Straatrotte: Three sharp kids and colourful animation are the drawcards of this delightful Afrikaans comedic short
Meet Ebi, Zac and Nat – three homeless kids with a bright plan to borrow the (fictional) mayor of Cape Town’s famous parrot for a few hours to raise money. After all, it was Mister Mayor who called them street rats.
The money is for a good cause. Ebi is almost completely blind and urgently needs a strong pair of glasses.
Gasan Sallies, the scriptwriter and director of Straatrotte, is an experienced animator and SFX creator and throughout the entire film, the children’s adventure – everything they say, do or think – is accompanied by moving, meaningful squiggles, sketches and speech bubbles. This mixture of live action and animation is exceptionally creative and delivers a unique style of comedic storytelling.
To find the right actors to portray Ebi, Zac and Nat, Gasan enlisted the help of TERN talent agency and held auditions in a garage in Grassy Park.
“As a director, I feel it’s important to create opportunities in communities that aren’t necessarily exposed to the film industry,” explains Gasan.
After their individual auditions, Gasan knew that Kashief Haqe and Justin Cloete were perfect for the roles of Ebi and Zac. Only later did he learn they were cousins. “The chemistry was already there between Kaashief and Justin. It was my job as director to ensure it spilled over into their characters and was visible on screen,” says Gasan.
According to Gasan, Mariah-Ruth Thomas, who plays Nat, is a dream to work with. “She is a born actor who takes direction instinctively.”
As the trio had never been on camera, Gasan started rehearsing them two months before filming on Straatrotte commenced. “I tried to teach them as much as possible about the process of filmmaking in a fun way, so they would feel confident and comfortable on set,” says Gasan. “Not that the nerves didn’t kick in on the big day, but only until they heard the word ‘action’.”
The animation and visual effects team consisted of six members – a traditional 2D animator, two animation designers, two 3D animators and Gasan himself.
As the script was written for animation, the animation sequences were designed and partially completed during pre-production. Given Gasan’s background, he could use sketches to share his vision with the team even before filming started. During filming, he could explain to the cast and crew how the animation and live action would merge and where it would be placed on screen.
Film pundits will appreciate that Gasan is a big fan of Edgar Wright and Wes Anderson. His objective with Straatrotte was to make a short film that combines Wright’s fast and abrupt editing style with Anderson’s distinctive colour palette.
Gasan’s sister, Muneera Sallies, is the producer of Straatrotte. She is also the director of the Silwerskerm Festival feature film Old Righteous Blues.
Straatrotte screens at the festival on Wednesday 23 August at 10:30 and will be available on kykNET and Showmax thereafter.