Interviews: Oliver Schmitz, Khomotso Manyaka of ‘Life, Above All’

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CHICAGO – The spectre of AIDS seems to have diminished, but the continent of Africa still has a huge problem fighting the disease. Director Oliver Schmitz (”Paris, Je T’Aime”) focuses his lens on this physical and cultural crisis in “Life, Above All.”

The film is a fictional story based on the novel, “Chanda’s Secret,” about a young South African girl (portrayed in the film by Khomotso Manyaka) whose mother is ostracized from their village because she contracts AIDS. Chanda is determined to find where her mother has gone, and sets out on a journey that reveals the truth of the cultural attitude toward the deathly disease.

Khomotso Manyaka as Chanda and Lerato Mvelase as Chanda’s Mother in ‘Life, Above All’
Khomotso Manyaka as Chanda and Lerato Mvelase as Chanda’s Mother in ‘Life, Above All’
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Classic

HollywoodChicago interviewed director Oliver Schmitz and the young teenage actress who portrayed Chanda, Khomotso Manyaka, during a promotional visit for their new film.

HollywoodChicago.com: Oliver, what message or aspect of the original novel most moved you, and how did you best express it in your film version?

Oliver Schmitz: The novel by Allan Stratton, ‘Chanda’s Secret,’ is a very dense novel, there is a lot happening in it. But what really moved me was the mother/daughter relationship for the film version. The fact that this young girl is on the edge of adulthood, and her mother loves her so much she cannot tell her what is happening and tries to protect her, but in the end is not the best solution. There is a very complicated dynamic about a youngster that knows that is going on, but is scared to say it, and a mother who is scared to acknowledge the disease she has. There is a lot of unspoken stuff between them. That’s what blew me away and led me to do the movie.

HollywoodChicago.com: Khomotso, this is your first work as an actress. What did you understand about Chanda, and what parts of her and her story did you need the most help with to understand?

Khomotso Manyaha: Well, I can say that what I understand about Chanda is that she is a calm young girl who is very strong for everyone, and very intelligent. She loves school, but she cannot go to school because of all the problems at home. I don’t think there was anything I didn’t understand about her, I just stuck with what I did understand.

HollywoodChicago.com: Oliver, your lead actress is a first time performer. What special considerations did you give her in handling her journey through the story?

Schmitz: It was a tough call, the commitment to make the film with a first time actress. It was a leap of faith for me and for her, she having never done it before. I saw in casting the spark between her and the actress who played her mother [Lerato Mvelase], beautiful chemistry between them.

Khomotso is very open, almost Buddhist in a way, everything that comes she takes it on and it’s part of life. That helped me incredibly. It was mostly about trust, I think, and we did everything possible – rehearsals, coaching and we had the actress who played the neighbor [Harriet Manamela] as another unsaid coach, being there the whole time. We even did a ‘mock shoot,’ with all the stupid comments associated with the technical side, like ‘move two inches to the left, ‘stand in the light,’ ‘speak louder,’ any technical thing that could possibly come up.

Khomotso Manyaka and her Acting ‘Coach,’ Harriet Manamela as Mrs. Tata in ‘Life, Above All’
Khomotso Manyaka and her Acting ‘Coach,’ Harriet Manamela as Mrs. Tata in ‘Life, Above All’
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Classic

HollywoodChicago.com: Khomotso, you had to deal with a lot of problems in playing Chanda. Which problems did you feel were closest to you in your real life?

Manyaha: None of them. But what happens is that some of the people do suffer a lot in South Africa, and parts of the movie show the same stuff that is happening to those people right now. So for Africa, that is real.

HollywoodChicago.com: Oliver, you talked about Mrs. Tafa, the neighbor who hides and then expresses her guilt for hiding seems to be a symbol for the shame of all ‘open secrets’? What can everybody learn from that reaction in their own life journey?

Schmitz: I think it shows how incredibly destructive those secrets can be. I think at the end of the day it’s valid to pose the question, ‘what is more destructive, the disease or the taboo of the secret?’ Because the secret is undermining anything that can be done for people to come together and do anything about the issue. It’s the most destructive force, and it takes the young lead character to ask a few simple questions to blow away the screen that’s holding the fear together.

HollywoodChicago.com: Khomotso, did you think differently about your own mother after going through this story experience and what did you learn most about a relationship between mother and daughter?

