Converse returns with student debt relief campaign #CreateNext

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Converse SA launched its first movement to aiding in the alleviation of student debt in South Africa with the campaign #Kickthedebt. The focus of the campaign was to try and alleviate a portion of student debt, by making a difference to the youth as Tertiary education is incredibly expensive and as a result, student debt is exceptionally high.
 
Due to the overwhelming response received from the previous campaign, Converse SA will be giving away R2 Million towards relieving student debt once again.
 
This year, the campaign has been renamed “Create Next”. The initiative behind the campaign name is fuelled by those that broke barriers before us. We move where inspiration takes us next: when we break barriers of culture, style, and innovation, we construct new possibilities.
 
Youth development is extremely important to Converse as we need to optimize youth developmental progress. Converse promotes positive outcomes for young people by providing better opportunities. We enable students to flourish in their respective educational journeys without the fear of poverty stopping them.
 
Whilst we know that paying off student debt is vitally important in securing so many futures, Converse has gone a step further by guiding students towards their goals through mentorship by experts who have already overcome the very same hardships. Converse has a community of “All Stars” who have been taken under the Converse wing and given opportunities to be part of skill building workshops and mentorship talks with experts in their industries. Converse has enabled the ‘All Stars” to be a part of mural creations around South Africa and the brand has created opportunities for youth to have experiences around the globe.
 
In addition to the R2 Million pledge, Converse will also be giving an additional R500 000 to those who dare to live on their own terms, who break barriers and create their next opportunity. By opening doors to the next generation of creators. Calling all artists, innovators, community leaders, sports people, creators, entrepreneurs, game changers, advocates, rebels, activists, designers, and inventors.
 
Converse is reaching out to communities to tell their stories of inspiration, connection and innovation. The brand wants to help communities create what comes next in their bright future.
 
The campaign will be supported by Digital, PR, Influencers, Ambassadors, Billboards, Radio, Retail Executions and Social media
 
The level of access to entry is as simple as last time, all you have to do is visit ConverseCreateNext.co.za to submit your nomination form. Converse SA is here to bash, smash or squish that student debt that you or someone that you know may have, when it comes to their education
 
The campaign runs from 22 November 2021 and closes on 31 January 2022. Winners will be announced by 28 February 2022.
 
#CreateNext

The Trace Group and Okuhle Media Merge to form Trace Studios

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The Cape Town based audio-visual production company, Okuhle Media (acquired by Trace Group in 2020), announced the rebranding of their recent merger. With the on-going combined offering of services, the newly rebranded Trace Studios officially took effect on the 1st of October 2021.
 
The initial strategy was put in place several months ago to invest in development, IP creation, and talent, and it is already paying off. New shows that already have some notable ratings successes include:
 

  • Signal High – The teen drama series that earlier this year, performed consistently at +49% slot average.
  • Wild Orphan Rescue – A wildlife series produced for Fremantle and SABC, directed by award winning Benjamin G. Hewett, doubled the broadcasters’ primetime average for audience (+140%) and for share (+164%).  
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Crocheting is Cool with Mama Kea

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The word crochet is likely to conjure images of your grandmother’s doilies. However, two young entrepreneurs in Newtown, Johannesburg are setting the record straight.

The strength of Mama Kea lies in its combination of young and old talent. It started when the founders, Sicelo Mabuza and his business partner Khulani Sikhosana, teamed up with two elderly women, Irene Mabitsela and Emma Mavimbela, who they met selling crochet beanies at the Soweto Arts and Craft Fair back in 2015.

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Filah Lah Lah announced as Apple Music Up Next artist in South Africa

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Apple Music has announced South African R&B singer and songwriter Filah Lah Lah (real name Reabetswe Fila Ranamane) as the latest artist in its South Africa Up Next program, a local version of their global emerging artist platform which they launched early in 2021.

“Being selected as Apple Music’s Up Next South Africa artist for November is truly an honor and a dream come true. It’s so important for someone like me, with their own look and their own style, to be given a voice and spotlight, because it inspires others to do the same,” she tells Apple Music. 

It was Filah Lah Lah’s father who made sure that she was exposed to the excellence of black musicians from an early age, introducing her to everything from jazz to funk to soul.

Inspired by jazz greats like Nina Simone, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane, masters of R&B like Marvin Gaye, Betty Wright and Smokey Robinson, and the energy of ‘90s hip hop, Filah Lah Lah poured her unique artistry into her debut EP Filahsofy (2020).

