Steven Markovitz
{{Short description|South African film and television producer}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Steven Markovitz
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|known_for = aKasha, Silas, High Fantasy, Behind the Rainbow
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| occupation = {{flatlist|
- TV Producer
- film producer}}
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| alma_mater = 1992 - Present
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| nationality = South African
| citizenship = South African
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Steven Markovitz (born in 1965) is a South African film and television producer. He has produced, co-produced and executive-produced features, documentaries and short films. He is a member of AMPAS, co-founder of Electric South & Encounters Documentary Festival and the founder of the African Screen Network.
Markovitz's productions include aKasha{{Cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7527512/ |title = AKasha| website=IMDb }} by Hajooj Kuka{{Cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6669249/?ref_=tt_ov_dr |title = Hajooj Kuka| website=IMDb }} (Venice Critics’ Week, TIFF, 2018), Rafiki by Wanuri Kahiu (Cannes – Un Certain Regard, 2018), the documentary Silas{{Cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5853464/ |title = Silas| website=IMDb }} by Anjali Nayar, Hawa Essuman (TIFF, IDFA 2017), Beats of the Antonov by hajooj kuka{{Cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6669249/?ref_=tt_ov_dr |title = Hajooj Kuka| website=IMDb }} (TIFF Documentary Audience Award, 2014), High Fantasy by Jenna Bass{{Cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3689536/ | title=Jenna Cato Bass| website=IMDb}} (TIFF, Berlinale 2018), Viva Riva! By Djo Munga (TIFF 2010, Berlinale 2011) and Behind the Rainbow.
Career
Markovitz began his career in 1992 and co-founded the production company Big World Cinema in Cape Town in 1994. In 1999, he produced the short film Husk, which premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival;{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/5339.htm |title=Festival de Cannes Official Selection 2005 |year=2005 |publisher=Festival de Cannes |accessdate=26 November 2011}} followed by the award-winning It's My Life (2001), a portrait of South African AIDS activist Zackie Achmat.{{cite web |url= https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117918264?refcatid=31 |title=Film Reviews – It's My Life |author=Harvey, Dennis |date=22 July 2002 |publisher=Variety |accessdate=26 November 2011}} In 2003, The Tap, a short documentary which shows the change brought to a South African rural community when water is brought to it for the first time, won Best South African Documentary at the Apollo Film Festival{{cite web |url= http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/33/2528.html |title= The Apollo Film Festival – Winners |date=2 October 2003 |publisher=BizCommunity.com |accessdate=30 November 2011}} and Best Production of the Year at the Stone Awards, South Africa.{{Cite web |title=The Tap |url=https://villonfilms.ca/archive/vf_iomhzfpkao |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=Villon Films |language=en-gb}}
Markovitz co-produced the Academy Award-nominated{{cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/oscarlegacy/2000-present/75nominees.html |title=Nominees & Winners for the 75th Academy Awards |year=2003 |publisher=The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |accessdate=26 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305050909/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/oscarlegacy/2000-present/75nominees.html |archivedate=5 March 2012 }} short film Inja ("Dog") in 2003; followed by the award-winning South African-Canadian feature film Proteus directed by John Greyson and Jack Lewis which premiered at Toronto International Film Festival in 2003 and Berlin;{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/2004/02_programm_2004/02_Filmdatenblatt_2004_20040535.php |title=Berlinale Temporary Archive |year=2004 |publisher=Berlin International Film Festival |accessdate=26 November 2011}} Raya, a short film part of the "Mama Afrika"{{cite web |url= https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9402E6DC173DF934A35755C0A9649C8B63 |title= Mama Africa (2002) Film Review: Young, Smart and Pressed Toward a Bad Decision |author=Holden, Stephen |date=7 June 2002 |publisher=The New York Times Movies |accessdate=30 November 2011}} series, which was theatrically released in the US in 2003; and the TV movie Crossing the Line{{cite web |url= http://www.mediaupdate.co.za/?IDStory=4568 |title=Crossing the Line |date=13 November 2007 |publisher=Media Update |accessdate=30 November 2011}} by award-winning director Brian Tilley.
