AS Mzansi’s most watched soapie, Uzalo continues to grow, one of its directors, Siphamandla Nomandla is growing with it.
The 29-year-old from Umhlabuyalingana, northern KZN joined Uzalo in 2015 as production assistant and is now a director.
He told Daily Sun when he joined the show, he spent about two weeks before asking to be moved to the directing chair. He said Uzalo changed his life.
“I asked to be on the floor where everything is done because I had interest in that then. I joined as the third assistant director and worked for two years before I was promoted to second assistant director.
“In 2019 I was offered a position as the first director until September 2023 when season nine ended. I then moved to directing full-time in November 2023,” he said.
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He said being a director is an interesting position, but it's not easy.
"If you have a passion, you won’t feel that it is not easy. When you are directing, you are responsible for many things like the final product that you see on screen. If there was a mistake on set like if make-up didn’t do well, they don’t ask make-up, but ask the director.
“When you’re directing, you have to plan at home. You read the scripts and analyse them. When you get on set you brief everyone. You talk to the actors and if they are not doing good, then you will answer why the scene doesn’t interpret the script,” he said.
Siphamandla said their show is number one because they tell the stories as they are and are authentic.
“I joined the show when other shows were ending, and we took over the number spot until now. I've been with the winning team with the highest numbers in the Southern hemisphere and it's a record that they are failing to break in South Africa or in Southern hemisphere because there is no show that ever reached 12 million viewers in one night,” he said.
He added that their show accommodates everyone in South Africa and includes all other languages and tells stories from the various cultures.
“In our way of storytelling we always make sure we make all South Africans become part of the story so that they can relate,” he said.
Siphamandla studied film and production at Movie Tech in Durban.
After that, his parents asked him to study clinical technology in DUT, but he only did one year as his passion sent him to Uzalo to follow his dream.
