Sara Blecher (born
Gauteng
Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa.
Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...
) is a South African director and producer.
Biography
Originally from South Africa, Blecher's family moved to
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
in 1981, when she was 12 years old.
Her family is originally of Jewish Lithuanian origin, which informs some of her work.
After a brief spell at
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
, Blecher lived in Paris for a year and enrolled in film school upon her return to New York.
In 1992, shortly after graduating from
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
, she returned to South Africa.
She directed the documentaries ''
Surfing Soweto'' and ''Kobus And Dumile''.
She was nominated for Best Movie Director at the
2013 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards for her first film ''
Otelo Burning'', a story of how 16-year-old Otelo Buthelez learns how to surf during the
apartheid
Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
era. The film won 17 awards internationally. It was filmed in
Zulu, with English subtitles, and stars
Jafta Mamabolo,
Thomas Gumede, and
Tshepang Mohlomi. Following the success of Otelo Burning, Blecher received funding from the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) for a "slate of
films
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...
".
Her second film, ''
Ayanda'', premiered on 10 October at the 2015
BFI London Film Festival
The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October.
In 2016, the BFI estimated that around 240 fe ...
and took international honors at the
LA Film Festival
The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episodi ...
in 2015.
Blecher is married and has three children.
Filmography
*
''Mayfair'' (2018)
* ''Half the Sky (2018)''
* ''Measure of A Woman (2018)''
* ''
Dis ek, Anna'' (2015)
* ''
Ayanda'' (2015)
* ''
Otelo Burning'' (2011)
* ''
Surfing Soweto'' (2010)
* ''Who Do Yo Think You Are? (2009)''
* ''Bay of Plenty (2007)''
* ''
Kobus And Dumile'' (2002)
References
External links
Ayanda pageat Array Films.
Living people
1960s births
South African film directors
South African film producers
South African people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent
White South African people
Date of birth missing (living people)
{{SouthAfrica-bio-stub