Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
31 January 2020 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Johan Roux
Short film
Mpendulo Myeni won the iamAFRICA Short Film Competition with his production, EYELASH. He will attend the red-carpet screening of his film in Los Angeles in the US later in February.

When two childhood best friends fall in love, they are too afraid to tell each other; blowing an eyelash becomes the only way to realise their wish. This is the plot of an award-winning film that will receive a red-carpet screening at the Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) in Los Angeles in February. 

Mpendulo Myeni, UFS alumnus and recently appointed Assistant Officer in the Department of Architecture at the University of the Free State (UFS), won the prestigious iamAFRICA Short Film Competition with his production, Eyelash.

Honoured among African filmmakers

Myeni says his love for films comes from his mother. “You could say she instilled in me a passion for films. I remember when I was younger, my five siblings and I always loved watching superhero movies. As a gift, my late mother got us a membership card at the video store chain. She started a tradition that after school, we would go by the video store and rent movies.”

From being exposed to cult classics during his childhood to developing this passion into a degree in Drama and later Film, and now winning this prestigious international award, is a dream come true for Myeni. 

“I knew God would guide me to the place where the content I make, would garner attention on an international platform. However, I did not know that my first public film release would draw such attention. So, all the glory goes to God on this one.”

“I would also never have been able to do this without my partner, co-writer, producer, and cinematographer Faith Riyano; the cast and crew of Eyelash; and the amazing support of the lecturers and staff in the UFS Department of Film and Visual Media.”

Myeni says he is honoured to be recognised among his fellow African filmmakers. 

Finding new storytelling talent

The iamAFRICA Short Film Competition is a YouTube project in partnership with the Pan African Film Festival and The Africa Narrative. They aimed to find new storytelling talent based in Sub-Saharan Africa and received more than 160 submissions from across the African continent.

Criteria were, among others, that the film should be in English or have English subtitles, it must be less than 30 minutes, and it should be shot entirely on the African continent.

Michelle van Gilder, founder of The Africa Narrative, says: “The African continent is bursting with creative talent waiting to be discovered by the rest of the world, which is why this initiative is so exciting. These young directors represent the excellence of Africa’s filmmaking community, and it’s a joy to see their stories brought to a global audience.”

Marc Brogdon, Director of Marketing for PAFF, says Eyelash beautifully captures the excellence and artistry of African filmmaking that the competition aimed to identify and showcase to the rest of the world. “This is just the beginning of what is sure to be an exciting journey in bringing your film to a wider audience,” he congratulated Myeni. 

Learning from the best in Los Angeles

Myeni is scheduled to fly to Los Angeles later in February to participate in a day of workshops, production training and networking with the entertainment industry at YouTube Space LA. 

He says: “I am eager to learn about what it takes to make the type of films that are on par with these industry giants. I am excited to pick their brains and learn from their blueprints. I am eager to learn the process of filmmaking from them, as this will enrich my own work.”

In a statement issued by the iamAFRICA project, PAFF states that they believe film and art can lead to a better understanding and foster communication between peoples of diverse cultures, races, and lifestyles, while at the same time serve as a vehicle to initiate dialogue on the important issues of our time.


News Archive

UFS cardiac team leading with project
2017-05-31

 Description: Cardiac team read more Tags: Cardiac team read more

Prof Peter Schultheiss of the Charité University in Berlin,
Germany, visited the Robert WM Frater Centre for
Cardiovascular Research at the UFS for a study regarding
cardiomyopathy, a significant cause of fatal heart failure
among Africans. From the left are Dr Glen Taylor,
Dr Danie Buys, Prof Makoali Makatoko,
Prof Schultheiss and Prof Francis Smit.
Photo: Rulanzen Martin

A team of cardiac doctors associated with the Robert WM Frater Cardiovascular Research Centre at the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Faculty of Health Sciences has commenced with a pioneering research project regarding idiopathic dilating cardiomyopathy.  

An Afrocentric research focus
Prof Francis Smit, Head of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the UFS and Head of the Frater Centre, describes dilating cardiomyopathy as a heart muscle disease that is quite common, particularly among people of African descent. The disease weakens the heart muscle, which in turn leads to heart failure.

“To date there is no curable treatment for this condition and 50% of patients that have shown heart failure, died within a period of five years. The causes of this condition have been unknown in the majority of patients. But over the past few years major strides have been made where virus infections of the heart muscle or myocarditis have been identified as a possible underlying cause. Various genetic diseases are also linked to it,” says Prof Smit.

International collaborations ensure success
According to Prof Smit, the project is being run in conjunction with Prof Heinz-Peter Schultheiss of the Charité University and the Institute for Cardiac Diagnostics and Therapy in Berlin, Germany.

“We have been working on the project over the past 18 months and I have twice visited Prof Schultheiss in Germany. He is now visiting us in Bloemfontein. We have established a collaborative project focused on patients in central South Africa”.
Prof Schultheiss is a world leader regarding the diagnosis, pathology and treatment of dilating cardiomyopathy, says Prof Smit.

“He brings a lifetime of research experience to Bloemfontein and is internationally renowned as the father of myocardial or heart muscle biopsies.

“His pioneering work on the discipline has led to diagnostic accuracy that has induced purposeful and personalised treatment of dilating cardiomyopathy and has brought about dramatic changes in some subsets of patients’ life expectancy and their cure.”

Solving problems close to home
According to Prof Mokoali Makatoko, Head of the Department of Cardiology, there are more than 1500 new cases of heart failure identified annually at the Universitas Academic Hospital, of which approximately 30% are attributed to cardiomyopathy. “With the use of endomyocardial biopsies the team hopes to treat viruses unique to Southern Africa as well as other underlying causes of dilating cardiomyopathy.”

Prof Stephen Brown, Head of Paediatric Cardiology at the Universitas Academic Hospital, says children suffering from this disease never reach a mature age and those under his supervision will also be undergoing these tests. Various other departments at the UFS will also participate in this project. Profs Makatoko and Brown did the first four endomyocardial biopsies under the management of Prof Schultheiss during the past week. The results will be available in the coming weeks after which the project will be officially launched and patient recruitment will start in earnest.

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept