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27 January 2022 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
Director and co-producer Mpendulo Myeni believes when it comes to making it in the film industry, one should use all the resources and opportunities you have at your disposal.

A single, unemployed mother; institutional corruption, blackmail, and the powerful players behind it. These are all ingredients for a 29-minute short film, Leshano, currently available on Showmax. 

Mpendulo Myeni, director and co-producer of the production that was filmed between Bloemfontein and Bothshabelo last year, says he was initially attracted to the script by writer and executive producer, Anton Fisher (a former Director of Strategic Communications at the UFS). “Hearing his creative ideas, I fell deeper into the storyline, wanting to explore the story and tell it with my own voice.”

Besides Myeni’s involvement with Leshano (The Lie), which was filmed in Sesotho with English subtitles, a number of other Free State artists contributed to the film. Napo Masheane, who grew up in Qwaqwa, was cast in the lead role. He is supported by Maria de Koker, Vincent Tsoametsi, Seipati Mpotoane, Pesa Pheko, Ntsiki Ndzume, and Shayne Nketsi. 

Aspiring filmmakers in the province also had the opportunity to be part of this success story, whether as make-up artists, wardrobe assistants, or location scouts. 

Myeni says Bloemfontein artists and spectators are excited to see that a film shot locally has been accepted by the streaming service, Showmax. “The story has been welcomed and has had an overwhelming response on social media by the Free State audiences. Dignitaries in the Free State Provincial Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation also positively commented on social media.”

“The Free State audience has embraced our creative expression. Many have requested for the story to be turned into a series,” he says.

Creative at heart

Myeni, a creative at heart, studied Drama and Theatre Arts, as well as Film and Visual Media up to honours level at the UFS. He also had the opportunity to study as exchange student at the University of Groningen in their film master's programme.

The international experience ignited his passion for filming and got him fired up and ready to create. He was involved in the production of several films. “I co-wrote and directed Eyelash (2020), which won a jury award, iamAFRICA, at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles. This led me to create the critically acclaimed lockdown film, called Let Me Out. This film was praised by notable film critic Robyn Sassen as ‘a coronavirus gem’, like Vincent Mantsoe’s dance piece, Cut … to materialise on the cultural sphere, and it deserves as much attention as it can garner.” Another recent creation from Myeni is Amanzi, a short film yet to be released. “I also directed The Lie and collaborated with amazing creatives during the venture,” he elaborates. 

The complete Eyelash experience, winning the iamAFRICA award at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles, might have been one of those life-changing moments for Myeni. He confirms: “Going to America was definitely an out-of-this-world experience, especially being such a big accomplishment – winning an internationally recognised film award from a distinguished film festival. I also got to meet and talk to the director of YouTube originals, as well as other filmmaking creatives.”

Firm foundations

Besides being an UFS alumnus and award-winning filmmaker, Myeni, who on a previous occasion received the Richard Miles award in the Faculty of the Humanities, is now working as an assistant officer in the Department of Architecture at the UFS. “I largely work with research and the creative outputs of postgraduate students. Furthermore, I manage the research hub and library and I also run the visual media aspect within the department.”

In addition, Myeni is also completing his master’s degree in Film and Visual Media at the university. “The academia and higher learning are very important to me; you can say that I am motivated by the academic avenues and learning opportunities that my position affords me,” he says. 

He believes that any lived experience will give insight into your character and abilities. “This experience in the film industry will carry me through to give more of myself in my current position, both academically and creatively.”

“I will never stop creating; my future holds more films, with me involved in producing and directing them.” In five years’ time, I see myself having been the creator of at least three other short films, and one feature film,” concludes Myeni.

News Archive

Researcher at Qwaqwa Campus, Dr Aliza le Roux, selected as SAYAS member
2014-09-12

 

Dr Aliza le Roux

Dr Aliza le Roux, senior lecturer in the Department of Zoology and Entomology on the Qwaqwa Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS), was selected as a member of the 2014 South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS). Dr Le Roux, a member of the Vice-Chancellor's Prestige Scholars Programme at the UFS, is also a South African National Research Foundation-rated (NRF) scientist (Y2) and the winner of the UFS Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching Award in 2013.

She sees her selection to SAYAS as a unique opportunity to help change the face of science in South Africa. Dr Le Roux hopes to use her skills as project leader in social media, as well as her own learning experiences on a rural campus, to inspire especially ecological research in a country so rich in its own natural heritage.

The SAYAS selection committee was impressed by the high level of academic merit and depth of the nominations they received. “Your membership is critical in contributing to many of the vital activities and functioning of SAYAS, and we look forward to your active contributions to the further development and growth of the Young Academy,” said Prof Aldo Stroebel, Chair: SAYAS Selection Committee.

Prof Corli Witthuhn, Vice-Rector: Research at the UFS, said, “Aliza le Roux is an outstanding young scientist on our Qwaqwa Campus. She is not only an outstanding researcher but has also received prizes during the past year for her dedication to teaching. I am very excited about the young researchers on our Qwaqwa Campus with Aliza as one of the leaders, and I am looking forward to what else they can achieve in the next five years.”

In the past decade, Dr Le Roux focused her research on the cognitive and communicative skills of wild mammals in South Africa and Ethiopia. She spent four years as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan, leading to ground-breaking research on the cognitive and communicative underpinnings of gelada monkey behaviour. Her current work encompasses an NRF-funded project on paternal care in bat-eared foxes, and experimental research on spatial cognition in wild samango monkeys. She is also involved in discussions with the Endangered Wildlife Trust to research the mitigation of road-kill incidents in South Africa.

Dr Le Roux hopes to combine cognitive ecology with more applied conservation questions in order to raise the profile of behavioural ecology as a discipline. She believes strongly in involving the public with scientific research, and has blogged for Nature Magazine on her adventures as field biologist. Her work has since found its way into numerous websites, magazine and newspaper articles and she has been interviewed on radio and BBC World.

Dr Le Roux will be inaugurated as SAYAS member on 14 October 2014.

Dr Marieka Gryzenhout from the Department of Plant Sciences is also a member of SAYAS.


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