Tag Archives: Cape Town

Seeking the New Moon

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Every year, at the end of the Islamic month of fasting called Ramadaan, Muslims in Cape Town make their way to Three Anchor Bay beachfront to sight the new moon. Sighting the birth of the new moon would signal the celebration of Eid ul-Fitr, the festival marking the end of Ramadaan.

The Crescent Observer Society, also known as the Maankykers, looks out to the skies to seek the new moon. They are following a tradition based on the sayings of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

Copyright: Yazeed Kamaldien (2015)

Mandela in Cape Town

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This three-minute video traces the footsteps of global icon Nelson Mandela in Cape Town, South Africa. It looks at where he was imprisoned on Robben Island, and also where he made his first speech once set free from 27 years in jail and also captures glimpses of where and how Cape Town remembers Mandela.

Copyright: Yazeed Kamaldien (2015)

Cape Town International Jazz Festival

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Thousands of music lovers migrated to the sixteenth annual Cape Town International Jazz Festival at the end of March 2015. Over two days, at least 41 live acts across various music genres entertained the crowds.

Among the festival highlights, as seen in this short video, was the South African-based Mahotella Queens, American singer Al Jarreau, as well as Cape Town jazz singer Melanie Scholtz and rapper Jitsvinger who collaborated on stage for the first time.

Copyright: Yazeed Kamaldien (2015)

70 Years of the Labia

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This six-minute film was made as a gift for the Labia, which is the oldest standing independent cinema in South Africa.

Copyright: Yazeed Kamaldien (2019)

Oceans & Sunsets

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A short experimental film, collecting footage of the ocean and sunsets in Cape Town. The sound is an old kasidah — an Islamic song praising God.

Dear Kirvan

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Dear Kirvan Fortuin

You are no longer with us physically, but in your 28 years you have left enough memories to sustain lifetimes. It makes me so sad that your energy has been lost to this world. You didn’t get to see the documentary film I’m working on, about the ballroom culture which you have been so pivotal in here in Cape Town.

But I wanted to share these few scenes with you. Rest in Power. FYI: This video is made in memory of Kirvan, days after he was murdered in June 2020. These are snippets from my documentary film A Home Called Vogue which features Kirvan along with ballroom pioneers and participants.

 

Evicted

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Evicted is a six-minute film that documents the voices of Cape Town’s citizens who face eviction, or who have been evicted from their shacks built on public or private land. These are voices on the periphery that need to be heard in a city with inequalities that co-exist daily.

Copyright: Yazeed Kamaldien (2014)