The lights turned off in the Neelsie Cinema and a small audience was transported into the sea-world of two fishermen who, despite struggling to make a living, still feel deeply connected to their purpose.
Directed, produced and written by PJ Kotze, the 2021 documentary film Ulwandle (‘the ocean’ in isiZulu) screened at the Neelsie Cinema on 13 October as part of the 2022 Toyota US Woordfees film festival.
The film follows two fishermen from the east and west coasts of South Africa and offers a sobering, yet romantic perspective on the fishing industry.
Ulwandle follows the stories of two fishermen from the east and west coasts of South Africa who are passionate about the ocean, despite the challenges it poses to their livelihoods. PHOTO: Aiden Louw
The west coast’s catch
John van der Heever is from Lambert’s Bay. He was first bitten by the “sea spider” when his father taught him how to fish rock lobster as a boy, he says in the film.
Now middle-aged, Van der Heever says he cannot imagine his life without fishing.
The documentary shows that the fishing lifestyle is under threat, as government fishing quotas have made it more difficult to make a living from rock lobster fishing. About 400 families along South Africa’s west coast depend on this job for income, according to the film.
The east coast’s catch
Mike Tembe fishes along Kosi Bay’s estuary system where fishing has supported the Tsonga people for years.
Like Van der Heever, Tembe was taught the craft by his father. However, he says in the film that, because of overfishing, the market is not as lucrative as it once was. He sometimes has to wait a month before catching any fish, he says.
Nevertheless, he taught the trade to his son and says that he would rather fish and struggle than move to the city and work.
“With the ocean in my life, everything will be okay,” he says in the film.
The audience’s catch
Ulwandle, a 2021 documentary film, played at the Neelsie Cinema as part of the Toyota US Woordfees annual film festival. The audience was small, no more than five people, but the experience was great, according to audience member Anke van der Merwe. PHOTO: Aiden Louw
“It was really nice to see the human aspect [of overfishing], and not just the scientific side,” said Anke van der Merwe, who watched the screening.
Van der Merwe told MatieMedia that she really enjoyed the film. She was impressed by the quality of the documentary and its gorgeous shots of the ocean, she said.
Aerial shots of both the west and east coast’s sea were interlaced with close-ups of the respective fishermen’s activities.
In the opening scene of the film, the audience hears Van der Heever say that “nothing remains unchanged in the sea” as images of underwater life take over the screen.
In the film’s closing, this sentiment remains true. Ulwandle alters the perceptions audience members may have had of the fishing industry prior to watching the documentary.
The next screening of Ulwandle will take place on 16 October at the Neelsie Cinema.