Manyaha: Not really, my Mom and I talked a lot, and she is also a counselor in HIV and AIDS, so she does talk about it. She advises me in life that you have do ‘this,’ not ‘this.’ If you want to do something that you think might be right for you, you better think about it some more. It’s different between me and Chanda’s family, between her mother and my Mom. Chanda’s mom is keeping secrets from her because she’s thinks she is protecting her, and my Mom would never keep a secret from me because she wants to protect me.

HollywoodChicago.com: Oliver, how did the local extras help you in regard to expressing the superstitions of AIDS and their neighbors who contact it? What is the biggest piece of misinformation surrounding the disease among natives?

Schmitz: The reason we went to the area is because the clinic that Khomotso’s mother works, which has a very positive effect regarding AIDS treatment, it does a lot of good work in the area. While we were there, we saw it was a good place to work, because it had a small town community feeling, proud of where they live. That’s the kind of world we wanted to make the movie in, that there is a secret, but everything else seems okay.

The people in the area who worked on the film were moved from what they saw and when they were partaking of the scenes, especially the confrontation scenes. People there are conscious of the situation, but we also met orphans whose parents had died of AIDS related illnesses. The clinic had an outreach program for them, but their own families had left them to their own devices. For me, that speaks to a certain kind of stigma. There is still one irrational fear in the whole AIDS issue – that it is contagious, that its dirty and there should be no association with it. Whether on a moral or physical level, this fear still plays a role.

HollywoodChicago.com: Khomotso, what was the hardest part of the shoot for you, either physically or emotionally. Was there ever a day you couldn’t stop thinking about what you felt like in a scene you had to do?

Manyaha: None of them, I enjoyed working with everyone because they were there for me. Oliver and the other actresses helped me to enjoy the work I was doing, because it was the first time I’d ever done this job. I had to enjoy it, and not think about it too much. They all helped me to do that.

HollywoodChicago.com: Oliver, AIDS has had such a devastating effect on the African states. In you opinion, what does the rest of the world need to do to stem the tide of the disease in Africa?

Schmitz: I think the biggest thing is that the rest of world need not to view it as just an African problem or affliction. I think it has had its own tragic course in Africa, but it’s not just their problem. I think pressure on the governments in Africa, who are no playing a constructive role in the solution, that is important locally. The relatively new administration in South Africa has committed itself to fight AIDS, so we shall see.

Khomotso Manyaha and Oliver Schmitz in Chicago, April 28, 2011
Khomotso Manyaha and Oliver Schmitz in Chicago, April 28, 2011
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com: Khomotso, what is the silliest thing about being an actor. Did you ever stop and think ‘why do they want me to do that?’

Manyaha: The dancing at the party scene, it wasn’t my thing. [laughs] I wondered ‘how am I going to do that?’ and I took my time in getting ready for it.

Schmitz: This is interesting, it’s not the heavy stuff, it’s the fact that she has never been allowed to go to parties before. [laughs]

HollywoodChicago.com: Finally Khomotso, If you could play any character you’ve seen in movies or read in books, which one would it be and why?

Manyaha: I love horror movies and teenage movies. If I couldn’t play in a film like ‘Life, Above All,’ I think I’d like to do a horror movie, but I don’t know why. I just love the scary stuff. Also a good teenage movie would be fun, because it’s fun to act.

HollywoodChicago.com: Oliver, you were raised in South Africa and your first film dealt with the black population in the midst of Apartheid. What cultural side of the black struggle in that region did you connect to most succinctly and how did you bring it out in your films?

Schmitz: I grew up in the height of Apartheid, in a world that was completely sheltered and separated from the main flow of life and the population in South Africa. As I grew up, and became a student, I began to see the other world that I wasn’t a part of, in my privileged prison. Right from then it was very important for me to connect to the greater South Africa and the African experience. To be part of giving it a voice, the part that wasn’t a free society. Now that would be patronizing, but to be a part of that.

HollywoodChicago.com: What do you think of more commercialized films like ‘Invictus,’ when part of Nelson Mandela’s story is told through a sports movie?

Schmitz: There have been a lot of movies that have been made in and about South Africa in the last 15 years. Some weak, some stronger, but I’m a big admirer of Clint Eastwood. I liked the movie, because I felt that he did a really good job. Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman captured the good stuff about South Africa and Mandela. It’s one of my favorite movies about the area from an outsider’s perspective.

“Life, Above All” continues its limited release in Chicago on September 2nd. See local listings for theaters and show times. Featuring Khomotso Manyaka, Lerato Mvelase and Harriet Manamela. Adapted by Dennis Foon, directed by Oliver Schmitz. Rated PG-13”

HollywoodChicago.com senior staff writer Patrick McDonald

By PATRICK McDONALD
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

© 2011 Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com

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