Crowdfunding film at Open Design fest

The Labia will screen the film Capital C at the Open Design Festival.

One of the heights of the fourth Open Design Festival is the film festival at the Labia Theatre in Gardens.

One of the films that will be making its South Africa premier at the festival is Capital C, a movie about crowdfunding and Thundafund.

It is a topic that is close to home for the Labia Theatre, which is South Africa’s oldest independent theatre, as they had to use a crowdfunding initiative to save themselves when they had to invest in digital projectors.

Subhas Shah, chief operating officer of Thundafund, said they were looking forward to being a part of the Open Design Festival in Cape Town this month. “We all at Thundafund, are excited about the premiere of Capital C. I like to grow the idea of crowdfunding into a form that it may be a culture in South Africa. If we can grow the crowdfunding culture, I strongly believe it can be done through this movie.

“This documentary will take you through the idea of crowdfunding, how crowdfunding changed people’s lives and the greater understanding of how we as a crowd can make and achieve many things through just us, the crowd.

“(It will) also, go through the highs and lows of the people who used crowdfunding. It will give great insight and new perspective into the world of crowdfunding.”

Thundafund has raised close to R7 million for just over 200 projects since November 2013. “The innovation of crowdfunding, in today’s terms, is that it allows those who need to raise capital, to find the funds from the crowd. The disruption is that technology is being used to create a platform for people to put their ideas or projects online. If the crowd likes their ideas or projects, the crowd goes ahead and backs the campaign all through the means of existing technology breaking down the traditional walls.”

According to Mr Shah, the people who promote their projects on crowdfunding platforms, also get to test the market to see if their idea or product is accepted by the market. “If it does not succeed, that will only mean that your project either needs some tweeks or to decide to try something new.”

Capital C makes its South African debut as part of the Open Design Festival on Thursday August 11.

Open Design creative director Y Tsai said: “Design is no longer the exclusive domain of the privileged elite. It touches every part of life, addressing basic human needs in multiple applications across every sector that make up our social fabric. It has been used to transform healthcare, business, transport, urban development, agriculture, education, housing, technology, music, public spaces, communication and technology among others.

“This approach, called hum-an-centred design, is gaining a global focus for competitive business and socio-economic development.”

Another event taking place in the festival is the Black Filmmakers Film Festival (BFFF).

The organisation’s Tania Pehl said BFFF team consists of black film-makers who have worked on numerous productions within film and media, both locally and internationally. She said the event has grown from strength to strength since its first screening just over a year ago.

She said the BFFF was form-ed “because there is a gap in Cape Town when it comes to being exposed to films made by people of colour. The network and discussion that stems from that is enriching and insightful.

“We seek to connect and showcase artists of colour across the city, country and continent, through a series of events and workshops in these areas. These events will not be limited to film and media fans alone, but aims to include an audience who has yet to be exposed to film screenings, workshops and festivals.”

The BFFF screening event takes place at the City Hall on Sunday August 14.

The festival is split in two parts, with events, expos and workshops at Cape Town City Hall from Wednesday August 10 to Tuesday August 16 and at different venues around the city from Wednesday August 17 until Sunday August 21.

* Dine with Khayelitsha, on Friday August 19, will see township households host local and international guests over conversational dinners that facilitate interaction on themes ranging from social issues to innovation, leadership, entrepreneurship and sustainability.

* The Architecture Open Studios, in partnership with Cape Institute for Architecture, on Wednesday August 17, will give the public a rare opportunity to view the creative spaces of some of the leading architectural practices in Cape Town.

* Design Garage, a showroom space hosted by Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), on Wednesday August 17, supports emerging designers by showcasing and selling their fashion, textiles, graphics, jewellery and other industrial design products. The initiative sources products from students and alumni of the university’s design programmes.

* IDEA Lab Experience For All Design Educators, a one-and-a-half day workshop will share the power of design and how to teach critical life skills in the classroom. This takes place on Friday August 19 and Saturday August 20)

For more information about the Open Design Festival visit www.opendesignct.com