In 2005 he was the executive producer of the feature film Boy called Twist directed by Tim Greene, which screened at the Cannes Film Festival{{cite web |url= http://www.southafrica.info/news/arts/cannes05.htm |title=SA Film under Cannes spotlight |date=10 May 2005 |publisher=SouthAfrica.info |accessdate=30 November 2011}} in 2005. This was followed by the animated short film Beyond Freedom, which screened at the Berlin International Film Festival.{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/2006/02_programm_2006/02_Filmdatenblatt_2006_20063423.php |title=Berlinale Temporary Archive |year=2006 |publisher=Berlin International Film Festival |accessdate=26 November 2011}}
Markovitz produced a series of thirteen films made by new South African documentary filmmakers titled Project 10: Real Stories from a Free South Africa.{{cite web |url= http://www.safilm.org.za/news/article.php?uid=1045 |title= Freedom Stories from SA for Berlin Film Festival |year=2004 |publisher=SA Film |accessdate=30 November 2011}} The series screened at Sundance, IDFA, Tribeca and Berlin.{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/2004/02_programm_2004/02_Filmdatenblatt_2004_20042175.php |title= Berlinale Temporary Archive |year=2004 |publisher= Berlin International Film Festival |accessdate=26 November 2011}} In 2008, he produced the acclaimed feature documentary Behind the Rainbow on South Africa's ruling party, directed by Jihan El-Tahri{{cite web |url= https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/behind-the-rainbow/ |title=PBS Independent Lens: Behind the Rainbow |year=2010 |publisher=PBS |access-date=26 November 2011}} for ZDF/Arte, SBS, SVT, VPRO, SABC and ITVS (USA). Latitude,{{cite web |url= http://www.goethe.de/ins/za/joh/kue/flm/en7973859.htm |title= Latitude: Africa beyond its clichés |author= Maiko Schaffrath |year=2011 |publisher=Goethe Institut Südafrika |accessdate=26 November 2011}} a series of 9 short films from 8 African countries, was executive-produced by Markovitz, and premiered at Berlin in February 2010. It included the award-winning Kenyan science fiction short Pumzi by Wanuri Kahiu.
In 2009 Markovitz completed the documentary omnibus Congo in Four Acts which travelled to over 50 festivals including Berlin,{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/2010/02_programm_2010/02_Filmdatenblatt_2010_20103497.php |title=Berlinale Temporary Archive |year=2010 |publisher=Berlin International Film Festival |accessdate=30 November 2011}} IDFA, Hot Docs 2010; and the documentary State of Mind, directed by Djo Tunda Wa Munga, investigating trauma and healing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.{{cite web |url=http://www.icarusfilms.com/new2010/som.html |title=Icarus Films Catalogue, State of Mind: Healing Trauma |year=2010 |publisher=Icarus Films |accessdate=1 December 2011}}
Markovitz co-produced the Congolese-French-Belgium crime thriller Viva Riva!,{{cite web |url= http://vivariva.com |title=Viva Riva official website |year=2010 |publisher=Formosa productions & MG Productions |accessdate=30 November 2011}} directed by Djo Tunda Wa Munga, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2010{{cite web |url= http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/tiff/2010/vivariva |title=TIFF Films & Schedules: Viva Riva! |year=2010 |publisher=Toronto International Film Festival |accessdate=30 November 2011}} and Berlin International Film Festival 2011 and won the MTV Movie Award for Best African Movie.{{cite web |url= http://www.mtvbase.com/news/2011-mtv-movie-awards-winners-release |title= Viva Riva! Wins Inaugural Best African Movie Category |date=6 June 2011 |publisher=MTV Base |accessdate=30 November 2011}} It was released in USA, UK, Australia/NZ, Canada, Belgium, France, Germany and 18 African countries.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/19/congo-movie-viva-riva-released-africa |title=Congo's first feature film for 25 years opens in 18 countries |author=Smith, David |date=19 October 2011 |publisher=The Guardian online |accessdate=1 December 2011}}
In 2013, Markovitz executive-produced the fiction omnibus African Metropolis [http://www.goethe.de/africanmetropolis] consisting of six films by six directors across Africa. The films have screened at Durban IFF, Toronto IFF, Santa Barbara IFF and IFF Rotterdam.
