The Miners

Neo Ntlateleng was surprised that a 15-year-old white girl from a top private school listened to music like D12 and Little John. Even for someone like Ntlateleng, who has a mixed group of friends, who would date someone outside of his own race, pre-determined perceptions of people sometimes creep into his social encounters. Charlotte Savage, who along with Ntlateleng plays a lead role in the first Heartlines movie, The Miners, is a hard-core rock fan. And you wouldn’t tell by looking at the diminutive, sweet-faced girl. The value highlighted in The Miners is acceptance; the acceptance of transformation, people and their differences and of unalterable circumstances.

Nineteen-year-old Ntlateleng says he did take that lesson away with him after shooting the movie. “Some people tend to tense up when meeting others, especially those from different races. And we have all these expectations about them. We need to start looking beyond skin colour and harbour none of those expectations.”

It’s classic boy meets girl; the story as tender and sweet as any coming-of-age one would be. The backdrop is a small mining town where the prejudices of the past are still residual.

Fifteen-year-old Savage plays the role of Sandra Meyer, whose budding friendship with Ntlateleng’s character, Moagi Mokwena, is intolerable to her father, played by Jonathan Pienaar.

Savage’s own lesson acceptance came on set in the small mining town of Carltonville. “It’s not worth being prejudiced. On a movie, you work with so many different people, some of whom you wouldn’t usually interact with on a day-to–day basis. I probably would have never met Neo, had it not been for this film,”

But apart from the movie’s central theme, what do values mean for these two young people?

“It’s what keeps me in line. People often think artists have messed up values. Sometimes, yes, it’s a balancing act, especially in a competitive industry like ours, but values include doing the things that help us live better lives and look out for each other,” said Ntlateleng, who was born in Dube, Soweto.

Savage’s key value is loyalty. “For me this is defined as not telling other people’s secrets and sticking to your word. I always tell myself that if you always tell the truth, you’ll have nothing to remember,” The Miners is the first major movie in which Ntlateleng and Savage play leading roles, and they were well supported by a seasoned cast and crew. “The director Angus Gibson was just amazing. He allowed us to contribute to the film’s development, especially in terms of the character sketching,” Ntlateleng said. He suggested that Moagi’s character be an artist to give his personality greater depth. Based on this suggestion, Gibson brought in the idea of Moagi’s talent at making scrap metal sculptures.

Savage added, “Angus would ask about how I felt about the character and her development and it was not something he did randomly, but with sincerity, truly interested in my thoughts.”

For Ntlateleng, one of the highlights for him was working with theatre icon Winston Ntshona who plays the recurring role of Isaiah, across all eight Heartlines movies. “If I could do this over again, I would, even for free,” he says.

A grade 10 student at Roedean, Savage would like to pursue a career in fashion design once she’s completed schooling as opposed to continuing with drama. “I love acting, but you’re told what to do, but in fashion design, you can do whatever you want in terms of the creative output” She was fascinated by the creative concept behind the wardrobe choices for The Miners, “Our wardrobe was in dull colurs – all clothes were either brown or grey – they wanted us to mesh in with the environment, to be a part of the landscape we were shooting in.”

Whereas most actors would publicise to family and friends their leading debut, Savage has decided to lay low. “I haven’t told many people about my role in this movie. I’d rather they watch the films for what they are and be interested in the initative to create a national conversation on values, than watch them simply because I’m in it.” Savage said. 

By Saaleha Bamjee