Speaker 1: Now Then, a story that is as moving as it
Speaker 1: is empowering. The Academy is a brand new documentary that
Speaker 1: follows azile A Rossi, a young woman from Kaileicha who
Speaker 1: finds healing and purpose and confidence through sailing thanks to
Speaker 1: a transformative program based at the Royal Cape Yacht Club.
Speaker 1: Once uncertain of her place in a traditionally exclusive and
Speaker 1: let's face it, white space, Azilee goes on to skipper
Speaker 1: a race around Robin, Ireland, reclaiming her story and redefining
Speaker 1: what it means to belong. Said against the stunning backdrop
Speaker 1: of Table Bay, the film is a powerful portrait of resilience,
Speaker 1: access and hope, and it's directed by Julia Jantz, whose
Speaker 1: previous work My Father The Mover one at Tribeca. The
Speaker 1: Academy really is more than just a documentary. It's a
Speaker 1: cinematic journey that challenges perceptions of race, legacy institutions, and
Speaker 1: also women in sport. It's also notable for being the
Speaker 1: first Fricking commission for Disney Plus, produced in partnership with
Speaker 1: Cape Town's Southern Point Pictures. I got up with Julia
Speaker 1: the director in the week about the making of the
Speaker 1: Academy the impact of Azila's story and why the film
Speaker 1: matters right now. And I do need to apologize and
Speaker 1: advance folks that the audio is a little bit tinny,
Speaker 1: I'm afraid, but hopefully you will catch the meaning of
Speaker 1: our conversation. Gi, thanks so much for making time, so
Speaker 1: looking forward to seeing the documentary.
Speaker 2: But first of all, what drew you to the story?
Speaker 2: There's a number of.
Speaker 1: News articles about Oziler that we can you know online
Speaker 1: it from the start of the year, and so I've
Speaker 1: got an overview of a story, but what particularly drew.
Speaker 2: You to it? So before I met Azilie, I actually.
Speaker 3: Was introduced to Lindani Spas and Tuno, who was pioneering
Speaker 3: this movement to transfer the Royal Cape Yacht Club through
Speaker 3: a sailing.
Speaker 2: Academy called the Academy.
Speaker 3: Where the idea was to empower and give an opportunity
Speaker 3: to young men and women from previously disadvantaged backgrounds to
Speaker 3: come and sell and do a sailing program and learn
Speaker 3: all the lessons and meta face of life out at sea.
Speaker 2: So I thought that was very interesting and kind of
Speaker 2: my way into the story.
Speaker 3: But one always needs to find a hero and a protagonist,
Speaker 3: I believe, even if you do a documentary, you want
Speaker 3: to follow someone's journey, and you know, if you study
Speaker 3: narrative theory, there's always a hero who has to overcome
Speaker 3: certain stacks. So it was about, well, who's within this
Speaker 3: institution and what stakes are.
Speaker 2: They dealing with? And you know, a Zeale, even though.
Speaker 3: She comes from you know, not not the easiest socio
Speaker 3: economic background, she was dealing with some internal challenges as well,
Speaker 3: and she was a great person to pig the story
Speaker 3: to and within our film, see if she could skip
Speaker 3: her around Robin Island, which which is what the obstacle
Speaker 3: of the challenge.
Speaker 4: It's a it's a really personal story and a really
Speaker 4: personal journey. But but as you said, it also speaks
Speaker 4: to its broader, broader themes as well.
Speaker 2: How does one go.
Speaker 1: About telling a story of the personal but without kind
Speaker 1: of losing sight of that broader story and context.
Speaker 3: Well it's a juggling act and that actually, you know,
Speaker 3: I'm still learning all the time, because if you're following
Speaker 3: an individual.
Speaker 2: Story, you want to stick with the story.
Speaker 3: You don't want to get too sidetracked with the world and.
Speaker 2: The system and all the rest of it. So it's
Speaker 2: all about how does that world around said person in
Speaker 2: this case is Zele.
Speaker 3: How is that either providing stakes in her journey?
Speaker 2: How is it either helping her or challenging her?
