Nicole Schafer is a South African director. She produced award-winning stories for the Reuters pan-African magazine show “Africa Journal.” Her thesis film from the University of Cape Town, “The Ballad of Rosalind Ballingall,” was shown at the Frijbourg Film Festival in 2006.
“Buddha in Africa” will premiere at the 2019 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival on April 27.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
NS: “Buddha in Africa” follows the story of a Malawian teenager growing up in a Chinese Buddhist orphanage in Africa and the challenges he faces between his African roots and Chinese upbringing.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
NS: I was living and working in Malawi producing stories for the Reuters Magazine program, “Africa Journal.” At this time, Malawi and other parts of Africa were experiencing a rapid influx of Chinese investment and Chinese nationals. While most debate around the implications for China’s involvement in Africa at the time was focused on the economic impact of China, this story showed a unique aspect of China’s cultural influence on the continent.
W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?
NS: The film sets up its key debate through the internal conflict of the protagonist. Enock’s internal conflict of trying to hold onto his own culture on the one hand and the sacrifices that come with embracing the opportunities afforded by the Chinese culture on the other reflects the greater dilemma around African development within a globalized context—not only in its relation to China, but to other foreign nations, including its former colonizers.
It’s the idea that the key to the future of the continent is always held by “outsiders” and that in order to succeed we have to adopt foreign values, policies, and systems at great cost to our own already fragile economies, indigenous cultures, and language systems.
Enock challenges this idea in important ways, and I hope that his story will open up new and enriched ways of seeing and understanding the African predicament among both Chinese and Western audiences.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
NS: The time and resources it took to make a character-driven story. Putting your own life on hold in order to be ready to capture the significant moments in your character’s life and being patient enough to allow this to unfold in its own time. It took five years to raise the funds and shoot the film and another three-and-a-half years to complete post-production.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
NS: “Buddha in Africa” received the IDFA Most Promising Documentary Award when it was first pitched at the Durban FilmMart in 2011, and it has since been awarded funding from several international funds including the IDFA Bertha Europe Fund in the Netherlands, Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group Doc Fund, Alter Cine Foundation in Canada, Chicken & Egg Pictures in New York, the South African National Film and Video Foundation, and the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission.
In 2018, “Buddha in Africa” was selected to participate in the Cape Town International Film Festival and Market Works-in-Progress lab. It received the highest award, combining two weeks of Online by Monk and two weeks of Grading at Priest Post, which enabled me to finish the film.
W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
NS: I studied film but did not expect to become a documentary filmmaker. While I was at university, I was exposed to the work of a range of documentary filmmakers like Dziga Vertov, Chris Marker, D.A. Pennebaker, Jean Rouch, and Nick Broomfield, all of whose films challenged my preconceived ideas about the documentary genre and showed what a creative medium it really was.
Since then, I’ve been a convert to the art of documentary film and the creative challenges of capturing reality.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
NS: “Just finish your film!” While there comes a point in the process where this is good advice, making a documentary is a slow and lengthy process, and rushing the film can be harmful.
W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?
NS: Filmmaking and motherhood is possible! Having a baby is a breeze compared to making a film!
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
NS: Kim Longinotto is one of my favorite documentary filmmakers, and I think “Sisters in Law” was very good. The strong female lead characters—two female judges who bring justice to this small, largely patriarchal town in Cameroon—are most surprising and inspiring!
W&H: It’s been a little over a year since the reckoning in Hollywood and the global film industry began. What differences have you noticed since the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements launched?
NS: I think this conversation has been hugely empowering for women and created a much greater level of awareness and respect, not only in Hollywood, but also here in South Africa, where we have one of the highest rates of gender-based violence in the world.
