Enver Samuel

DIRECTOR

Enver Samuel is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who focuses on telling the lesser known stories of unsung heroes & heroines of the struggle against apartheid. His most recent documentary Murder in Paris was the joint winner of the best documentary award at the 2021 Durban International Film Festival where he was also awarded the inaugural Human Rights Award at the same festival Enver’s last 3 documentaries tackle poignant themes that have strong social impact elements. In his own words…“I see this as being a central part of my filmmaking DNA”.

MURDER IN PARIS (2021)
Enver Samuel (SOUTH AFRICA)
Interview with Enver:
Where did the film premiere? 
South African National Broadcaster- SABC3
 
What fuels your motivation and passion for storytelling, and what sources or inspirations contribute to this drive?
The lesser known stories of heroes and heroines of the apartheid struggle fuels my passion to tell these stories of the unsung. I am motivated to bring them back to ‘life’ on screen and in some way assist family members with closure and play a part in the un-erasure of the names of their loved ones.
 
In the context of your filmmaking journey, can you identify some of the significant challenges encountered with regards to the story, which may include aspects like characters, filmmaking techniques, safety concerns, your own positionality, various perspectives, lighting, sound, and the editing process?

The main challenge in this production was getting the appropriate funding for the documentary as it was a case of not having the complete funding in place at the start therefore it was a stop start process throughout the 4 years of the making of the documentary from 2018 to 2021. Covid in a strange way helped as during lockdown i as able to re-read all the transcripts and focus on re working a rough cut.

 
From your perspective, how do you define the essence of documentary filmmaking, and in what profound ways has the narrative of your documentary impacted you personally? 
Documentary filmmaking should light a spark of recognition and emotion in the viewer and when that happens you know you have done something worthwhile. Murder in Paris has had a profound impact on me as almost 3 years later after its broadcast i am still actively engaged with its impact campaign and more importantly i feel i have done justice to the Dulcie September story in the eyes of her family. In a significant way through the doccie a ‘rumbling’ has started that has steadily developed into a crescendo when it come to the question of who is Dulcie September. A cursory glance at the murderinparis.com website will indicate this.