The first step was to let the information osmose. We did not
know at the time what our story would be, but didn’t worry as we knew that The
Research was going to inform the direction we would take.
The process was slow. Fabian and I would meet up anywhere;
at his place or mine, the nearest mall and even a car park and toss ideas around.
Skype allowed us to communicate with Hakeem from his base in L.A. Sometimes we
would plot out a story, only to change it the following day. However, whichever
draft of the story we came up with, the idea of a ‘search’ was always present.
The photographs Alon Skuy took of the riots were arresting.
They spoke of a menace that lurked within the frame and outside the frame. I
wanted the film to have this sense of peril.
The first book I read was Go Home Or Die Here published by
the Wits University Press. One of the chapters in the book by Noor Nieftagodien
entitled “Xenophobia In Alexandra” shaped one of the themes for me. Noor
writes:
“A key moment in the conflict, and perhaps a turning
point, was when a group of attackers marched to Setswetla to launch a raid
against the African foreigners living there. When they arrived at the squatter
camp, the would-be attackers were met with resistance from local
residents…Although this was the most resolute example of resistance against the
xenophobic attacks, there were countless other instances of local organizations
taking very public positions against the violence.”
This had not been widely reported. This got me thinking of
the choices we make as human beings. One set of people can choose to set an
innocent man alight and another set of people will defend the innocent to their
last breath. These choices would be what the characters in Man On Ground would
grapple with.
