Three amazing Venda films from Mboswobeni

Read: 7488

     Film & Theatre

Mboswobeni Films has just made history in the film industry with the release of three indigenous movies, 30-Cent IV - The Mechanic, 30-Cent V - The Venda Boys, and 30-Cent VI - Original Venda Hustler.

The three hard-hitting movies are the products of an internationally recognised filmmaker, Mboswobeni “30 Cent” Mulugana, who originally hails from Folovhodwe village.

“The Mboswobeni team have really worked hard and with determination,” Mulugana said. “These three movies are the result of the experiences we gained through the years.”

He said that The Mechanic tells the story of a motor mechanic who was expelled from the vehicle workshop because of fraud and theft of car parts. “The man was compromising his work, because of his love of money,” Mulugana said. “So he decided to open his mechanic workshop at home. The problem started when he collected money from a client known as Phiriphiri (Chillies) and couldn't fix his bakkie.”

In The Venda Boys, viewers are invited to follow the story of a young boy who failed his matric and was not eager to go back to school. “He took to hustling as his new path, which always led him to trouble-making, the kind of behaviour that made his community suffer,” he said. “He misled his peers into doing the same mischievous acts. They were always up to no good and the community grew tired of him. He was then discovered by Mr 30-Cent, a top Venda mafia member, who used him to do his dirty work. The two worked together in their mischievous deeds but the consequences are not always good.”

The idea for the film Original Venda Hustler was conceived some two years ago when Mulugana had visited New York City, in America. “It was inspired by Canal Street; it's a lively street,” he said.

In the film, a Venda young film student finds himself in New York City. He needs money and he has to find quick ways to make large amounts of money. So he learns some money-making tricks from the Canal Street crowd.

“After his studies, he gets back to South Africa and tries using his new tricks to make money here at home,” he said. “He wants to see if his newly learnt tricks can still work in rural Venda. This film was shot in New York City and Venda. It's a good movie across two cultural landscapes.”

So far, this enthusiastic filmmaker has taken his movies to different national and international film festivals. He can be contacted on 072 847 8990. 

Follow him on:  

By: Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.