A South African film about searching for answers in the stars has provoked questions much closer to home.
Dane Dodds set out to film one of the world’s biggest science projects, the Square Kilometre Array Radio Telescope (SKA) outside Carnarvon in the Central Karoo. He was curious about what scientists are looking for and what they can tell about the future from peering back in time.
What he discovered is in our rush to search the heavens, humans have been looking past each other. He says while the SKA is focused on what lies beyond, many living in its shadow say they want answers about the here and now.
“The story is full of contrasts. Right next to a science project of immense proportions, people are struggling to make ends meet,” said Dodds about the genesis of the film, !Aitsa, which took seven years to make and was, for him, partly also a voyage of self-discovery.
“The Karoo is not an empty slate and a project on the scale of the SKA is going to provoke all sorts of emotions. It did in me, at least. The excitement of watching the future unfold was mixed with the complexities of the colonial past that still plays out on the ground. A past that is also my own history.”
Dodds made several trips to the area, including two main filming trips with his film crew. Having accessed and interviewed some of the key SKA scientists, he also wanted to get the view from the ground — from the Karoo inhabitants who have been living under one of the world’s starriest skies for millennia.
He drove into Carnarvon township Bonteheuwel and asked for people’s opinions on the radio telescope outside town.
“We had about 50 people around us all wanting to talk,” he said of the surprising reception. The overriding community feeling was one of marginalisation — their everyday concerns about housing, income and security were of less concern than staring into the celestial abyss.
“The point for me was this was part of the picture. I wanted to include their opinions in the film. Alongside the scientists, the intellectuals and the community leaders. All these viewpoints are valid, all of them are part of the bigger picture I wanted to capture.”
Dodds also discovered the scientists’ endeavour was not too dissimilar to the musings and discoveries of traditional knowledge-holders, as exploring the cosmos is ancient practice, particularly in the Karoo. He was relieved to discover during the course of his work that the SKA prioritised community outreach and that the project had generated significant benefits, among them jobs.
“They (the SKA) are really making an effort to do good. They have tertiary education bursaries and attempt to inform and engage the local communities. It is really an example for the rest of the country as although the efforts are great, they still seem futile compared to the issues we face in South Africa,” Dodds said, adding that SKA had responded well to the film and to the central question around funding Big Science in the context of widespread poverty.
“It is a very tricky context. It is a challenge that they [the scientists] have, but one that we all have and need to work with,” Dodds said.
!Aitsa also stresses the point that it is the searching, more than the knowing, that has defined human societies and that binds us together. “We’re not answering questions in this film. And not giving an answer is one of the most difficult things to do.”
There are a range of positive outcomes that have arisen after these long-term interventions. For example, Carnarvon High School has twice represented South Africa at international robotics Olympiads.
— South African Radio Astronomy Observatory
To date the film has been hugely successful after premiering in March at the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival. Accolades include “Best of the Fest” at South Africa’s Encounters International Film Festival earlier this month and the Grand Prize two weeks ago at the Pärnu International Documentary Film Festival in Estonia. It will be screened twice at the upcoming Durban Documentary Film Festival.
The SKA project is an intergovernmental organisation incorporating nine member states. South African participation is led by local organising body the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (Saroa), which has emphasised the importance of community participation in the global project.
“The position of Saroa is the involvement and participation of local communities in construction and long-term operations is a critical success factor for the sustainable development and operation of radio astronomy investments such as the MeerKAT [a 6-antenna radio telescope launched in 2018] and the SKA facilities,” Saroa said in response to TimesLIVE Premium queries.
In this regard, Saroa has made significant investments in education, skills development and local economic development, including:
- supporting STEM educators;
- pupil bursaries to study maths and science to grade 12 [ more than 290 made available];
- artisan training [more than 110 bursaries];
- SMME training and development;
- development grants for educational infrastructure;
- development grants for social development initiatives; and
- educational interventions such as literary programmes and robotics programmes.
“There are a range of positive outcomes that have arisen after these long-term interventions. For example, Carnarvon High School has twice represented South Africa at international robotics Olympiads,” Saroa said.
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