(GG Alcock)
South African
author and entrepreneur, GG Alcock, will present an unusual Masterclass at this
year’s edition of Durban FilmMart, which takes place from June 17 to 20 during
the Durban International Film Festival. Under the banner of Authenticity is Key – Building Credibility
with Audiences, Alcock will talk about the vital necessity of engaging with
an audience on their own terms through an authentic understanding of local
narratives.
The author of Third World Child and Kasinomics (which explores the economics
of South Africa’s townships, or ‘lokasies’), Alcock is uniquely placed to talk
about accessing local audiences. Having grown up in Zulu culture, he is keenly
aware how easy it is for external narratives to be imposed unsuccessfully on
indigenous cultures. Alcock has been a shebeen owner, a political activist, a
community worker, and an African adventurer, and runs a successful
communications company - Minanawe Marketing.
Born in Zululand
and raised in the heart of rural Msinga area of Kwazulu-Natal in the local Zulu
community, Alcock is fluent in isiZulu and still has a deep physical and
spiritual connection with his home village where his mother still lives.
As the founder of
Minanawe Marketing, he has built an impressive reputation as a creative and
strategist – his upbringing having given him the ability to unearth unique
insights and apply these to marketing solutions in the African context. Given
how important it is to establish an authentic narrative and convincing context
when delivering a message, Alcock says that “these lessons can have just as
much relevance for filmmakers looking to engage local audiences as for those
wishing to sell products.”
“I think it’s
important to note up front that I am not a filmmaker. What I am able to share,
however, is an understanding of audiences, particularly in the mass market,
townships and rural areas.”
His business
specialises in developing themes, concepts and marketing campaigns that have a
strong connection with the cultures and identities of these audiences. At the
DFM he will be discussing some simple – but often ignored – rules, which he
applies when communicating with audiences, and illustrating them with case
studies. While these case studies are located in marketing rather than in
filmmaking, the value of his research extends to anyone who is trying to tell
African stories. “I think the fact that marketers are often able to access
audiences successfully indicates the importance of these lessons,” says Alcock.
Alcock plans to use
some of the cultural and business case studies from Kasinomics to explore
concepts that are seldom discussed outside of predominately verbal cultures.
Core lessons and themes that filmmakers will be able to take away include an
understanding of the role of culture and how audiences tend to “modernise
rather than westernise”, the ways in which visual and verbal language can be
misinterpreted, and the importance of the spiritual and intangible in touching
the emotions of an audience. Alcock will also explore the power and
significance of social networks and viral communication in a non-online world.
Ahead of DFM,
Alcock together with Feyi Olubodun, COO of Insight Nigeria have been invited to
Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity to present a session entitled
The African Consumer, Let My Enemy Live
Long on June 18.
This unique
addition to DFM’s packed roster, which will be presented on June 20, is sure to
be both entertaining and eye-opening, and will no doubt inspire new ways of
thinking about local audiences.
To register for DFM
and to find out more about the delegate registration process, visit the
official website at www.durbanfilmmart.com
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