‘Inxeba’ creators share their woes

Award winning film Inxeba will make you think that the creators of the film are actually well off. This is because of the film’s success in winning 19 international awards, being shortlisted for an Oscar, and receiving global recognition.

However, for Inxeba creators, that is not reality.

Producer Elias Ribiero opened up about just some of the challenges they faced in bringing the film to local screens.

Challenges

Some of the members worked for free, and cast members earned a pittance. They got into a lot of debt in marketing costs to take Inxeba to the Oscar pre-screenings.

He was brought onto the project to help with foreign funding as the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) initially rejected their requests for funding on four occasions.

However‚ the NFVF came on board after seeing the international attention the film got.

“The NFVF saw the film again at post-production stage but had no contribution or say in the production process. They came on board after we got an invitation to the Sundance Film Festival and they gave us a chunk of change to put their logo on it. We weren’t desperate (for funding from them)‚” Elias said.

“The misconception is that we are rich guys exploiting other people’s culture but the truth is (screenplay writer) Malusi (Bengu) worked for free on this film for about four years. I might get paid soon. Niza (Jay Ncoyini) cannot really afford six months of rent and food with the salary he earned working really hard on this film. We are still trying to make financial sense of this endeavour.”

He later explained that while 80 percent of Inxeba’s budget was raised before the project wrapped up‚ the main creators had to for go a salary until the funds could be raised.

“There was a lot of patchwork. We got funding from international film bodies and from winning awards‚ like at the Venice Film Festival‚ but we really had to make it up as we went along.”

Achievement

Elias said the biggest achievement of the project was how it disrupted the status quo and started dialogue about issues which were previously swept under the carpet.

He also said that 85% of people who attended Oscar pre-screenings of the film gave it the thumbs up and thought it should’ve been nominated for an Oscar.

The film was shortlisted for a nomination in the Best Foreign Film category ahead of the 2018 Oscar Awards‚ which cost the producers millions to market and campaign. Elias said they needed a “miracle” to make money from the film.

“It cost us a s**t load of money. It was a ridiculous investment because the academy only does one screening per film and we had to create as many opportunities as possible for as many judges as possible to see the film. We also had to bring the talent to LA. It was a good run but we wrote up a lot of debt because of it. So before we see any money we have to settle the marketing and PR bill.”

Inxeba has courted controversy since the trailer was released early last year. It was criticised by traditional leaders and social media users for its portrayal of the Xhosa initiation ceremony.

Inxeba opens at local cinemas on Friday February 2.