EGOT Status Loading: A Chat With 2024 JCS International IEmmy-Winning Filmmaker Palesa Buyeye
From breaking down barriers in the quest to redefine recognition in the film and television space to winning an International Emmy for Young Creatives, Johannesburg filmmaker, writer, and actress Palesa Buyeye is Black Girls Magic incarnate. Having endured a journey that would’ve discouraged many, the nascent creative has only just begun.
Hailing from the north of the City of Gold and fetching her lineage from Soweto, the dynamic multi-hyphenate described herself as a big dreamer and a hustler who has been passionate about blazing her trail in the entertainment and media industry, particularly in the television space. From writing and doing PR work to being involved in presenting and filmmaking (which she framed as her primary ambition), Buyeye has, over the years, funneled all these qualities into the engine of her creative mind, making all these attributes generate power to help her reach her destination of telling stories.
“I’m so passionate about storytelling in the different mediums that you can tell stories in and bring them to life. Storytelling connects us all. Ke motho wa batho: I love people. So, I love being in a space that connects us all despite the differences in demographics, race, gender, and age. I like making people feel certain ways through stories and evoking emotions,” she said.
Palesa Buyeye | SUPPLIED
Growing up as an only child in a matriarchal environment and raised by a single mother along with her grandmother and her aunt, Buyeye credited the presence of strong women around her for instilling in her the confidence and power that she was capable of doing anything and that she could achieve whatever by any means necessary as a Black woman.
As a result, that inherited strength and belief unconsciously converted into a drive which manifested as her being a go-getter back in school, until it matured into a desire to create, write, and produce her own films and stories. Even though she found herself cornered by parental influence to pursue law at Rhodes University, the path didn’t stifle her dream, if anything it evolved. The rising star found herself writing for the varsity’s newspaper and being in the drama class before she eventually returned to Jozi in the name of hustling for her art.
Once in Johannesburg, Buyeye had to jump hurdles thanks to the barriers of entry which stood between those on the outside and those already inside the industry.
“Getting a gig as an actress or writer, especially if you don’t have a qualification from film school, is tough out here. People on the inside aren’t willing to take a risk on someone who hasn’t written anything or has not gone to film school. So that phase was challenging, but then I realised that writing is writing. So, I thought it would be best to carry on exercising this muscle of writing until the stuff of film and TV writing came eventually,” she said.
While doing a short course in storytelling and acting, Buyeye launched her freelancing writing era to expand her writing portfolio. It wasn’t long after that she began pitching her work to platforms such as The Sowetan and The Sunday Times, even landing a gig at the former as a health and fitness writer.
Her big-time story came courtesy of an interview she managed to pull with Naija-American actress Yvonne Orji while freelancing for S Mag of Sowetan, which caught the eyes of prominent editors at the time, particularly Lesley Mofokeng, who was eager to put her under his wing as an intern but couldn’t because of qualification barriers. As good fortune would have it, Mofokeng allowed her to freelance under him, writing a number of stories and conducting interviews here and there under his counsel.
Palesa Buyeye | SUPPLIED
During that time, Buyeye was able to grow herself as a writer as well as connecting with people. En route her destination – film and television – Palesa embraced the detours which made her do time in journalism and PR, which she admitted helped upskill her and equip her to be a great storyteller.
And from all the struggles and persistence came her debut short body of work Nokuthula Is Missing, which claimed top honours at the 2024 JCS International IEmmys Young Creatives Awards. Starring Lihle Ngubo of Netflix’s Blood Legacy as well as Prince Mashinini, Nokuthula Is Missing is a short which aims to capture the call for peace and the reform of the country’s justice system amid the gangrenous spread of Gender-Based Violence and femicide in South Africa. The film was honoured along with Peace of Music by Shushant Nagpal (India) and A Refugee’s Plea for Peace by Goitom Weldu (Ethiopia) for this year’s award which briefed filmmakers worldwide to create a short that adhered to the theme of “Stand Up for Peace – Building Dialogue and Understanding”.
“The award was open to filmmakers across the world to interpret the theme however they wanted because war means different things to each country. War, in our country, I believe is Gender-Based Violence. So, I wanted to play on the theme being about peace since the story is about Nokuthula calling to report Nokuthula missing while peace is also missing in her life. The story also captures our desire for peace as women living in SA. That’s all we want after all. We just want a safe space where we are seen and heard and protected. GBV takes that away from us. All of us are Nokuthula and have had our peace taken away from us because of what’s happening in this country,” she said.
With her accolade, Buyeye expressed her desire to reach the iconic EGOT echelon while also admitting to still being in awe of being an International Emmy holder.
“I dream of the EGOT. I aspire for EGOT status – the Emmy, Golden Globe, Oscar, and Tony Awards. What I got was a JCS International IEmmy, but I still aspire for a Daytime Emmy. It has always been a dream to be recognised by the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Getting the news from them is still so surreal. The award was validation that my dreams have always been valid, and that God is always in the room when you have all these dreams and do all these things and have all these aspirations. Plus, I also still want a SAFTA as well,” she said.
Nokuthula Is Missing poster from JCS International Young Creatives Award | SUPPLIED
Palesa divulged that she was working on expanding Nokuthula Is Missing into an anthology series and attaching two new parts to broaden the story told on the original one while adding more colours and shades to the base narrative.
“We are currently working on an anthology series inspired by I May Destroy You by Michaela Coel. In this series, we will be adding some new stuff and we are still debating on whether it will be a three- or four-part series titled Nokuthula Is Missing, which will follow mainly Nokuthula as she navigates SA and GBV. The short was a symbolic call for change highlighting the urgency for reform in SA’s justice system while addressing femicide and GBV. The two other parts will have similar narratives but will showcase that GBV isn’t only something that happens as a big event of abuse or someone being beaten. It’s something that happens on a spectrum and microaggressions that happen on a daily basis, so we want to capture that. The parts will also show how despondent our country is in how we perpetuate this violence and how we have become okay with it. So, we are definitely looking at developing the story into something more,” she said.
Having already planted one foot on the road to filmmaking greatness, Palesa spoke about setting her sights on exporting authentically African stories to the world, showcasing the diversity of South Africa and Africa through rich narratives.
“I see myself taking all types of contemporary African stories to the world, not just those about GBV because that’s not all that happens here. I want to be one of the biggest storytellers and filmmakers to ever come out of South Africa and the continent. As I already said, I’m going for EGOT status. I aim to be a part of international productions and having my productions on the international stage and travelling the world,” she said.