The movie factory

WORDS & PHOTOS: Lisa Johnston

Turning the notion of a sausage factory on its celluloid head, an exciting creative project inspired by filmmaker Michel Gondry is currently churning out movies in downtown Johannesburg. Everyone is invited to make a movie until 25 October. We caught some hilarious snaps.

The concept is based on Gondry’s Be Kind Rewind in which two buffoons wipe out the content of an entire video store and go about rectifying the problem by recreating Hollywood blockbusters using whatever cheap means they can find. Gondry is the wacky Frenchman who brought us Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

The Home Movie Factory is set in a giant playground for the imagination. Based at an old panel beater that has been transformed into an Afrocentric series of movie sets, there are a couple of Ford Cortinas, a battered taxi, a barbershop, bedroom, coffee shop, lounge etc, all of which can be adapted to the particular needs of participants.

The grist is the imagination, fun, creativity, spontaneity and dynamics of the people involved. The end product is purely incidental and there is no motivation to make a movie with an audience in mind. Even though it has already taken place at temporary locations in Rio de Janiero, New York, Rotterdam and Moscow, participants are discouraged from even publishing their movies on social media sites such as YouTube.

For starters, budding filmmakers are taken into a meeting room, where a particular workshop process (designed by Gondry) is followed. The genre, a rough script and who-does-what is decided before heading to wardrobe, and then onto the sets where the real fun begins.

The entire movie is shot in camera so there’s no going back for retakes and there isn’t enough time to overthink things. Once it’s all over, the movie is screened at the Bioscope Independent Cinema a couple of blocks away.

Although you can choose to make the movie with your buddies, part of the fun is being teamed up with strangers and seeing what transpires. With luck, you’ll have a whole cast of new friends by the end of the three-hour process. 

Most importantly, it’s free and anybody over the age of six is encouraged to make a movie. Although drop-ins are welcome, the organisers recommend that you rather book a slot to ensure a place.

The Home Movie Factory was brought to Johannesburg by the Bioscope Independent Cinema in partnership with the National Film and Video Foundation, as part of the France-South Africa Seasons 2012 & 2013. 

Open 9am to 6pm Tuesday to Sunday at the Museum of African Design, 281 Commissioner Street, and the Bioscope, 286 Fox Street, Johannesburg. More info and bookings: www.thebioscope.com/thehomemoviefactory.