If I remember correctly, I arrived at night. We had taken a really long drive for around two hours before arriving at base.
Stepping out of the car, I could already feel the breeze and different atmosphere, very much different to the skyscraped city blocks that become quite lively around the late hours of the night.
To say the least, we woke up to mountainous views covered by fog as if God or some higher power had a kettle boiling, and oh, how green it was. You’d swear one was an ant crawling through the pastured greenery birthed by Mother Nature.
In contrast to the tranquil and creatively stimulating habitat we encountered on our first day, we had a full moon out and grew day-like eyesight for seeing through the shadows of the night as dusk was clearing in on our last day. How fruitful and productive the TV Writing residency was. And just when we thought it was over, we saw a figure lurking in the shadows of a tree. There he was, right-handed with a drooling knife in hand as he paced nearer, chasing the final girl all the way to the main house. She timidly kicked and knocked on the door before trying the next, when a man in a military cap and apron walked out, and suddenly a man appeared from behind him. This was the “full moon killer”, and to her shock, it was the same man who’d been chasing her. THE END.
Well, in a nutshell, that was my never to be forgotten experience at Paulet House. From breathtaking views and five-star culinary dishes by our star army veteran. Yes, our very own private chef starred in our guerilla-made slasher teaser called The Full Moon Killer. So the apple doesn’t really fall too far from the tree. To sum up my whole experience in two words wouldn’t be enough, but if I had to use just two, it would be “prose-fiction”.
cc: sb.dlamini(TM)
Siyabonga B. Dlamini
Siyabonga B. Dlamini is an enterprising South African writer, director and designer. Already at the age of 16 he established his own streetwear clothing brand, GxTH Inc, targeted at underprivileged action sports enthusiasts from the townships with the aim of promoting access to safe and healthy environments for all. He obtained his BA degree in screenwriting and directing at AFDA, Johannesburg in 2021, writing and directing more than six short films for his studies. Siyabonga has just completed shooting his first independently produced short film exploring how our environment can influence our choices. Set in a township infested by crime and poverty, The infest follows a naive law graduate who is trying to solve a femicide without being sucked in by the horrors of the case. With this movie in the post-production phase and a release date for next year, Siyabonga has already embarked on developing his next short script that he describes as a “slasher-horror, loosely based on our history as South Africans”. Siyabonga is looking forward to the Longhope TV Writing residency to develop writing skills adapted to television as a medium and to learn the ropes first-hand from recognised industry experts.
