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Stories of Recovery

Film · 2024 · Project Exodus / TBN Africa

Two thirty-minute documentaries, each one a person's recovery in their own words. Both aired on TBN Africa. Leading a small crew, I worked from the first planning call through to the final colour and sound: the interviews, the cinematography, the edit, and the grade.

The films

Reclaiming Life: from Addiction to Recovery - Mpho's Story
Tshepi's Story of Hope - Recovery from Pornography Addiction

The aim was to hold a real story long enough for it to land, and to let the person tell it in their own time. Location shoots, a slow and patient edit, sound design and a grade that carried a lot of the feeling. Made for broadcast.

The DaVinci Resolve timeline for one of the films: eight video tracks and seventeen audio tracks running the length of a twenty-seven minute cut

Stills

A figure standing in silhouette above a layer of cloud at sunrise
Tshepang seen from behind, looking out at the sea
Mpho mid-sentence in interview, lit against a dark background
A wave breaking into white water
Hands resting on an open book
A figure walking the shoreline at dusk
A silhouette in a glass-walled room looking out
Tshepang close, half-smiling, by the sea

Behind the scenes

Filming a subject on the beach before sunrise
A figure framed in the far doorway of a stable block
A farm road lined with bare trees at sunset
Mpho walking the same tree-lined road in the film
Four crew members at golden hour in a field
The interview set in a darkened studio: the subject lit in a chair, the crew behind camera and monitor
The crew crowded in around the subject for a photo after an interview
People gathered on couches in a living room, watching the finished film on television
The watch party.

Produced for Project Exodus, filmed with the team. With thanks to Mpho and Tshepang for trusting us with their stories.

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