EDITORIAL | Over and over our artists do us proud. They deserve true support

It feels like a long time since a week has started and ended with positive news, but that’s what happened this week — and it’s thanks to South African artists.

It started on Monday when My Octopus Teacher won Best Documentary at the Oscars, with the brilliantly captured relationship between a man and an eight-tentacled mollusc capturing the hearts and minds of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the thousands who watched it. Approved critics on ratings website Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 100% score, and more than 500 users rated it at 93%, a testament to the doccie’s feel-good nature.

Then came news on Thursday morning that Pietermaritzburg-born Thuso Mbedu had been cast alongside award-winning and critically acclaimed actress Viola Davis in a to-be-released film, The Woman King. It comes after Mbedu’s role in The Underground Railroad thrust her into the spotlight.

Commenting on Hollywood news site Deadline, Davis and Julius Tennon of JuVee Productions (one of the production companies making the film) said of Mbedu: “The depth and complexity of emotional life, her authentic beauty and regality is potent. We were mesmerised by Thuso Mbedu. We wanted Woman King/Nawi to be the vehicle to introduce her on the big screen.”

Great praise for an artistic talent who deserves all the good that comes her way.

And while the plaudits for My Octopus Teacher and Mbedu are great personal achievements for all of those involved in the successes, they are also significant for the creative industry in SA.

It’s sometimes easy to forget just how successful South Africans have been in the artistic space. There was the critically acclaimed Tsotsi, which won the foreign language film Oscar in 2006, with the then-unknown cast now household names. There is Benoni’s finest, Charlize Theron’s frequent success, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s dominance at the Grammy’s. There was Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, Savuka and Johnny Clegg, and the Soweto Gospel Choir. Jonas Gwangwa, who died in January this year, was nominated at the 1988 Oscars in the Best Music, Original Score and Best Music, Original Song for Cry Freedom.

Trevor Noah, the Ndlovu Youth Choir and so many others do us proud frequently.

Jacaranda FM published a list of all Oscar-nominated and winning South Africans in the wake of My Octopus Teacher’s victory, a testament to how much potential we have.

While these successes are cause for celebration, they should also be cause for introspection while this week’s victories are fresh in our minds. We need to probe how we look at and contribute to the film and entertainment sector, frequently a source of pride and reason to boast. We need to appreciate more actively the work they do, often under difficult circumstances, for little in return.

We just need to look at how South African artists have been left out in the cold in the coronavirus crisis. Many have resorted to occupying the National Arts Council offices because they didn’t get the help they deserved. Arts and culture minister Nathi Mthethwa has admitted that the allocation of the Covid-19 relief funds didn’t get to their intended recipients. And this is the situation for our established artists.

What, then, of the talented children in the villages and vast expanses that make up our farmlands and townships? If those who have “made it” aren’t supported, what hope is there for those who want to? How are they being supported?

My Octopus Teacher and Thuso Mbedu brought us joy this week and our artists are sure to bring us more in the future. We must shout that success from the rooftops and at the same time we must ensure we use our voices to encourage authorities to invest in the arts way more than they do because the potential is clearly there and we cannot let it slip through the cracks.