Siembamba: Interview with the Director Darrell Roodt

Darrell James Roodt (born in Johannesburg, April 28 1962) is one of the most recognized south african directors in his country, his film Yesterday (2004) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film; Darrell changes drastically from the genre he has dedicated all his carrier and makes his way into the world of terror with his new film SIEMBAMBA. However he has not lost the social aspect, this film has a background that goes beyond terror; the Boer Wars (1880 -1881 and 1899-1902) where Great Britain fought against the Africans natives and all the horrors that this war brought, being the African women one of the most vulnerable parts since they were raped and killed by the soldiers.


In this interview we will get to know a little more about the work of this great South African director and how he decided to return to the genre of terror that he left behind in the beginning of his carrier when he also made a film of this same genre.

Read interview in Spanish

Darrell Roodt

1.-How did you come up with the idea of working with the Siembamba project?

Very few horror films are made in South Africa- every day reality is horrifying enough as it is!Which is surprising, because we have a rich lore of folk tales, both black and white! The back story of the Boer war and the Boer midwives murdering the bastard children of Boer women who had been raped by the British soldiers provided a rich background to explore. The trick was to bring it to the present day.

2.-What project are you working on now?

A film about the deal a Blues singer makes with the Devil to be be famous! The Roberty Johnson story gone horribly wrong in the swamps of Louisiana!

3.-What was it like to move from the documentary genre to the horror and sci-fi genre?

I do more drama than anything else-although I LOVE horror movies! I think my background allows me to refine the performances and let them resonate on a deeper level(hopefully!). As for the horror, I am a big fan of the genre and have always been! channeling Argento and Kubrick(dare I say it) was such fun!

4.-Do you think that through your work we will get to know more about the African reality?

Well, not this movie! This is strictly psychological horror that plays in that domain. When you watch The Conjuring you don't learn too much about America other than it is sprung from a violent heritage. I suppose in that way, something about the harshness of the African continent resonates!

5.-What made you interested in the postpartum psychosis as the background for what the protagonist suffers?

The best horror films, in my opinion, always have a much deeper human layer. THE SHINING for example is all about writer's block and alcholism- its TRUTH enhances the horror, makes it much more REAL despite ghosts in the bathroom and blood pouring out of apples. The baby blues is VERY RELEVANT to all young parents( men included!) How do you deal with that incessant crying baby if you don't know how....? So the film is ALWAYS working on two levels- it's all in her mind. Or is it?

Also read, interview with Reine Swart protagonist of Siembamba

6.-Have you witnessed any of the horrors that are exposed in this movie?

The horror of a baby crying through the night and the hopelessnes of not being able to do something about it, this I knew...!

7.-How does it feel to be working on this kind of project?

Horror is the best fun for a director! Trying to make audiences jump together in the dark is the essential power of cinema!!

8.-Have you ever wanted to work on this genre or did you just take the opportunity to work on it?

I've done a couple. My first breakout movie, THE STICK, was a horror movie set in the army when whites boys were conscripted to fight during Apartheid. It was a thinly veiled attack against the system, explored through the mechanics of horror! 

9.-You, like Neill Blomkamp (District 9), despite going for different genres, in your films you always try to show some of what is still happening in South Africa. Do you think that through the horror and fiction cinema, people can become aware of the situations that occur in your country?I

I'm a South African. I love my country. I hate my country. I'm always interested in whats going on around me.

10.-Do you believe that it is the responsibility of directors, actors and people who work on the audiovisual field to publicize situations such as those that occurred in Siembamba and other countries around the world, with the cinema being a medium where you can better expose all those kinds of situations?

CINEMA is an extremely powerful medium. With it comes some sense of responsibility. It varies from film maker to film maker, but I would like to think that I have a political or social conscious that is always at work, even though subliminely.I've made a couple of films in my career that have resonated on a deeper level and that's immensely satisfying. But the primary driving force is still to make movies, the magical flicker in the dark that transports you to somewhere that you've never been before!

Siembamba poster