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 U-Carmen interview
 to access audio and video on collective you need real player.Star and co-writer, Pauline Malefane, on moving Carmen to Cape Town. You’d be hard pushed to find many bullfighters near Cape Town. Not that this deterred the makers of the new award-winning musical U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha, which relocates Bizet’s beloved Carmen – reputedly the most performed opera ever – into the titular South African township. In fact, director Mark Dornford-May and his Khayelitsha-born star/co-writer Pauline Malefane are both quick to identify the synergy of Bizet’s original music with South Africa’s Xhosa language and vibrant native percussion. “We tried to deliberately clash the two,” holds Mark Dornford-May. “We didn’t want to compromise Bizet’s music and we didn’t want to compromise South Africa’s traditions, so we deliberately kept them as pure as possible. I think the open vowels of Xhosa make it a very easy language to sing in.” “We wanted to tell the story in a very South African way,” adds Malefane. “I needed to bring South Africa into the story that I’d read. Carmen is just a very independent woman trying to survive in a very male-dominated society and everyone can relate to that, whether they’re African, American or British.”  This Carmen, played by the alluringly full-figured Malefane, works in a local cigarette factory, singing part-time with its choir. Local police officer Sergeant Jongikhaya first becomes her custodian and then her smitten suitor as the two find themselves locked into a tempestuous, all-consuming relationship. “It’s fun, sexy and one of the roles that any singer or actress would love to get their hands into,” says Malefane. The hands-on approach is what drove the English Dornford-May to help set up the Dimpho De Kopane drama group, drawn from local Cape Town townships, which provides the backbone of the film’s creative element. In true guerrilla filmmaking style, local chicken restaurant chain Nando’s provided funding. “It’s a real South African institution - and does very, very good chicken,” he laughs. “From the outside it may look unusual but in a way they’re looking for the same market as we are – an aspirational black audience.” After winning the Berlin Film Festival’s Golden Bear award, it’s clear that U-Carmen is reaching even broader audiences, and, along with recent Oscar-winner Tsotsi, indicates a burgeoning South African cinema. Next up for Dornford-May and Malefane is Son Of Man, which “moves the story of Jesus Christ forward into a modern African setting”, and signifies the confidence to put their own mark on such sacred cows – never mind the (lack of) bullocks.
Leigh Singer
U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha, on selected release 21 April 06.
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