Tsotsi (2005)
Interview with Terry Pheto and Presley Chweneyagae
Terry Pheto and Presley Chweneyagae
After their surprising success at the Oscars where the South African drama Tsotsi won an award for best foreign language film the main actors Terry Pheto and Presley Chweneyagae are now touring the world. After visiting North America, Holland and Germany for promotion or festivals their path was bringing the two very promising actors to Zurich.
OutNow.CH met the very friendly twentysomethings at the super-stylish Hotel Greulich and talked with them about shooting in a township, the South African filmindustry and pirateted DVDs.
» Das Interview in deutscher Sprache
OutNow.CH (ON): For both of you Tsotsi is you first feature film. What has been your acting experience so far?
Terry Pheto (TP): I was doing theater in Soweto. This is were my agent saw me for the first time. One day she called me and said she had this amazing script.
Terry as Miriam
Presley Chweneyagae (PC): I was in theater since 1996 doing children's plays. Later on I did Shakespeare. I started with A midsummer night's dream. I played King Lear when I was 17 with full make-up. I moved to Pretoria and I had my first professional play when I played Hamlet at the South African State Theatre. That's where the director saw me. I auditioned for the role of Butcher but then I also did Tsotsi. That's how I got the part.
ON: Is it hard four young South African actors to get roles in films?
TP: I wouldn't say it is hard, but the film industry in South Africa is very small. We can only make three to five movies a year.
ON: First the producers had Hollywood Stars in mind for the leading roles. True Story?
PC: Yes, it is a true story. But we have no idea who they thought of.
ON: How much of Tsotsi or Miriam is or was in your own lifes?
TP: It's something I can relate to. I've seen people like Miriam who are living in townships. You can experience them. Addicts of Alcohol. People who are dying from AIDS.
PC: I could also relate. I grew up in a township. I know guys like Tsotsi. When I was preparing for my role I took all the guys that I knew and put them together and made it one person. When you grow up in a township you can feel the the environemnt around you.
TP: It's very close to you. I got the chance to be that woman. I just wanted to be true to that character.
Presley as Tsotsi
ON: The book Tsotsi is based on played in the sixties.
PC: It's a very contemporary story. The situation hasn't really changed a lot. Instead of Apartheid it's issues like HIV/AIDS and drugs we have to deal with now.
TP: Director Gavin Hood ist a very good storyteller. He found a way to tell the story today and not in the sixties.
ON: How was it to shot on scene in the townships?
PC: It was a good feeling. I almost wish I could tell you something dramatic but there wasn't. Everybody you see on the main street in the film was hired as an extra or security. They were really exited about the film. For us actors it was important to work on the real location because you could feel the energy around you.
ON: The director called coming home from the oscars "a national event". Can you tell us a little about that.
Meeting Mandela
TP: The highlight of everything was to meet the former president Nelson Mandela. We went on a national tour parading. It was wonderful!
TP: Terry left first. The director and I had to go to Holland. When we arrived in South Africa we wanted to go to the bathroom first to freshen up a bit. But immediately when we got out of the plane there were cameras everywhere. Everybody was crazy and very happy.
TP: It was like winning the World Cup.
ON: Where is the Oscar now?
PC: The director gets to keep it.
ON: Half a million people have seen the movie in South African Cinemas. The pirated DVD is very wide spread. What does Tsotsi mean for South African people?
PC: It's a movie about hope and redemption. Theses themes are universal. It's very close to them because they see these shantytowns. The story is very close to their hearts. The most amazing thing about the film is that we managed to bring people from different classes together, wheather they are rich or poor. All over the world they react in the same way.
What's up for dessert?
TP: Also the soundtrack, the Kwaito sound, makes people relate to it. Tsotsi has made South Africa really proud. Regarding the pirated DVDs. Yes the are outthere and it is very bad. But what can we say? It was nice to hear from two ladies yesterday that they had a pirated copy and that after somebody told them it was the wrong DVD they went to see it at a proper movie theater and they were so exited that they threw the DVD away.
ON: Is it a coincidence that the film doesn't deal with black vs. white anymore but with rich black people vs. poor black people?
PC: It's not a coincidence. It's a question of class between the haves and the havenots. All the movies that came out of South Africa were based on racial issues. Tsotsi is showing South Africa now...
TP: ... and the forward. We have a serious crisis with AIDS. What can we do as a people to help these kids who are orphaned by HIV and AIDS. I think it is a story about hope, redemption, love.
ON: U-Carmen won the golden Bear in Berlin. Your film won an Oscar for best foreign language film. What does the future hold for South African film?
TP: The Oscar means that we can tell our own stories and win awards. We don't have to use American actors anymore. We can use our own actors, directors and producers now. That's a good thing. I think the industry will grow.
PC: I also think so. Aspiring filmmakers will now more believe in themselves and their own craft. I also hope it makes more investors come and invest in our films.
ON: What are your future projects?
The future is bright.
TP: Right now, I am shooting Goodbye Bafana directed by Bille August. I play Nelson Mandelas daughter. I'm exited about that. My second project is Hotstuff by the Australian director Philip Noyce.
PC: I've been getting a couple of offers that I have to look into now.
ON: Thank you very much.
