"Films are only completed in the viewing," says Rehad Desai. Speaking about his documentary The Battle for Johannesburg, which debuted at the Durban International Film Festival (Diff), Desai was expounding on the documentary filmmaker's perennial problem: finishing the work.
The Battle for Johannesburg starts off with footage of a 2009 eviction of inner city dwellers by the Red Ants and ends with scenes of pre-World Cup excitement.
Though the documentary was an independently conceived idea, it was partly commissioned by the SABC and should have screened earlier this year, considering it is about the fight for social housing as it plays out in a city preparing to host the World Cup.
It was shot over three years and while it does have a definite beginning, middle and end, the issue of the impact of urban development on inner city inhabitants is never resolved.
Desai was originally very excited about the concept of urban renewal and when Ponti Towers went up for sale he wanted to make that development the focus of a documentary.
"I'm an old joller and I had a relationship with the building and Hillbrow," said Desai, who now lives in the Johannesburg suburbs.
He grew up in London, has spent some time in Rome and is used to the big city life.
What strikes him as different about Johannesburg is that only here is the city a home for the poor since in places like Rome - which is architecturally protected - it is only the rich who can afford to live in the inner city.
The same Ponti developer was talking about low-cost housing going hand-in-hand with his project, but ultimately his highly secured island in a sea of dereliction was doomed.
In order to still use his Ponti sequences and footage tracking a group of residents who were relocated instead of simply being evicted, Desai injected himself into the story as narrator and asker of questions.
"I am being compelled and intrigued by the phenomena, it's a gut thing. I was genuinely excited by the Ponti scheme. If it hadn't collapsed, you would not have seen me," he said.
"The poor are also aspirational and that's historically the role a city plays, as a place where people build their resources and then move on; if they're happy they stay.
"But the moment you say because you can only afford a R1 000 rent you can't get electricity, there's no place for you...
"The gap between rich and poor is widening and that is the single biggest factor leading to instability. When that inequality is visible, people become more and more agitated."
While he doesn't draw the analogy in the documentary, the problems Desai highlights are being experienced across the southern hemisphere in the rapid urbanisation of developing cities which result in slums: a cheap source of a work force, but a breeding ground for all manner of problems.
"I'm not a policy analyst, I'm just someone who loves the city. There are so many answers," Desaid said.
The Battle for Johannesburg will air on the small screen early next year, but before then it will play at the Architecture Africa Film Festival in September and the TriContinental in October.
The 12th Encounters South African International Documentary Festival will run at Nu Metro cinemas and The Labia from August 12 to 29 in Cape Town and at Nu Metro from August 18 to 29 in Johannesburg.
The TriContinental Film Festival will run at the Rosebank Mall, Johannesburg, from October 1 to 12.
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