U-Carmen eKhayelitsha

Colour, 35 mm
South Africa, 2004, 120 min
Section: Horizons

Synopsis

English theatre director Mark Dornford-May’s first film is another adaptation of Bizet’s beloved opera, but with a difference. Set in the present in a black South African housing estate, this original project was realised in five weeks with the help of the Dimpho Di Kopane theatre company and a thousand extras gleaned from the local inhabitants. The film is based on Mérimée’s character, the proud and seductive Carmen, and it incorporates the celebrated opera’s arias, but it is not just a run-of-the-mill filmed performance. Documentary footage of the unique environment blends with the staged scenes (most shot under the open sky); the actors deliver their lines discreetly, without the trademark operatic excess. To a certain extent, the actors’ ethnicity, worldview and race strengthen the originality of this work. The performers who sing the two lead female roles translated the original libretto into Xhosa, and distinctive ethnic motifs enrich the classic musical score and choreography.

About the director

Mark Dornford-May (b. 1955, UK) is a theatre director with 25 years of experience in opera. He founded the Playwright’s Company at the Bristol Old Vic, and has worked as director or manager of several opera houses including London’s Old Vic, the Oxford Playhouse, The Gate Theatre Notting Hill and the RSC; he is also artistic director of Wilton’s Music Hall. He has participated in a number of large-scale international theatre projects in various European countries, as well as Australia, the USA, Canada and South Africa. With Charles Hazlewood he co-founded the South African Academy of Performing Arts, whose company was assembled based on rigorous auditions. His remarkable cinematic adaptation of Carmen, inspired by local South African culture, is Dornford-May’s film debut; at the 55th Berlinale U-Carmen eKhayelitsha took the Golden Bear.