Join our campaign as twospiningwheels productions raises funds for a new film from multi award winning director, Shelley Barry. We are raising money to kickstart production. 

KEEP IN TOUCH! (HD feature: 80mins)

Produced by Shelley Barry and Bernard Sterk

DOCUMENTARY OUTLINE

“Keep in touch” will be a dynamic, fast paced, edgy music documentary feature that celebrates the rise of a young, gender queer hip- hop star and all the challenges she faces in her quest for success.

The film commences in 2015 and follows Catherine Pretorious (24) aka “Dope Saint Jude” over a one year period as she fast tracks her way to fame. An activist at heart, “Dope Saint Jude” began rapping as a teenager, initially writing her own lyrics over other artists’ tracks, addressing topics she felt were important and needed to be discussed. As an artist and media maker, she feels a responsibility for her work to reflect the kind of South Africa she wants to SEE.  "It's important for young people of colour to create media because our media is very white dominated.” Her self-penned brown girl manifesto lists the need for marginalized communities to occupy traditionally white dominated spaces, but also to create communities and media outlets.  (as told to Eva-Grace Bor: Zero Magazine) Making the top 200  South African Mail and Guardian women listing, Dope Saint Jude is also well known for starting the country’s first Drag King troupe before going solo.

Identifying herself as neither a girl, neither a boy, she experiences gender as a fluid social construct. Zero Magazine recently gushed about how she “bares different sides of her personality by seamlessly transitioning from masculine stances, to Queen-like regality and youthful hyper-femininity.”

In her songs and music videos black queer women have power, they have complete agency, they are in control, are fearless and they blossom in a community where being queer and articulating queer language and creating subculture, is honoured, given tribute to and revered. Saint Jude is carving out a name for herself, in a male dominated, heteronormative world of rap and hip hop, creating a following that cuts across racial, gendered and sexuality divides. Her focus on her career is razor sharp- to the extent that she is consciously not getting into a relationship but prefers to date several girls who “are cool with not being in a  monogamous situation”

Our story starts in 2015, with the passing of her grandmother. “My grandmother was a strong warrior woman. Even though we didn't speak the same language, our conversations in broken English taught me about compassion, leadership and pride. My gran was in a wheelchair for most of her life, but it didn't ever limit her. She worked hard to provide my mother with a better life than hers. And my mom has done the same for me.”

After her grandmother’s passing in March, her family came from the rural areas to the city, to inform the family that her grandmother’s remains have to be buried in Lesotho, along with a ritualised ceremony that would involve the slaughter and eating of meat- something “St Jude” as a vegan would have to deal with when she makes the journey to her ancestral lands and discovers her roots, rituals and culture. This is an important journey she has to undertake.

2015 is her big year, the launch of her debut album and the active building of her brand that she hopes will materialise into success. Based on her track record, it all seems completely within reach. Her music videos “The Golden Ratio” and “Keep in Touch” had bloggers describing her as someone on the music scene to watch out for and picking up on the gender dynamics in her videos “Her debut music video for ‘The Golden Ratio‘ swayed from the archetypal narrative of a rap video with two female protagonists and two male back-up dancers and ‘Keep In Touch’ follows this trajectory.” Consciousness.za says it all “ She is simultaneously parodying and parading positions of power”

To this end, “Dope Saint Jude” has rallied a troupe of exciting young creatives who are all volunteering to build her brand and help her reach her goal of stardom. From a PR manager/social media whizz kid, young clothing designers, music video producers, music producers and a growing fan base, “St Jude” is determined. Clocking youtube hits, FB likes and retweets, she is sure of her success.  Until then she is juggling part time jobs to make a living. She is also one of the directors of an NGO, Intombi workshop: a community project focused on uplifting teenage girls through arts education. The next project with the girls involves teaching them how to make films about themselves. 

The film will track her from the time of her grandmother’s passing and her preparation for the journey to Lesotho, to a year of brand building through her enthusiastic team who will act as significant character foils in the film, namely Micah Leigh (her clothing designer). Stephan Steyn (her sound producer), Bernard Sterk (her music video producer), Stephanie Mullins (her manager). All young, dynamic individuals who are all volunteering their time and services to see the dream of Saint Jude’s rise to fame materialised.

Other signficant characters will be her devout Catholic parents who once struggled with her sexual orientation.

Through the period, important markers in the film include the production of 4 new music videos that continue to build on her brand of activism, self love, queer culture and hip hop.

We will also meet fans, lovers,  haters. We will literally step inside her world.

Join the journey as we follow her and her troupe of dream makers, throughout 2015, observing her strategic rise to stardom, the launch of her first album and growing activism in a country where many queer people are murdered.  What obstacles will she face? How are young contemporary black SA creatives carving out their dreams against an unstable political landscape? 

Can she straddle the line between being a feminist and in some ways mimicking patriarchy?

How has social media impacted how stars are made?

Can she “make it” in the male dominated, heterosexual culture of rap and hip-hop?

Will she succeed?

“You’re not the same person all the time and sometimes you have to force yourself to be POWERFUL when you don’t feel powerful."

Dope Saint Jude