Rina Sherman

Rina Sherman
© Philippe Ciaparra
Film director, Photographer, Writer, Sound engineer, Anthropologist, Ethnologist, Editor
Principal country concerned : Column : Theater, Cinema/tv, Photo, Literature, History/society

Rina Sherman was born in South-Africa.
In 9184, she went into exile and settled in France where she has been living and working since. She became a French citizen in 1988.

A classical musician by training, she worked as an independent theatre actress and as a vision mixer for South African television (SABC), before turning to film making.

In 1990 she successfully completed a doctorate at the Sorbonne supervised by Jean Rouch.

Her first novel, Uitreis, (Leaving / En partance) was published in South Africa in 1997 to critical acclaim.

In early 2007, Le huitième mort de Tibhirine, her first book in French was published.

Writer, filmmaker and anthropologist, Rina Sherman has initiated several cultural projects.

She was audiovisual director for the manifestation, South Africa: Music of Freedom, La Villette, 1995.

This involved:

Creation of an audiovisual promenade.
Curating of a retrospective of South African cinema.
Directing of an archival film, producing and directing of a concert-film of the event.

Rina Sherman was awarded the French bursary, Villa Medicis Hors les Murs, in 1996 which enabled her to realize extensive research in the film archives of the southern african region.

In 1996, she organised Jean Rouch's tour of South African universities in collaboration with the French Institute in South Africa (IFAS) and the Mission for Cooperation and Cultural Services of the French Embassy in Namibia.

In 1997 Rina Sherman was awarded a Lavoisier Research Bursary by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the project The Ovahimba Years, a multimedia long-term research programme (drawings, oral tradition, video, film, photography) aimed at creating a living trace of Ovahimba cultural heritage.
For a period of seven years, Rina Sherman documented in a variety of media various aspects of the daily and ritual lives of the Ovahimba. In 2003, she extended her research into south-western Angola, and has covered the entire Otjiherero socio-linguistic cultural heritage landscape. She is currently writing and editing films about her seven years with the Ovahimba.

The project received support from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, various European Embassies, The Ford Foundation and numerous private sponsors.

Professional Activities

1997-06
Development and implementation of the project, The Ovahimba Years, a multi-disciplinary research programme involving anthropology, cinematography and oral literary traditions. Currently processing seven years of data collection (film, video, photography, texts) in the field.

1998
Brouillon d'un rêve
bursary (SCAM, Société Civile d'auteurs Multi-média) for the film project: Du côté de Stains, project modified to: Anthropologue, le retour.

Lavoisier Bursary awarded by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs) for the multi-disciplinary project: The Ovahimba Years.

1997
Publication of Uitreis (En partance), first novel.

Villa Medicis Hors les Murs Prize for: The Southern African Film Archive Project

1996
Jean Rouch, Southern African University Tour. Curator and project director.

1995
La Villette : Afrique du Sud - Musique de Libertés, Audio-visual Director: Creation of an audio-visual promenade, including an archive film, Welcome- Bienvenue
Curator : Retrospective of 50 years of South African cinema.
Director / Co-producer of a concert-film of Hugh Masakela, Dolly Rathebe, Dorothy Masuku, Mara Louw and a company of South African musicians.

ZDF, Formation Films, London. Production manager: Rouch in Reverse by Manthia Diawara

1992
FR3, BBC, NFI (Netherlands Film Institute): Madame l'eau by Jean Rouch. Post-production manager.

1992-91
Ima Productions : Feature film development - USA.

1990-89
Cobblestone Films, NY: Alexandre Trauner et la decoration au cinéma,1st Assistant Director.

1984-82
South African Broadcasting Coorporation, Vision mixer: Drama & music productions

Graduate Studies

1990-86
Ph. D. Université de la Sorbonne, Paris I & X. Research Supervisor: Jean Rouch.

UnderGraduate Studies

1982
Bachelor of Music (Hons.). University of the Witwatersrand

1980
Licentiate of Music, Trinity College of Music, S.A.

1981-77
Various Undergraduate studies: German, History of Art, Psychology, Anthropology.

Professional Development

1995-03
Course: Filming in 16 mm, FTIS

1992
Screen writing Workshop, Cinémathèque Française.

1991
Story Structure Course, Robert McKee, London
Film Directing Seminar, Paul Gray, London

1984
Workshop: Direct Cinema. Ateliers de VARAN, Paris.

Languages

English, French, Afrikaans - fluent
Dutch & German - good understanding
Otjiherero (Otjihimba) - good working knowledge

Publications

When Elsewhere Becomes The Here and Now: Seven Years of Fieldwork with the Ovahimba,
in AnthropoPages no. 5-6, March 2006, Terrains vécues : Terrains revécues, Edition Ici et Ailleurs - GRAEA (Groupe de recherches et d'actions en ethnologie et en anthropologie).

Les années Ovahimba,
Le film africain & Le film du sud, novembre 2002, no. 41, pp 45-56.

The World Turns Like the Horns of a Kudu: From the Self to the Other and Back,
Die Republikein, 2002, translated from the Afrikaans.

The Ovahimba Years Work in Progress,
Exhibition catalogue, published by ACA/LTFA, 2002, ISBN: 999 16-50-94-6.

Exhibition

The Ovahimba Years: Work in Progress / Les années ovahimba : Travaux en cours
A multimedia exhibition comprising a series of soundscapes composed of everyday sound of Ovahimba lives, which overlapped from one space to another, inviting the visitor on a trajectory of Ovahimba life through a variety of displays of which photographs, drawings, cultural objects, film screenings, performances and conferences.

Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre in Windhoek, Namibia in 2002.

Organizations

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Partners

  • Arterial network
  • Media, Sports and Entertainment Group (MSE)
  • Gens de la Caraïbe
  • Groupe 30 Afrique
  • Alliance Française VANUATU
  • PACIFIC ARTS ALLIANCE
  • FURTHER ARTS
  • Zimbabwe : Culture Fund Of Zimbabwe Trust
  • RDC : Groupe TACCEMS
  • Rwanda : Positive Production
  • Togo : Kadam Kadam
  • Niger : ONG Culture Art Humanité
  • Collectif 2004 Images
  • Africultures Burkina-Faso
  • Bénincultures / Editions Plurielles
  • Africiné
  • Afrilivres

With the support of