John Trengrove if a film director who hails from South Africa. He has won the Golden Horn Award for Best Achievement for directing a TV drama. Trengrove is the son of Wilm Trengove, a well-known advocate. Others things the public may not know about him include:
The Award Winning Director Was part of Sundance Film Festival
He was one of the successful filmmakers to have earned a spot on Sundance Film Festival a coveted event for experts in the film industry. Here he showcased his movie The Wound that also premiered at a Berlin Film Festivals. He received the best director SAFTA award and an honorary award from South African Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2015 for his work on the “smartwater” a drama series.
John Trengrove is the Brains behind numerous Hit Television Shows
The director who attended New York University to study film has been behind the making of very many hit TV shows. An example of this is Hopeville which earned a nomination for international Emmy’s and has a Rose d’Or award.
His first feature film was known as “The Wound.” It is about a teenage gay guy going through initiation or circumcision process. It explores the world of Xhosa circumcision initiation and masculinity. This piece was the topic of heated controversy in South Africa despite the fact he did not flinch when making the feature but came up with an authentic piece that many find fascinating. It was featured at the BFI London Film Festival where it went ahead to win the historic Sutherland trophy for Best First Feature.
He Pulled out of Tel Aviv International LGBT Film Festival Last Minute
John said that he could not be part of a festival that was looking past human rights violations. He explained that multiple activist organizations, as well as a team from the South African film community, had advised him against participating in the event because of the cultural boycott against TLV fest and Israel. He also said that “pinkwashing” did not sit well with him.
Trengrove decided after he had already accepted the invitation and withdrew when the festival was almost happening. He did this knowing very well that the movie was already sold in Israel for screening and distribution. John was not comfortable with the film being shown in Israel with the present conditions persisting. Organizers were not impressed with the decision saying that he had ample time to refuse to participate and that withdrawing last minute was poorly planned.
He Trained to Become an Actor and is a Theatre Maker
Before John Trengrove went to study in New York, he has trained initially to become an actor. Occasionally he also gets busy developing work for the theatre. In this section, he is best known for “The Epicene Butcher” that played at Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
He was Excommunicated from Church
The openly gay director remembers that he came out at the age of 17. It was not a natural process because his mum was a staunch Christian. He tried living a lie until he was 25 when he left the church and was excommunicated as a result. Trengrove spends most of his time in Sao Paulo and Johannesburg with Marco Dutra, his boyfriend who is also a filmmaker.
Follow Us
