WHAT IT WAS
On October 26th, 2008, in a pilot project entitled, The Reel Pan-AfriCAN SoundsCAPE, "sister audiences" in Vancouver, Canada and Cape Town, South Africa were connected using internet video technology to watch a series of 5 short films at the same time, seeing and speaking with each other after each film to engage in dialogue on the critical issues raised in the films:  migration, multiculturalism and the role of the arts in promoting cross-cultural understanding.  With reknown South African choreographer, Bheki Ndlovu, facilitating in Vancouver and lively South African MC, Jonathan Mouers, facilitating in Cape Town, the 2 groups also sang and moved together in a trans-continental sharing of cultural expression.  The 5 films of the event are the 5 films featured in this dossier,  showcasing 5 world-class singer/songwriters from across the African continent who have made South Africa their home.  To wrap up the 2-hour program, these musicians all played live together on stage in the Cape Town venue in a celebration of pan-African unity simultaneously webcast live to the audience in Vancouver who clapped along.

HOW WE DID IT
The event took place in a theatre at Simon Fraser University's Harbour Centre in Vancouver and in the film screening/live concert area of Zula Sound Bar in Cape Town (equipped with a stage for live music and a projector/movie screen for film screenings).  Each venue had a laptop, build-in DVD player, internet, webcam and Skype software connection.  Each laptop was connected to a film projector (projecting a mirror of the laptop desktop), and had a webcam that, when the laptop was strategically placed, picked up the image of the entire audience.  An audio line-out from the headphone jack to the PA system and an audio line-in to the microphone jack from the PA system enabled multiple microphones to be used in the audiences and a perfect sound mix from the live event's PA system to go straight through the laptop and, using (free) Skype Video software, transmit to the other side of the planet! Granted, the video quality was not as high as the expensive video conferencing technology normally used in such situations, but we found strategies for maximizing the video quality and, combined with high-quality audio, achieved our primary objectives of Engaging Canadian film festival-goers in 'creative conversation' with African film subjects in Africa. 

HOW IT CAME ABOUT
This project was initiated in response to the wave of xenophobic violence that took place across South Africa for approximately 2 weeks in May 2008.  During the first weekend of the attacks in the Cape Town region where I was living at the time, I volunteered with some of the initial disaster management relief work.  After visiting a few of the venues around Cape Town housing hundreds of displaced immigrants and refugees, I started to think about the psychological and emotional needs of these vulnerable populations.  Having played traditional Zimbabwean music for over 10 years, and aware that many of the displaced persons were from Zimbabwe, I gathered together a few fellow musicians who also play Zimbabwean music and we got permission to play in a church that was housing many displaced Zimbabweans one evening.  Although our impact was small, it was nonetheless an impact and this was enough to begin growing a larger vision for outreach work using film and music to address xenophobia in South Africa.

The particular stages that lead to the creation of The Reel Pan-AfriCAN SoundsCAPE evolved organically.  It started with the making of the first of the 5 films, Xenophobia Unplugged:  Featuring Adeson Nchimbi, in June 2008.  I had been thinking of making a long-format documentary, addressing xenophobia in South Africa through musicians, much earlier in the year, well before the xenophobic violence took place.  I had been learning about xenophobia and the plight of immigrant and refugee musicians since my first year in the country some 5 years before.  After the attacks, which created a new sense of urgency, and learning of a short film competition on the topic of Migr@tions hosted by Radio Canada International (RCI) with a fast-approaching deadline, I endeavoured to create the first film, shooting all the footage in one day and editing the project in a week.  In what felt like less than enough time for a parcel to make it to Canada by post, I received a call from RCI seeking permission to screen the film in a Special Project at the Montreal World Film Festival.  A few weeks later the same thing was requested for the Calgary International Film Festival.  The success the first film was suddenly receiving in Canada gave me the courage to press on with the other films.  I was also starting to think about more ways of sharing the films with a Canadian audience (and in so doing, realize one of my long-time goals of shifting Canadian stereotypes of Africa) while gaining Canadian support for the film/music outreach work I aimed to do in South Africa.  Various events and people were beginning to come into the picture and eventually fit together into the vision for The Reel Pan-AfriCAN SoundsCAPE.

WHERE WE GO FROM HERE
The idea behind creating this dossier is to keep the momentum going...to provide a tool for sustainable social dialogue on the issues of migration and multiculturalism, issues that affect us all in our local and international communities.

SPECIAL THANKS
I would like to acknowledge the contributions of the many dedicated professionals who volunteered their time, energy, skills and resources to making The Reel Pan-AfriCAN SoundsCAPE possible.  Many thanks.  We couldn't have done it without you:

The Musicians:
Adeson Nchimbi
Xixel Langa
Sylvestre Kabassidi
Dingiswayo Juma
Adamu

The Cape Town Production Team:
Jonathan Mouers (MC/Facilitator)
Nathalie Rosa-Bucher (Publicist)
Sylvestre Kabassidi (Artist Liaison)
Ariella Raucher (Laptop Technician)
Eva Gilliam (Videographer)
Anneke (Public Relations)
Nishan (Sound and Lighting Technician)
DJ China

The Vancouver Production Team:
Bheki Ndlovu (Choreographer/Facilitator)
Hanah Van Borek (Laptop Technician)
Lauren Bartmann (Lighting Technician)

Event Hosts:
Zula Sound Bar/Vusa & Zoe Mazula
Simon Fraser University

Host Organizations:
The VPAFF/U.E. Johnson
Eppelsauce Music/Daniel Eppel

Film Support:
University of Cape Town/Moeneeb Dalwai & Mark Fleishman
Kwamba Productions/Wendy Kohn & Heather Mosher