It was a week which, in different ways, belonged to two different sons of our soil — one who makes the world move to a soulful beat born in Mzansi, and another who moved the world with his haunting record of life in the heart of apartheid.
First, a homecoming through film for the late Ernest Cole, who escaped South Africa with a bag of negatives capturing the cruelty and disparities between black and white that formed the fabric of everyday life in 1960s South Africa.
Fittingly, it was a gloomy Tuesday evening when I found myself sad but mesmerised as I watched filmmaker Raoul Peck’s celluloid exploration of South Africa’s first black freelance photographer’s work and his struggles in the Cannes prize-winning documentary Ernest Cole: Lost & Found.
It was a stark reminder that, though we toil along through a daily grind of stuttering infrastructure and economic polarity, we are still free from a system that “placed us in bondage, stripped us of our dignity, robbed us of our self-esteem and surrounded us with hate” (as Ernest wrote in his photographic book House of Bondage, from which the film draws inspiration).
The evening started with a downpour as some 200 guests from the local and international film fraternity trudged a soggy red carpet under umbrellas for the opening of the Joburg Film Festival at Sandton’s Nelson Mandela Square.
This was the seventh edition of the showcase founded by Tim Mangwedi which, under this year’s curator Nhlanhla Ndaba, saw Lost & Found lead a programme of 100 feature-length and short films.
I met one young filmmaker making her directorial debut at the festival, Miselwa “Missy” Ngamlana, whose short film Blind Spots would screen on Thursday evening.
“It’s a queer love story about two women who meet online, and things go a bit south once they meet in person,” explained Missy about the flick.
While some, like festival manager Taryn Joffe, South African Tourism board member Judi Nwokedi and Amsterdam-based PR specialist Mokgadi Seabi, made a valiant effort to keep to the night’s “golden threads” dress code, the queen of the red carpet was undoubtedly it-girl Nomalanga Shozi, who eschewed the guidelines in a traffic-stopping suit complete with a crystal-embellished tie and sheer shirt, all styled by Obakeng Rantlhane.
“And a moment for the bob,” added a glowing Nomalanga, the night’s host, as she flicked her locks done by legendary hairstylist Saadique Ryklief.
Tuesday also happened to mark the birthday of the country’s richest musical export, Nkosinathi Maphumulo, known the world over as DJ Black Coffee.
“We had dinner at home, with friends and family. Nice and private,” answered Nathi when I asked him how he celebrated the occasion.
I chatted to the Grammy Award-winning artist the following evening at a launch held at the Sandton City boutique for an American rock star-glam fashion brand, which, through a venture with retail maestro Arie Fabian, he has brought to the country.
While the invitation stated that the event would run between 6pm and 9pm, imagine my surprise when I arrived a few minutes after the start time to witness the carpet — luckily dry this time — still being unfurled.
As staff frantically put the finishing touches, I slowly sipped on an elderflower-infused paloma cocktail made with French cognac.
I also got the chance to sample morsels from caterer du jour Vicky Crease, which included a sublime wonton cone filled with pesto cream and beef, mushroom and basil bruschetta, and mini salmon mousse tartlets (gorgeously presented on abalone shells but with a slightly too-sweet crust).
It gave Arie time to show me some of the store’s newest swag from the Amiri spring/summer collection they were revealing on the night, including a covetable silk cement-grey bowling shirt, a paisley-embossed white double-breasted suit and a new crystal-embellished version of the brand’s sought-after Micro Ma bag (just don’t try to fit your iPhone in it).
On to the man said to be worth $60m (about R1.1bn).
The Drive and We Dance Again hitmaker arrived with Venezuelan model girlfriend Victoria Gonzalez (you might recall that we first hinted the couple were dating in this column at the store’s opening in November 2023).
Who else showed up?
DJ and businesswoman Lerato Kganyago (her first public outing after breast reduction surgery for health reasons), TV presenter Shamiso Mosaka, rapper Reason, actress Jessica Nkosi, Siyabonga “Scoop Makhathini” Ngwekazi and Amanda du Pont, whose skincare brand recently got the nod from Elle UK as their pick for one of the top five tinted moisturisers (quite a coup, having launched her brand in the market only a few months earlier).
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