Zipho Dlangamandla Did This

YOCO ‘Just Start’ Campaign
Zipho’s campaign for Yoco was not only featured on Andy Rice’s 702 show and given a special mention by Ahmed Tilly on iDidTht, but it also nabbed a Loeries finalist … um, not bad for his first year directing.

iDidTht: This was your first solo campaign as a Director, tell us about the process.
Zipho: The commercials dealt with doubt and insecurity – it’s about the voices in your head, the inner critic. It was parallel to what I was going through starting out as a Director, so I really resonated with this piece.
Hylton: After this campaign Yoco’s leads doubled!
Zipho: It was 3 stories and the main piece. We shot it all in 2 long days.

iDidTht: Are these real stories or did you use actors?
Zihpo: We chose real stories and businesses that were visually appealing. I then spent time with them to understand their stories and if they could open up to me. To me it didn’t matter that they weren’t actors, it was about being truthful about their experiences and fears so that the viewer could relate to them.
Hylton: He really took them to a place where they felt at ease to open up when the camera was rolling.
Zipho: I think what really helped me connect with the performers is my background as an actor and my experience in theatre. I have an understanding of the language to use when speaking to actors and that makes a big difference especially when you want to put them at ease.

‘Boys Have Feelings Too’ Short Film
This short film, written and directed by Zipho, beat out about 15 other films and won the Best Emerging Talent award at this year’s Bokeh Fashion Film Festival. The story is very close to Zipho’s heart and extremely relevant in the current climate.
Zipho: To a degree making this film was a form of therapy for me. I felt it was a story that needed to be told. We shy away from talking about so many things and I believe that is why we are building a generation of monsters amongst men – always being told that a man doesn’t cry, but for me it doesn’t work that way. The whole ‘boys will be boys’ thing – that is how you create monsters in society, that’s how you create hard rocks. But these rocks can’t be supportive, nobody can get through to them, they are not strong, you can’t lean on them, they are useless. It’s up to us, as filmmakers, to bring these stories to the foreground.

‘Jozi my Jozi’ Short Film
Another piece Zipho wrote and directed this year based on his experiences living in Joburg CBD.
Zipho: Joburg CBD has this energy that pushes you to do so much more. I remember when I decided to stay there my brother said I was insane. But I knew I needed it. I stayed for a year and there was so much energy. Every human being you encounter there is either going to hustle or coming back from the hustle – now you tell me, how do you not want to hustle if you’re surrounded by that? Whenever I felt lazy, there was this one lady who sold fat cakes on the corner of my street. I used to open my curtains and see her there – this old lady, up at the break of dawn and working so hard, and that pushed me so much. One of the lines I wrote in that film translates to: ‘They say Joburg, you kill people. I say Joburg, you keep me alive.’