MOSSEL BAY NEWS - A Mossel Bay mother and her daughter are thrilled to be part of a film to be shown overseas in movie houses and on television.
It was shot in Johannesburg and in Mossel Bay.
The feature-length documentary is about escalating climate change and it has a futuristic element, being set in 2035.
Megan Kilian (13), in Grade 8 at Curro Mossel Bay, and her mother Carine are in the film, which includes about 10 people in total. It is called World of Walls, but that name might change, says the director, Lucia Kasova.
She is Slovakian.
Co-production
Kasova says: "It's not only a Slovakian film. There is co-production with France, the Czech Republic and Belgium.
"The film will be shown in cinemas and on Czech television. We are cooperating with Czech TV and ARTE France, a channel showing artistic films and documentaries."
Filming started in Johannesburg, but then moved to Mossel Bay because the Kilian family moved here a year ago.
The scenes include a tea party, the beach, a church in Voorbaai and Pick n Pay at the Langeberg Mall.
See a gallery here: Local girl is star of film on climate change, to be shown overseas
Kasova says World of Walls is a coming-of-age film, with climate change seen through the eyes if a child.
In the doccie, Megan plays herself and she wants to become a marine biologist.
Kasova says: "Here in Mossel Bay we cooperated with Mark Dixon, who is a marine biologist, doing his own research on the ocean currents and sand dunes."
Dixon, based in the Garden Route, heads up the wellknown Strandloper Project. The Mossel Bay part of the filming look place at the end of last month.
Small crew
The small film crew consisted of a production manager, camera man, sound engineer and Kasova.
In the doccie, Megan lives in a "safe bubble", which is an area protected from global warming.
Carine said: "I have never acted in anything before."
Megan also has no acting experience, but she has competed in the ATKV Redenaars (debaters) competition.
She also loves public speaking and is used to performing in a sense because she plays the piano, violin, saxo-phone and marimba.
Hard work
When asked what she learnt from being in the film, Megan says: "Acting is actually very hard work. I learnt to cry in front of an audience filming me and I also learnt to never, ever look into the camera."
Explaining how Megan came to be in the film, Kasova said: "We did a film workshop at Megan's school in Johannesburg and taught about making movies, about extras and what each professional, such as a sound engineer, does.
"It took us a few weeks. Then we chose Megan for the film because she was the best."
World of Walls was selected for an international film pitch at Fipadoc, which is a leading documentary film festival in France.
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