High Fantasy

Film

by Jenna Bass

Details

South Africa / 2017 / 71mins / Comedy, Drama / English and Afrikaans

In her smart, brash, punkishly DIY sophomore feature, director Jenna Bass uses the “body swap” cinematic formula (à la Freaky Friday) to explore complicated issues of race and gender in the supposed “rainbow nation” of post-apartheid South Africa. Shot entirely on an iPhone, it’s the story of four friends on a camping trip who awake to discover they’ve all scrambled identities—a situation that leads to both personal chaos and political insight.

Trailer

About the Director

Jenna Bass

Jenna Cato Bass is a director, writer, and photographer living in Cape Town, South Africa. She is a graduate of AFDA film school, Cape Town and has worked as a director, writer, cinematographer, photographer and magician. She has directed over ten short films, and seven music videos. Her video, Hold the Sorrow, was accepted into the 2008 ViMus International Music Video Festival. Her short film, The Tunnel, was selected for the Focus Features Africa First Program. Jenna’s award-winning work has run the spectrum of sci-fi (So Long to the City), experimental (Jellyfish), teenage coming of age (Already Gone) and historical magical realism (The Tunnel). Some of her other films include Love the One You Love (2014), winner of Best Feature Film at Jozi Film Festival 2015, and High Fantasy (2017), winner of the Artistic Bravery Prize at Durban International Film Festival 2018. Learn More