Speaker 3: And every decision that you know one would make is
Speaker 3: a filmmaker in terms of the story is only including
Speaker 3: that which pertains to her individual journey. And it's interesting
Speaker 3: with film because you know, the story kind of rang
Speaker 3: on two chords.
Speaker 2: It was the very intimate story of.
Speaker 3: A Zeelee finding herself and finding power and finding belonging
Speaker 3: and courage out at sea. But it's also the story
Speaker 3: of the academy me and how the Academy is empowering
Speaker 3: all these young sailors.
Speaker 2: And in this particular story, like I say.
Speaker 3: It's all around array, it's all around you know, which
Speaker 3: is pretty metaphorical a race around Robin Island. So it
Speaker 3: was about very carefully trying to thread those that intimate story,
Speaker 3: the internal and external together, but only so much as
Speaker 3: it pertains to Azila, because she's the person we're following.
Speaker 1: You mentioned that the metaphor, but I mean the sea
Speaker 1: in and of itself is a metaphors. It's the setting obviously,
Speaker 1: but also the metaphor. What what does the ocean represent
Speaker 1: for you for Azilo for the audience as a story unfold,
Speaker 1: do you think I love this question?
Speaker 2: And the person who speaks about it the best.
Speaker 3: Who's very prolific in the documentary as well as Lynn Dining.
Speaker 3: You know, he's a real philosopher, and he says a line.
Speaker 2: The revolution will be on the water. He says, I
Speaker 2: can feel it.
Speaker 3: And he talks about how we're oversubscribed on land and
Speaker 3: how the water is this opportunity to reclaim space and
Speaker 3: to reclaim power. And that's exactly what the water is
Speaker 3: doing for these young sailors. I mean, I myself am very,
Speaker 3: very spiritually and emotionally drawn to water because I feel
Speaker 3: like it's a reset. You go underwater and it cleans
Speaker 3: the slate. And I think that's what Lindani was getting too,
Speaker 3: and he said the revolution will be on the water.
Speaker 2: And it's funny.
Speaker 3: It also talks about how when Nolson Mandela was locked
Speaker 3: up in prison, they always spoke about, you know, the
Speaker 3: land on the other side, and it wasn't about the water,
Speaker 3: but the water, and the story is what.
Speaker 2: Is what's being reclaimed, not land. I'm fascinated to know.
Speaker 1: You know, they say never work with children or animals,
Speaker 1: and I imagine that water could probably be added to
Speaker 1: that because it's incredibly powerful and quite unpredictable. From a
Speaker 1: production standpoint, What were some of the challenges that you faced.
Speaker 2: It was very challenging because you're dealing with the elements.
Speaker 3: And you're dealing with the schedule and actually on the day.
Speaker 2: That Azila was supposed to do this race around.
Speaker 3: Robin Island, a huge, huge wind I mean, you know
Speaker 3: the cake doctor that the southeaster it's unforgiving and it
Speaker 3: pitched up on the day and we actually got to
Speaker 3: film a whole discussion about whether the race should go
Speaker 3: on or shouldn't go on.
Speaker 2: But you know, one then decides do we continue to
Speaker 2: shoot or do we not?
Speaker 3: And we actually decided, I mean as Ela said that
Speaker 3: she was keen to go, and it was the feeling
Speaker 3: of the yacht club that, you know, each skipper, because
Speaker 3: Azilia was skippering for the fur first time, each skipper
Speaker 3: should decide whether they feel that they can you know,
Speaker 3: master the storm.
Speaker 5: And she did.
Speaker 3: We did have the help in terms of filming of
Speaker 3: the frog squad, which is an amazing you know, a
Speaker 3: hand when you're dealing with anything to do with water
Speaker 3: and production, which you know, I was able to track
Speaker 3: the race on a rabbit duck.
Speaker 2: But I've spoken.
Speaker 3: Before about our DP Ross Hellier very quickly finding his
Speaker 3: sea legs. He was on the boat with Azila and
Speaker 3: her crew and it was an adventure.
Speaker 2: I mean, it was a.
