Kempton Park resident and former Thembisa resident Neo Pholushe (30) wants to educate as many people as possible about the realities of homelessness. Neo has been passionately working on his first documentary about the homeless, a film that chronicles his experience befriending five homeless women, who ultimately changed the course of his life.

“The story starts in China where I bought the film equipment to start Street Kids DVC. Amid my return to South Africa, the scenes full of street hawkers, trolley pushers and beggars immediately exposes the contrasting lifestyles between our country and the world,” he said.

“I suppose we are all aware of how poor African countries are compared to the developed world. What helps to display the actual level of our poverty is the cinematography. Usually, a documentary film is driven by the stories being told. In this project, the visuals and stories are given equal priority. “The homelessness of young South Africans and rejection experienced is a sign of the state of our history, politics, African politics, the meaning of freedom and the loss of a generation’s identity. One needs to do what one can to help wherever possible.”

Inspiration

“I am inspired by my father who ministers The Church of Jesus Christ Emqantsa in Thembisa. There are always people around him. They are spiritually and physically in need. We lived and grew up in poverty while doing our best as a family to help those poorer than us. Having grown up in that environment, my view and idea of a functioning society and community are based on how people help each other.
“I am driven by this philosophy,” said Neo.

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“The end of this documentary is the beginning of a journey that I am trying to take people on.”
He first met his subjects in 2019 and he was struck by their way of life.
“I aimed to participate in transforming their lives and have it on film so their stories can inspire others.
“It gives me great joy to watch something like this as it unfolds. I am still compiling the rest of this documentary.
“It has been overwhelming. Last year was the busiest time in my life despite the virus. We were gathering more footage than I could edit. So it is only in the past four weeks that I got the chance to finally sit with everything and witness all the great work done,” said Neo.

He started filming in October 2019 and acquired quality film equipment to reach the cinematography and editing standards. “I have friends who have seen this documentary and they’ve commented on what they call the ‘narrative switch up’. We live in a social media glitz obsessed generation and people are surprised when a filmmaker can find visual substance in dirty and poverty-ridden scenes “In my documentary, I am not afraid to show the advantages I enjoy when I travel overseas. I am proud to show it but home is still home. I live and spend the majority of my time in Kempton Park. “This is the community I am now a part of. The streets are dirty and there is a lot one can take for granted but I am fortunate to be close friends with the businessmen and shop owners here. “It is through them that I got to see the opportunities available among the mess. One just needs to ignore the disadvantages and look for the beauty afforded by the Kempton Park streets. So, I decided to film Kempton Park and to present it as real and raw as it is,” Neo said.

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