Being Pavarotti

Screening Details

Running Time: 53 min. (Colour) / Copyright Date: 2004 / Language: English, Afrikaans & Xhosa / Genre: Documentary / Series: Project 10: Real Stories From a Free South Africa.

Synopsis

Thirteen-year-old Elton Nkanunu lives in the township of Zwelihle, near the popular whale watching town of Hermanus, in the Southern Cape. When he was given a tape of the music of Luciano Pavarotti, he was immediately smitten and started singing the Italian tenor's most popular songs, partly because he loved the music and partly to make some money from visiting tourists. Unfortunately, the Hermanus authorities took a dim view of his busking activities, especially after he was joined by a number of friends who took up the cause with equal enthusiasm. This documentary follows Elton, his family and his friends over almost a year. His unemployed mother disappears from time to time, leaving his grandmother struggling to look after six children. In the meantime Elton sings his beloved Pavarotti songs whenever he can, occasionally appearing in public, including a performance with Tenors of Note, and gets a chance to watch his first opera at Artscape in Cape Town. There he also gets a chance to sing for Angelo Gobbato and he and his friends receive some tuition from Mthunzi Mmombela, a professional opera singer, who encourages him to find his own voice, rather than imitate Pavarotti.

Context

Being Pavarotti is a documentary in a 13-part series entitled Project 10: Real Stories From a Free South Africa, produced to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 1994 elections. It had its premiere in the International Forum of the 2004 Berlin Film Festival. It was director Odette Geldenhuys's first film and grew out of a chance encounter with Elton Nkanunu on the street of Hermanus. At the time the Tenors of Zwelihle were Elton Nkanunu, Thulani Pato, Thulani Mwanda, Mthetho Maphoyi, Siyabulela Mdutyulwa and Lunga Tubu and it's worth doing a search on the internet to see what has become of them. Mthetho Maphoyi also appears in The Creators (2011), a documentary by Laura Gamse and Jacques de Villiers.

Festivals & Awards

International: Berlin 2004, Kerala 2004, Nyon 2004 (Special Jury Mention), Zanzibar 2004 (Special Jury Prize), etc. / South African: Apollo Film Festival 2004, Durban International Film Festival 2004 (Best South African Documentary)

Crew

Production Company: Angel Films for SABC / Director: Odette Geldenhuys / Producer: Ingrid Gavshon / Executive Producers: Steven Markovitz, Letebele Masemola-Jones & Jennifer Fox / Camera: Odette Geldenhuys, Theo Antoniou, Karin Slater & Shahied Allies / Editor: Tracy Clayton / Online Editor: Jason Basson / Sound: Muse Radebe, Jeff Hood & Gary Rundle / Sound Editor: Juli Vandenberg / Final Mix: Wilbert Schübel/ Commissioning Editor SABC1: Pat van Heerden.

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