Speaker 3: Total adventure because you're out at sea and like I say,
Speaker 3: underwater casing for cameras and safety, and you know, it
Speaker 3: was a whole experience.
Speaker 4: I would imagine that the the editing process is both
Speaker 4: fraught and exciting and rewarding.
Speaker 1: How do you know when a project like this is done.
Speaker 2: You've got all your raw footage and then the editing
Speaker 2: process begins.
Speaker 1: But how do you know when it's a case of
Speaker 1: hands off and let and let it be?
Speaker 2: It never is.
Speaker 5: What's funny somebody I was actually a sound design at
Speaker 5: Skywalker Studios, obviously working on my next project, and we
Speaker 5: were laughing about with.
Speaker 3: Film, you know, it's only done until someone else, you know.
Speaker 2: Says to you, Okay, it's done now, and you have
Speaker 2: to finish it.
Speaker 3: I mean, you can keep going and going and going,
Speaker 3: I believe, especially if you see your film as an
Speaker 3: art piece, you know you can keep going. So I
Speaker 3: think in this case, you know, it was about adhering
Speaker 3: to a certain schedule and you know, a delivery date.
Speaker 3: But I actually, you know, watched the film again recently
Speaker 3: and I was like, oh, okay, that's that. That could
Speaker 3: have been like that, and that could have been like that.
Speaker 3: But at some point you just have to, you know,
Speaker 3: just let let your baby go and breathe and be.
Speaker 2: In the world.
Speaker 1: What conversations are you hoping Julia will will come from
Speaker 1: from the film, because people, once it's out there, you
Speaker 1: have no control over I guess how people receive it.
Speaker 2: What is your hope for the piece?
Speaker 3: I mean, the primary hope is that girls out there
Speaker 3: who have had a similar experience to Aziel will be
Speaker 3: inspired by her and and will find an outlet that
Speaker 3: you know, helps them find their own power and their
Speaker 3: own you know, and overcome, just like Azelle has and
Speaker 3: Azila has sailed to Rear Degeneiro twice, which.
Speaker 2: Is just I mean, I could never do that. It's incredible.
Speaker 3: So I hope they'll be inspired by a Zeelan as
Speaker 3: much as I was. I hope institutions who need to
Speaker 3: transform and evolve get inspired by what the rold Cape
Speaker 3: yacht club is doing with the Academy, And I hope
Speaker 3: that Lindni's very philosophical messages just bring true to audiences
Speaker 3: because he's I mean, he's.
Speaker 2: Wonderful to listen to. He's kind of like a.
Speaker 3: Doctor of philosophy and a doctor of social social change.
Speaker 3: And yeah, I think it's a thesis project for transformation
Speaker 3: and I hope that's that.
Speaker 2: Institutions and individuals experience in that way.
Speaker 1: You said that you rewatched the documentary again recently. Is
Speaker 1: there a moment either that we can see on screen
Speaker 1: or a moment that you're aware of, maybe an in
Speaker 1: production that still gives you chills or sheep.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's at the very end of the documentary, once
Speaker 3: Azelee has kind of made her way around Robin Island.
Speaker 3: I don't want to give too much away about what happens.
Speaker 2: And she's sitting wrapped her hand on the rudder the helm.
Speaker 3: Of the boat, and she says, my name is Azilee,
Speaker 3: and she says a sentence afterwards which I won't give away.
Speaker 3: I've been told not to give away too much about
Speaker 3: the film because I want everybody to watch it, But
Speaker 3: it's just it makes me choke up every single time.
Speaker 3: Because it's this embodiment of presence and power and surety
Speaker 3: and herself and her place in the world, and it's
Speaker 3: it's it's so, it's so wonderful.
Speaker 2: She's so wonderful. I was so looking forward to seeing it. Wonderful.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: That was my conversation with Juliet Yance, who is the
Speaker 1: director of the Academy, which you can stream now on
Speaker 1: Disney Plus. Beautiful tells the story of Azulee A Rossi
Speaker 1: from Kayleecha and her story on the water. It's a
Speaker 1: beautiful piece, so do go and check it out.