‘Bioscope Brasse’ among top featured podcasts

CAPE Town duo Jody Felton and Ross Solomon are the hosts of Bioscope Brasse, which has made it to the top featured podcasts on Apple Music, as part of the annual Africa Month celebrations this month.

They launched their podcast in September 2020 and to date, they have released 52 episodes which offer movie reviews, recommendations, industry news and cover related topics like domestic violence, identity and politics.

In the past year, the podcast has spent a few months in the first position of the TV & Film Podcast in SA and Film Review Podcast in SA.

While podcasts that cover the film industry internationally already exist, the pair saw a gap in South Africa and decided to explore it.

“We are cognisant of being coloured voices in a space where there are not many people (of colour). We want to make a show that is accessible to anyone,” Felton said.

The two movie lovers said they also put a spotlight on South African films and actors who have made a name for themselves on the international stage.

The podcast hosts pointed to the likes of Pearl Thusi, Kim Engelbrecht and Lesley-Ann Brandt as a testament to the potential of South African actors.

Solomon said he thinks the classics like Sarafina, Tsotsi and e'Lollipop were some of South Africa’s best works.

“I think that District 9 is also up there. The special effects along with the story of xenophobia is a winner. This will go down as one of my personal best sci-fi films of all time,” he said.

Felton said: “I am a big fan of personal stories. The movie 2 Thirds of a Man was directed and written by Earl Kopeledi, who had no film experience but a story that he wanted to tell.”

Solomon said the challenge for the film industry in South Africa was centred around budgets.

“Hollywood puts way more money into their industry and we don’t have the money to (match). We have talented people but there is not as much investment into South African film,” he said.

“Just because we have lack resources, does not mean that there is a lack of skill and potential.”

Felton said: “With other investments like Netflix, at least younger and newer actors are coming on the scene. While Hollywood is established, the SA movie scene is growing,” he added.