
Lijeng Ranooe
LOCAL filmmaker Kaizer Matsumunyane’s star continues to shine after his documentary Smiling Pirate was shortlisted along with eleven others for screening at the prestigious Encounters Documentary Festival 6th Pitching Forum in Cape Town set for today.
The screening will begin at 09:30am until 1pm. It will be hosted in partnership with world-renowned news network, Al Jazeera.
Matsumunyane’s documentary is one of twelve projects that have been selected from across the African continent and will be reviewed by Al Jazeera’s commissioning editor, Farid Barsoum.
Smiling Pirate tells the story of Abduwale Abdukhad Muse who was one of the first people in more than a century to be charged with piracy by an American court.
The documentary tells Muse’s story growing up in Somalia, the girl he was to marry, his recruitment into the piracy at the age of 16, the training he had to go through, and his experience of solitary confinement for more over a year and his fight for freedom.
An elated Matsumunyane said it is “a great opportunity to be able pitch the concept and have it be accepted and validated”. I
“It shows that there is interest in the story. I’m very humbled to be among the filmmakers selected,” Matsumunyane said in an interview with Xpress People.
Other films to be pitched are from filmmakers from Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The pitching session, which will be done in person or via Skype, is open to filmmakers and the public.