Steven Markovitz (born 1965) is a South African film and television producer. He has produced, co-produced and executive-produced features, documentaries and short films. Steven has been producing and distributing for over 20 years. Since 2007, he has worked all over Africa producing documentary series' and fiction. He is a member of

AMPAS The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

, co-founder of Electric South & Encounters Documentary Festival and the founder of the African Screen Network. Recent productions include ''aKasha'' by

hajooj kuka Hajooj Kuka is the founder of Refugee Club and the director of ''Beats of the Antonov''. Kuka was born in Sudan of the Mahas ethnic group, but relocated with his family to Abu Dhabi. Kuka travels frequently between Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nil ...

(Venice Critics’ Week, TIFF, 2018), ''

Rafiki is a 2018 Kenyan drama film directed by Wanuri Kahiu. ''Rafiki'' is the story of romance that grows between two young women, Kena and Ziki, amidst family and political pressures around LGBT rights in Kenya. The film had its international prem ...

'' by

Wanuri Kahiu Wanuri Kahiu (born 21 June 1980) is a Kenyan film director, producer, and author. She is considered to be “one of Africa's most aspiring directors, being part of a new, vibrant crop of talents representing contemporary African culture”. Sh ...

(Cannes – Un Certain Regard, 2018), the documentary ''Silas'' by

Anjali Nayar Anjali Nayar is a Canadian-Indian filmmaker, former climate scientist, and founder of the TIMBY suite of environmental and human rights reporting tools. Nayar's most recent feature film, ''Silas,'' premiered at the Toronto International Film F ...

Hawa Essuman Hawa Essuman (born 1980) is a film director based in Nairobi, Kenya. Her 2017 feature-length documentary ''Silas'', co-directed with Anjali Neyar, tells the story of Liberian environmental activist Silas Siakor's fight to preserve the country's ra ...

(TIFF, IDFA 2017), ''

Beats of the Antonov ''Beats of the Antonov'' is a documentary film released in 2014. It is a Sudanese-South African coproduction, directed by Sudanese filmmaker Hajooj Kuka and produced by Hajooj Kuka and Steven Markovitz. The film documents the Sudan–SRF ...

'' by hajooj kuka (TIFF Documentary Audience Award, 2014), ''

High Fantasy High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot.Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Press, Pl ...

'' by Jenna Bass (TIFF, Berlinale 2018), ''

Viva Riva! ''Viva Riva!'' is a 2010 Congolese crime thriller film written and directed by Djo Tunda Wa Munga. Starring Patsha Bay, Manie Malone, Fabrice Kwizera, Hoji Fortuna, Marlene Longage, Alex Herabo & Diplôme Amekindra, the film received 12 nomin ...

'' By Djo Munga (TIFF 2010, Berlinale 2011) and '' Behind the Rainbow''.

Career

Markovitz began his career in 1992 and co-founded the production company Big World Cinema in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

in 1994. In 1999, he produced the short film ''Husk'', which premiered in competition at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

; followed by the award-winning ''It's My Life'' (2001), the intimate portrait of South African AIDS activist

Zackie Achmat Abdurrazack "Zackie" Achmat (born 21 March 1962) is a South African activist and film director. He is a co-founder the Treatment Action Campaign and known worldwide for his activism on behalf of people living with HIV and AIDS in South Africa. ...

. ''The Tap'' won Best South African Documentary at the Apollo Film Festival 2003 and Best Production of the Year at the Stone Awards, South Africa. Markovitz co-produced the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-nominated short film ''Inja'' ("Dog") in 2003; followed by the award-winning South African-Canadian feature film ''

Proteus In Greek mythology, Proteus (; Ancient Greek: Πρωτεύς, ''Prōteus'') is an early prophetic sea-god or god of rivers and oceanic bodies of water, one of several deities whom Homer calls the "Old Man of the Sea" ''(hálios gérôn)''. ...

'' directed by

John Greyson John Greyson (born March 13, 1960) is a Canadian director, writer, video artist, producer, and political activist, whose work frequently deals with queer characters and themes. He was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge in ...

and Jack Lewis which premiered at

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

in 2003 and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

; ''Raya'', a short film part of the "Mama Afrika" series, which was theatrically released in the US in 2003; and the TV movie ''Crossing the Line'' by award-winning director Brian Tilley. In 2005 he was the executive producer of the feature film '' Boy called Twist'' directed by Tim Greene, which screened at the

in 2005. This was followed by the animated short film ''Beyond Freedom'', which screened at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

. Markovitz produced a series of thirteen films made by new South African documentary filmmakers titled ''Project 10: Real Stories from a Free South Africa''. The series screened at Sundance, IDFA,

Tribeca Tribeca (), originally written as TriBeCa, is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. Its name is a syllabic abbreviation of "Triangle Below Canal Street". The "triangle" (more accurately a quadrilateral) is bounded by Canal Stre ...

and

. In 2008, he produced the acclaimed feature documentary '' Behind the Rainbow'' on South Africa's ruling party, directed by Jihan El-Tahri for

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

Arte Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plus ...

, SBS, SVT,

VPRO The VPRO (stylized vpro; originally an acronym for , ) is a Dutch public broadcaster, which forms a part of the Dutch public broadcasting system. Founded in 1926 as a liberal Protestant broadcasting organization, it gradually became more soc ...

