| Intro | A South African film director, photographer and writer |
| Is |
Writer Short story writer Screenwriter Photographer Film director |
| From | South Africa |
| Type |
Arts Film, TV, Stage & Radio Literature |
| Gender | female |
| Birth |
1986 |
| Age | 35 years |
Jenna Cato Bass (born 1986) is a South African film director, photographer and writer. She has written stort stories under the name Constance Myburgh, one of which was shortlisted for the 2012 Caine Prize.
Life
In 2011 Bass founded Jungle Jim, a genre fiction magazine. Issue 6 featured her noir detective story ‘Hunter Emmanuel’, featuring an investigation into a dismembered prostitute. The story was shortlisted for the [[Caine Prize for African Writing] in 2012.
Bass’s first feature film, Love the One You Love, was shot on a ‘nano-budget’ using hand-held consumer cameras and a partly improvised script. The film told the story of a sex phone operator negotiating her relationship with her boyfriend and considering a move to Korea. The film won Best South African Feature Film at the 2014 Durban International Film Festival.
High Fantasy (2017) was a satirical thriller about a group of young travellers who mysteriously exchange their bodies on a camping trip. Once again shot on iPhones using improvisation, the film explored “the messy tangle of race, class and gender identity in modern-day South Africa.”
Flatland (2019), an all-female “South African kitsch-western genre mashup”, was shot on a larger budget. It was chosen as the opening film in the 2019 Berlinale Panorama.
Works
Short stories
- (as Constance Myburgh) ‘A Hole in the Ground’, Jungle Jim, No. 2
- (as Constance Myburgh) ‘Hunter Emmanuel, Jungle Jim, No. 6
Films
- Love the One You Love, 2014
- High Fantasy, 2017
- Flatland, 2019