In 2014, Markovitz was involved in three award-winning films: Stories of Our Lives, a Kenyan feature film about the LGBT community in Kenya, by Jim Chuchu and the NEST Collective, which Markovitz executive-produced. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival{{cite web |url= http://tiff.net/festivals/thefestival/programmes/discovery/stories-of-our-lives |title= Stories of Our Lives at TIFF 2014 |publisher= Toronto International Film Festival |accessdate= 18 March 2015}} and won the Berlin International Film Festival’s Teddy Jury Award;{{cite web |url= http://blog.teddyaward.tv/en/2015/02/13/teddy-winner-2015/ |title= Teddy Winners 2015 |date= 13 February 2015 |publisher= Teddy Awards |accessdate= 18 March 2015}} Love the One You Love, a South African feature film written, produced and directed by Jenna Cato Bass, which Markovitz produced. The film won prizes at the Durban International Film Festival,{{cite web |url= http://www.durbanfilmfest.co.za/diff2014-news/diff-announces-award-winners-for-2014 |title=DIFF Announces Award Winners for 2014 |publisher= Durban International Film Festival |accessdate=18 March 2015}} Jozi Film Festival{{cite web |url=http://www.jozifilmfestival.co.za/2015-film-festival/2015-film-festival-highlights |title=Jozi Film Festival 2015 Winners |publisher=Jozi Film Festival |accessdate=18 March 2015}} and Three Continents Festival in Nantes;{{cite web |url= http://www.3continents.com/en/film/love-the-one-you-love/ |publisher=Festival des 3 Continents |accessdate=18 March 2015|title=Love the One You Love }} Documentary Beats of the Antonov was produced by Markovitz, and directed by Sudanese filmmaker Hajooj Kuka. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and won the People's Choice Documentary Award{{cite web |url=http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestival/festival-past-awards |publisher=TIFF |accessdate=18 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141204222401/http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestival/festival-past-awards |archivedate=4 December 2014 |df=dmy-all |title=TIFF.net | Festival Past Awards }}
Other work
Markovitz is the co-founder of Encounters Festival South Africa,{{cite web |url= http://www.encounters.co.za |title=Encounters Documentary Festival |year=2011 |publisher=Encounters Documentary Festival |accessdate=30 November 2011}} and the Close Encounters Documentary Laboratory. He is a founding member of the Independent Producers Organisation and has sat on various international film juries and selection panels, including Cinemart, Rotterdam,{{cite web |url= https://www.indiewire.com/article/extrano_jealousy_and_lilya_win_32nd_rotterdam_tiger_awards |title="Extrano," "Jealousy," and "Lilya" Win 32nd Rotterdam Tiger Awards |author=Hernandez, Eugene |year=2003 |publisher=IndieWire |accessdate=1 December 2011}} IDFA Bertha Fund{{cite web |url= http://www.idfa.nl/industry/latest-news/idfa-fund-january-selection-2012.aspx |title=IDFA Bertha Fund selection committee |year=2012 |publisher=International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam |accessdate=27 March 2014}} and Silverdocs.{{cite web |url= http://www.afi.com/silverdocs/2006/festjury.aspx |title=Silverdocs Juries |year=2006 |publisher=Silverdocs |accessdate=30 November 2011}} In 2011, he moderated Good Pitch² in Johannesburg in partnership with BRITDOC, the first time that Good Pitch was hosted in Africa.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.bigworld.co.za Big World Cinema]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Markovitz, Steven}}
Category:South African film producers