SABC The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations ( AM/ FM) as well as six television broadcasts to the general public. It is one of the largest of South Africa's state ...

and

ITVS ITVS (Independent Television Service) is a service in the United States which funds and presents documentaries on public television through distribution by PBS and American Public Television, new media projects on the Internet, and the weekly seri ...

(USA). ''Latitude'', a series of 9 short films from 8 African countries, was executive-produced by Markovitz, and premiered at

in February 2010. It included the award-winning Kenyan science fiction short ''

Pumzi ''Pumzi'' is a Kenyan science-fiction short film written and directed by Wanuri Kahiu. It was screened at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival as part of its New African Cinema program. The project was funded with grants from the Changamoto arts fund ...

'' by

. In 2009 Markovitz completed the documentary omnibus '' Congo in Four Acts'' which travelled to over 50 festivals including

, IDFA,

Hot Docs The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June ...

2010; and the documentary ''State of Mind'', directed by Djo Tunda Wa Munga, investigating trauma and healing in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. Markovitz co-produced the Congolese-French-Belgium crime thriller ''

'', directed by Djo Tunda Wa Munga, which premiered at the

in September 2010 and

2011 and won the

MTV Movie Award The MTV Movie & TV Awards (formerly the MTV Movie Awards) is a film and television awards show presented annually on MTV. The first MTV Movie Awards were presented in 1992. The ceremony was renamed the MTV Movie & TV Awards for its 26th editi ...

for Best African Movie. It was released in USA, UK, Australia/NZ, Canada, Belgium, France, Germany and 18 African countries. In 2013, Markovitz executive-produced the fiction omnibus ''African Metropolis'

consisting of six films by six directors across Africa. The films have screened at Durban International Film Festival, Durban IFF,

Toronto IFF The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

, Santa Barbara IFF and IFF Rotterdam. In 2014, Markovitz was involved in three award-winning films: ''

Stories of Our Lives ''Stories of Our Lives'' is a Kenyan film, released in 2014. Created by the members of The Nest Collective, a Nairobi-based arts collective, the film is an anthology of five short films dramatizing true stories of LGBT life in Kenya. Plot The f ...

'', a Kenyan feature film about the LGBT community in Kenya, by

Jim Chuchu Jim Chuchu is a Kenyan film director, photographer, singer-songwriter and visual artist. He first came to attention as a member of Kenyan music group Just A Band and subsequently as director of Kenyan LGBT film '' Stories of Our Lives''. Career ...

and the NEST Collective, which Markovitz executive-produced. The film premiered at the

and won the

’s Teddy Jury Award; ''Love the One You Love'', a South African feature film written, produced and directed by

Jenna Cato Bass Jenna Cato Bass (born 1986) is a South African film director, photographer and writer. She has written stort stories under the name Constance Myburgh, one of which was shortlisted for the 2012 Caine Prize.Alison Flood'African Booker' shortlist o ...

, which Markovitz produced. The film won prizes at the

Durban International Film Festival The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. Founded in 1979 by Teddy Sarkin and Ros Sarkin, it is the oldest and largest film festival in Africa an ...

, Jozi Film Festival and

Three Continents Festival The Festival des 3 Continents is an annual film festival held since 1979 in Nantes, France, and is devoted to the cinemas of Asia, and Africa and Latin America. It was founded by Philippe and Alain Jalladeau.Beats of the Antonov ''Beats of the Antonov'' is a documentary film released in 2014. It is a Sudanese-South African coproduction, directed by Sudanese filmmaker Hajooj Kuka and produced by Hajooj Kuka and Steven Markovitz. The film documents the Sudan–SRF ...

'' was produced by Markovitz, and directed by Sudanese filmmaker

Hajooj Kuka Hajooj Kuka is the founder of Refugee Club and the director of ''Beats of the Antonov''. Kuka was born in Sudan of the Mahas ethnic group, but relocated with his family to Abu Dhabi. Kuka travels frequently between Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nil ...

. The film premiered at the

and won the People’s Choice Documentary Award

Other Work

Markovitz is the co-founder of

Encounters Festival South Africa Encounters South African International Documentary Festival (Encounters) is the premier documentary festival in Africa and one of the oldest film festivals on the continent. It remains one of only a few on the continent that is solely dedicated to ...

, and the Close Encounters Documentary Laboratory, now in its 16th year. He is a founding member of the Independent Producers Organisation and has sat on various international film juries and selection panels, including Cinemart, Rotterdam, IDFA Bertha Fund and

Silverdocs The AFI Docs (formerly Silverdocs) documentary film festival is an American international film festival created by the American Film Institute and the Discovery Channel. It is held every year in Silver Spring, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Started ...

. He recently moderated the first Good Pitch² in Johannesburg in partnership with

BRITDOC Doc Society (formerly Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation and BRITDOC Foundation) is a social entrepreneurship organisation created in 2005. They have supported the production of over 60 films that have won awards . Development Initially supported by UK b ...

References

External links

Big World Cinema
{{DEFAULTSORT:Markovitz, Steven South African film producers South African television producers Living people 1965 births University of Cape Town alumni