Her second EP We’re Gonna Be Just Fine (2021), available to stream on Apple Music, shows her immense growth both through restrained vocals and sensual soundscapes, taking on a more ambient and harmonic tone.

As the newest Up Next artist to be spotlighted in South Africa, Filah Lah Lah will be featured across Apple Music’s South African Up Next playlist. The curated playlist features a dynamic class of new and emerging artists, thoughtfully hand-picked by Apple Music editors from around the world. The playlist is genre agnostic and represents a line-up of artists their global editors are passionate about and eager to expose to a larger audience. 

The vast global Up Next roster of past talent includes Grammy-nominated and critically lauded talent like 6lack, Daniel Caesar, H.E.R., Greta Van Fleet, Khalid, Amy Shark, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Claudio, Sigrid, Mr Eazi, Stefflon Don, Bad Bunny, Juice WLRD, Bazzi, Jax Jones, NCT 127, Summer Walker, Tierra Whack, Dean Lewis, Pink Sweat$, Koffee, Megan Thee Stallion, Burna Boy, Clairo, Lunay, Jessie Reyez, Orville Peck, Victoria Monét, Ingrid Andress, Conan Gray, Don Toliver, Rema, BENEE, Holly Humberstone, Natanael Cano, Givēon, beabadoobee, Arlo Parks, Tate McRae, Fousheé and Tems.

About Apple Music

Apple loves music. Apple revolutionized the music experience with iPod and iTunes. Today, Apple Music celebrates musicians, songwriters, producers, and fans with a catalog of over 90 million songs, expertly curated playlists, and the best artist interviews, conversations, and global premieres with the award-winning Apple Music Radio. With original content from the most respected and beloved people in music, autoplay, time-sync lyrics, Lossless Audio, and immersive sound powered by Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos, Apple Music offers the world’s best listening experience, helping listeners discover new music and enjoy their favorites while empowering the global artist community. Apple Music is available in over 165 countries and regions on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, HomePod mini, CarPlay, and online at music.apple.com, plus popular smart speakers, smart TVs, and Android and Windows devices. Apple Music is ad-free and never shares consumer data with third parties. More information is available at apple.com/apple-music.

“BARAKAT” is South Africa’s Official Selection for the 94th Annual Academy Awards

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The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the first South African Muslim film shot in Afrikaans, (actually AfriKaaps) Barakat, has been selected as South Africa’s official submission for the 94th Annual Academy Awards.

Directed by Amy Jephta and produced by Ephraim Gordon, co-founders of production companies PaperJet Films and Nagvlug Films, Barakat was released in cinemas in early 2021. The screenplay is by writing-producing team Amy Jephta and Ephraim Gordon who made their debut at South Africa’s 2017 kykNET Silwerskerm Festival with their short film Soldaat (Soldier), for which they won Best Screenplay and Best Short. 

Barakat Official Trailer

Jephta, a celebrated theatre practitioner, director and writer, also scripted South Africa’s official 2018 Golden Globes submission for Foreign Film, Ellen: The Story of Ellen Pakkies. In 2019, she was awarded the Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year Award for theatre. Actor and director Gordon starred in Nosipho Dumisa’s critically acclaimed 2018 debut, Number 37, which premiered at South by Southwest (SXSW).

“I am so proud that this film has reached as many people as it has, and to be recognised by South Africa in this way is incredibly special,” said director Amy Jephta.  “Even after an extremely challenging year for our film industry, we’re honoured that a small story about a family has connected us.”

Producer Ephraim Gordon added: “This was totally unexpected, but it shows that everyone’s hard work on this project has paid off. This film was a blessing from the beginning and continues to be.  It is our barakat.”

‘Barakat’ is an Arabic word denoting blessings, abundance and prosperity. The film follows the trials and tribulations of Aisha Davids (played by veteran acress Vinette Ebrahim), a widow who has to preserve the peace between four sons struggling to come to terms with the death of their father two years after the fact. Her sons, Zunaid (Joey Rasdien), Zaid (Mortimer Williams), Yaseen (Keeno Lee Hector) and Nur (Danny Ross) return to their family home to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr (or Labarang, as it’s called in Cape Town), the celebration marking the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan. They’ve never dealt with their father’s death or the void his passing has left. Each son’s unprocessed pain manifests in constant familial conflict, saddening their mother as she tries to move on with her own life.

The 94th Oscars® will be held on Sunday, the 27th March 2022.

Barakat was developed in partnership with MNET and funded in association with the NFVF, the DTIC, IDC as well as Indigenous Film Distribution, the South African distributor of the film.