Creative Imagineering is so proud to be a sponsor of the AFDA 3rd year film graduates. Our sponsorship enabled a creative group of eight ‘BA in Motion Pictures’ students, produce their graduation film, ‘Bittersweet’. They are now all able to receive their degrees and commence the next chapter of their creative careers.

This is the film ‘Bittersweet’

They produced a dark comedy called ‘Bittersweet’ – a tale of lust, lemons, and revenge. The film was inspired by ‘Django Unchained’ in terms of the editing pace and the overly-dramatic mood. The team also drew inspiration from Spaghetti Westerns and post-impressionist art in terms of production design. A dark comedy, the plot encompasses the coming of age for women.

Lemons film bittersweet

It is set in the lemon orchards of Citrusdal on a remote farm location. The main character is a charismatic, narcissistic cult leader who is obsessed with lemons. His followers are all female who also worship lemons and assign him a God-like status. Their blind faith is tested when one of the faithful followers realises that their leader is lustful and manipulating his followers through sexual favours. This moment is cleverly depicted by the presence of an apple that unexpectedly tumbles out of a hessian lemon bag. The apple represents ‘impure thoughts’ among the lemon-worshipping cult. The leader’s long-suffering wife then awakens to her husband’s unscrupulous ways and is then set on revenge.

The challenges of the film

The team’s initial challenge was financial. Creative Imagineering’s sponsorship covered their operating expenses. Some of these costs included the generator and its fuel, transport, as well as props and gear in the art and cinematography departments. The sponsorship allowed the crew to focus on the art and photography of the film as opposed to the financial implications of the logistics.

Other challenges included the remote location which required a silent generator that was compatible with their sound and lighting package. Being in nature they were challenged by having to manage and control the natural sounds. They also had to camp out together and accommodate the crew and actors in the orchards.

Why we sponsored film students

Our Founder and Creative Director, Lisa Leathes had this to say: “Coming from a creative background, I know how important it is to help and support young creatives to transition into working in the creative world. The next generation of young creatives need to be celebrated and their talent encouraged. They need to believe in themselves and know they have a chance to further their creative careers. Their fresh perspective and ideas need to be nurtured from the start as they are the foundation of what is to come.”

Lisa concludes: “But I don’t want to lecture you about the Awards and what they do. Instead, I want to show you why we support them and why that opportunity means so much to us. We sponsor the Young Creative Awards because we believe in the talent of the future. We sponsor them because we believe creativity is worth celebrating. And we sponsor them because inspiring and supporting young people is something we think everyone should be involved in, regardless of your day job.”

More about film at AFDA

The South African School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance (AFDA) is considered the number 1 film, TV and performance school on the continent. It is an internationally recognised institution and the first and only African film school to win the best foreign student film award in 2006 and runner-up as a finalist in 2013. AFDA students are trained to produce commercially viable entertainment products for local audiences and niche online global markets. The AFDA learning process encourages and rewards innovation, leadership, and entrepreneurship.

With thanks from the film graduates

We received a heartfelt thank you from the crew: “Our crew would like to thank your support and contribution towards our graduation film project. As creative film students, the complexity of our work tethers itself to a string of challenges—many of which are financial. The sponsorship your company provided gave us the opportunity to focus more on the art while reducing the financial burden that disrupts our delicate creative process.”

Lemon orchards film bittersweet

“As a nod to our own testimony as creative students, we believe there is a special importance for companies such as Creative Imagineering in today’s creative economy. You have endorsed the awkwardly-pitched creative sector through endorsing the education of the upcoming creative generation.” Said Production Manager, Katleho Morojele.

When the crew was asked what their favourite fruit was the answer was unanimous – lemons and more lemons!