Ronel

Aim: Following the brutal murder of a woman in South Africa. Her sister Ronel battles with her own anger and pain to reach a point of forgiveness

Ronel lives in Hertfordshire, UK but is originally from Pretoria, South Africa where her mother and sister live. Ronel is a close family friend of our director David and therefore Ronel trusted David to tell her story. Since finding out about the death of her sister Ronel has chosen to undergo a journey through pain, anger, and grief into a pursuit of forgiveness and healing. As part of this journey, she was encouraged to go into prisons and share her story with convicts in order to help them understand the impact of their own actions and recognise the voice of a victim of crime. This program was not only beneficial for the prisoners but also helped as part of the healing process for Ronel as she came to terms with the loss of her sister.

This film will document the story of Ronel, how she lost her sister and her gradual journey towards a place of forgiveness. By giving a voice to a victim, we see how people’s actions leave long-lasting effects and the personal impact that had on Ronel’s life. Seeing the effect of her torment on her family, she decides to speak with convicts to break the cycle caused by letting someone else’s actions “determine your everyday”. To her, forgiveness becomes the facilitator of healing.

Could you forgive this? This film will document the story of Ronel, how she lost her sister and her gradual journey towards a place of forgiveness. By giving a voice to a victim we see how people’s actions leave long-lasting effects and the personal impact that had on Ronel’s life. Seeing the effect of her torment on her family, she decides to speak with convicts to break the cycle caused by letting someone else’s actions “determine your everyday”. To her, forgiveness becomes the facilitator of healing.

The main component of our documentary will be a sit-down interview in Ronel’s house. For the interview, we will use a two-camera setup, a wide and a close-up; this will give the viewer the opportunity to see Ronel’s emotion while sharing her story.  We would like the colour scheme to look natural, yet heavily inspired by the colours of her South African heritage. Ronel’s house heavily reflects her personality, the photographs and ornaments in her home will provide a historical and cultural background that will aid in telling the story. Throughout this documentary, we will have serval walk and talk style conversations. Visiting points of importance in Ronel’s battle with forgiveness. In these cases, we will shoot long takes, handheld, which will result in very raw, engaging moments. Another visual medium that we will use, will be archive footage. This will help illustrate Ronel’s relationship with her sister and give the audience an opportunity to empathise with both Ronel and her sister.

  Director | David Clode

The films I am most interested in are personal stories which focus on people’s authentic experiences. Since studying at AUB my love for working on documentary films has grown. My other specialism is sound design and I hope to be able to explore the ways documentary sound can enhance the story.  Ronel is a close family friend, who has been very open and honest about the pain and the struggle that she went through before coming to a place of forgiveness. I find her story very challenging as it made me feel that her journey was applicable to my life and reminded me of situations and people from my past that I had not forgiven. In sharing Ronel’s story, I hope to bring the same challenge to the audience of the film.

                                                          Producer | Grace Ault 

My love of documentary filmmaking has grown over the four years I have studied at AUB Film School. I want to give the platform for Ronel’s story to be told; therefore, I could not jump at the opportunity to produce such an interesting documentary. Working on mostly documentaries whilst at AUB I have grown to have a natural flair of producing. I admire the creative freedom that producing documentaries give me; to really bring to life hidden real-life stories that need to be told. With help from your generous donations, matched with a skilled, passionate & motivated team, I believe that we can make an incredible documentary.

  Co-producer | Martinique Thorpe

I am always interested in people’s stories and how we can tell them and Ronel’s story is truly amazing. The core theme of forgiveness is something I have struggled with in my own life and want to help share a story which can inspire others the way it inspired me. Ronel is a deeply intimate and authentic story which a lot of people need to hear and will hopefully help people in need. Using everything I have learnt from AUB thus far and working with such a dedicated crew will be an amazing experience.

                                        Cinematographer | Dylan Tillyard 

I am the Director of Photography for Ronel, I will be in charge of the visuals for the film. Since I can remember, I have been passionate about film, only in recent years, has my passion delved from fiction films to documentaries. I love how documentaries can bring important topics to light in a captivating way that sparks real life change. Over the years, I have been developing my visual storytelling skills, by working on several personal projects, commercial videos, and university productions. I am excited to work closely with the Director – David, to bring Ronel’s story to life.

  Sound Designer/Recordist | Hugo Dodd

Sound is the most important element of filmmaking, its effect on the overall experience paramount. From my first discovery of filmmaking, I have developed and experimented with the use of sound and music in film both as a hobbyist and during my three years studying sound at AUB. In addition to working in the sound department on university productions, I have also written and directed my own fiction projects in which sound is a key element. Being more used to working on fiction films, I was immediately drawn to the true story of this project. The complex layers that make up Ronel offer limitless room to explore with both real and expressionistic, experimental application of sound.

                                                       Editor | James Jameson 

I’ll be taking on the role of editor. Behind the poignant, tragic story lies the incredible, strong character of Ronel. I cannot wait to listen and learn from her story and share this experience with an audience via the crafting of our documentary within the edit suite.

We have expanded our crew, grown our vision into a plan, as well as preparing the budget. The only thing missing is financial backing, and that is where you can help! As you can see, studio space, transcripts and catering are important components of our documentary. The studio space will give us the opportunity to creatively visualise our film. Transcripts are a crucial component of our sound and editing team. Of course, catering keeps our crew’s creative minds flowing throughout our 10 hour shoot day.

Thank you for visiting our Crowdfunder page. We understand in these difficult times you may not be in a position to donate but sharing our page on your social media will go a long way for us. Please follow our Facebook and Instagram. We appreciate your support and hope to have your following throughout our production - Thank you from the Ronel crew.

Social Media Tags

Instagram- @roneldocumentary

Facebook- @roneldocumentary

Isobel Fiske- Graphic Designer- Instagram @isobelfdesign

Fayes Connor- Crew Photos- Instagram @fayeconnor_filmpics

Do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected]