Frieze Films’ new director Riordan Allen has just released Eskom Chic – I Got Dressed in the Dark, a load-shedding inspired fashion film.
“I’ve always been fascinated by fashion films as a genre,” says Allen, "this must be one of the first fashion films where the models actually get dressed, not undressed though."
For those who aren't aware of the phenomenan of loadshedding, South Africa's citizens are regularly subjected to mandatory blackouts to prevent the collapse of the power system country-wide. This has led to a wave of affordable and innovative solutions: solar-lit jam jars, power banks and solar smartphone chargers, and interesting recipes for the gas or fire cooking. Now Frieze Films have responded with this tongue-in-cheek fashion film.
Director of photography Pierre de Villiers shot Eskom Chic by torch-light, with the contrasts exaggerated by the use of black and white, while editor Matthew Swanepoel makes sure the characters and their outfits are never visible for long as they move in and out of the flickering lighting.
Eskom Chic was styled by Kelly Red of the Red Rum Culture Club, music by Pressure Cooker Studios.
