Jenna Bass

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
NationalitySouth African
Alma materAFDA
Years active2010–present

Early life

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

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

Short stories
  • (as Constance Myburgh) 'A Hole in the Ground', Jungle Jim, No. 2
  • (as Constance Myburgh) 'Hunter Emmanuel, Jungle Jim, No. 6

Filmography
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
  1. Alison Flood, 'African Booker' shortlist offers an alternative view of continent, The Guardian, 1 May 2012.
  2. Caine Prize (2012). The Caine Prize for African Writing 2012. New Internationalist. p. 108. ISBN 978-1-78026-075-4.
  3. "Jenna Cato Bass". Moscow Film Festival. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  4. Tymon Smith, Movie Review: 'Love the One You Love' is a cinematic treat, The Sunday Times, 18 September 2015.
  5. Baldwin Ndaba; Therese Owen; Masego Panyane (2019). The Black Consciousness Reader. OR Books. p. 341. ISBN 978-1-68219-172-9.
  6. Christopher Vourlias, South Africa’s Jenna Bass Explores Race, Class and Gender in ‘High Fantasy’, Variety, July 21, 2019.
  7. Andrew Gutman, Berlinale first look: Flatland is an intriguingly kitsch South African western, Sight & Sound, 27 August 2019.
  8. Sophie Mayer, Berlinale 2019 Review: Flatland, Berlin Film Journal, February 2019.
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