Award winning director, Sean Metelerkamp presents his new film for the Studio Africa initiative, a marriage of lively fashion and dance set to an exclusive track by The Very Best & Moroka called ‘Ndekha’ and featuring South African dance group, REAL ACTIONS.
Metelerkamp showcases the vibrancy of the traditional Pantsula dance as a compliment to the DIESEL + EDUN clothing worn by the cast, members of REAL ACTIONS. Established in 1992 in Johannesburg with the aim of challenging creative minds through dance after realizing the wealth of talent amongst the youth of the area, REAL ACTIONS bring to life the story behind the DIESEL + EDUN collection; a celebration of breakout talent from the continent.
Under the eye of the South African native, Patsula vs Puppets was shot on location in Soweto to harness the creative spirit of the area Metelerkamp has worked hard at unearthing over time to share on an international stage. In Metelerkamp’s own words, ‘I know I can create content that I can twist to satisfy my imagination and put out to the rest of the world.’
His work with DIESEL + EDUN brought about new challenges, an experience he was keen to embrace:
‘This was the first time I’ve ever worked with a clothing brand, and it was a super interesting experience, as from the very beginning I was aware of the fact that these DIESEL + EDUN clothes were a super important element within the film. These clothes actually determined the look of the film, because of the dancers, your eyes are focused on the dancers and they’re wearing that clothing, it’s very sharp on the eye. It was actually something new to me that I ended up really enjoying.’
Sean Metelerkamp was born Knysna, South Africa and now lives in Cape Town. He was widely lauded for his breakthrough work with South African zeitgeist rap group Die Antwoord on their ‘Zef Side’ video, which currently has received over 6 million plays on YouTube. Other accolades include Best Music Video at the D&AD Awards, a YouTube PLAY award and accompanying exhibition space at New York’s Guggenheim Museum.
Patsula vs Puppets joins the lineup of the work exhibited in the online sphere of Studio Africa, a virtual loudspeaker for the new generation of African talent supported by DIESEL + EDUN.
http://www.diesel.com/diesel+edun/
ABOUT DIESEL+EDUN
In January 2012, Diesel founder Renzo Rosso and EDUN founders, Ali Hewson and Bono travelled to Uganda and Mali, where they shared their love of the continent and toured each other’s programs: Diesel’s Only The Brave Foundation project in Dioro, Mali and EDUN’s Conservation Cotton Initiative (CCI) in Uganda. The experience encouraged them to join forces to further apparel trade and development in Africa under the name DIESEL+EDUN.
ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Using raw, untreated denim, the DIESEL+EDUN collection was built around a reinterpretation of the four-pocket jean of the 1970s popular on the streets of South Africa. Malian textile prints are echoed in the denim lining and across the jersey pieces in the collection. Embroidery details reference traditional Zulu weaving patterns, while the dresses feature Kenyan metalwork. Running through the whole collection are four unique symbols designed to reflect the heart of the DIESEL+EDUN collection. Made from cotton grown through CCI’s Uganda project, the denim was cut, sewn and washed in northern African countries such as Tunisia and Morocco. The Studio Africa campaign will be featured in the top 100 Diesel stores and windows around the world – including Paris, London, New York, Tokyo, and Cape Town, South Africa.
ABOUT CCIU
In 2008, EDUN established the Conservation Cotton Initiative Uganda (CCIU) together with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Invisible Children. CCIU provides funding, training and enterprise support to cotton farmers to help build sustainable business in Northern Uganda, one of the poorest areas in Uganda which is recovering from 25 years of civil war. It currently supports 8,500 farmers and their families and we aim to keep growing this number to reach 10,000 farmers by the end of 2015.
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