist, but you still strive for it. “I'm working hard,” the coach said.
“I wanted things to be balanced in his opinion. I wanted him to bring some kind of different angle to challenge us, the viewers.
“He cut corners, and the movie couldn't portray that.” When asked to talk about his interactions with Hama and the feeling he got during the interview, Scholz paused.
“I'm not going to say anything to avoid any beef myself,” she said with a laugh.
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The existence of Mr. Fat
What these movies have in common is the presence of frontman Mr. Fat. The flamboyant performer passed away in 2007 at the age of 36.
“Everyone I interviewed went on and on about how great of a person Mr. Fat was. He had so much more to offer people. [speaking of him]. What really struck me was that different people from different backgrounds and races were saying phenomenal things about Mr. Fatt, showing that it wasn't just lip service. ”
“I realized that he must have had a very unusual, enigmatic personality. He seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime kind of person.”
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