Jenna Cato Bass (born 1986) is a South African film director, photographer and writer. She has written stort stories under the name Constance Myburgh, one of which was shortlisted for the 2012 Caine Prize.[1][2]
Jenna Bass | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Jenna Cato Bass 1986 Camden, London, England |
| Nationality | South African |
| Alma mater | AFDA |
| Years active | 2010–present |
Early life edit
Bass was born in London, England and grew up in South Africa.[3] She practiced magic at the College of Magic. She went onto graduate from the Cape Town campus of AFDA, The School for the Creative Economy.
Career edit
In 2011 Bass founded Jungle Jim, a genre fiction magazine. Issue 6 featured her noir detective story 'Hunter Emmanuel', featuring an investigation into a dismembered prostitute. The story was shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2012.[1]
Bass's first feature film, Love the One You Love, was shot on a 'nano-budget' using hand-held consumer cameras and a partly improvised script. The film told the story of a sex phone operator negotiating her relationship with her boyfriend and considering a move to Korea.[4] The film won Best South African Feature Film at the 2014 Durban International Film Festival.[5]
High Fantasy (2017) was a satirical thriller about a group of young travellers who mysteriously exchange their bodies on a camping trip. Once again shot on iPhones using improvisation, the film explored "the messy tangle of race, class and gender identity in modern-day South Africa."[6]
Flatland (2019), an all-female "South African kitsch-western genre mashup", was shot on a larger budget.[7] It was chosen as the opening film in the 2019 Berlinale Panorama.[8]
Works edit
Short stories edit
- (as Constance Myburgh) 'A Hole in the Ground', Jungle Jim, No. 2
- (as Constance Myburgh) 'Hunter Emmanuel, Jungle Jim, No. 6
Filmography edit
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Cinematographer | Other | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | The Tunnel | Yes | Yes | Yes | Part of Africa First: Volume One | ||
| 2014 | Love the One You Love | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Editor, production designer | |
| 2017 | High Fantasy | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2018 | Rafiki | Yes | |||||
| 2019 | Sizohlala | Yes | Yes | Short film | |||
| 2019 | Flatland | Yes | Yes | ||||
| 2019 | Neighbours | Yes | |||||
| 2021 | Good Madam | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Production designer, Casting | |
| 2021 | Tug of War | Yes |
References edit
- ^ a b Alison Flood, 'African Booker' shortlist offers an alternative view of continent, The Guardian, 1 May 2012.
- ^ Caine Prize (2012). The Caine Prize for African Writing 2012. New Internationalist. p. 108. ISBN 978-1-78026-075-4.
- ^ "Jenna Cato Bass". Moscow Film Festival. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ Tymon Smith, Movie Review: 'Love the One You Love' is a cinematic treat, The Sunday Times, 18 September 2015.
- ^ Baldwin Ndaba; Therese Owen; Masego Panyane (2019). The Black Consciousness Reader. OR Books. p. 341. ISBN 978-1-68219-172-9.
- ^ Christopher Vourlias, South Africa’s Jenna Bass Explores Race, Class and Gender in ‘High Fantasy’, Variety, July 21, 2019.
- ^ Andrew Gutman, Berlinale first look: Flatland is an intriguingly kitsch South African western, Sight & Sound, 27 August 2019.
- ^ Sophie Mayer, Berlinale 2019 Review: Flatland, Berlin Film Journal, February 2019.
External links edit
- Jenna Bass at IMDb
- Geoff Ryman, Constance Myburgh a.k.a. Jenna Bass, Strange Horizons, 2017.