Entertainment / Celebrity
'I felt betrayed' by Beyonce says filmmaker
08 Jan 2016 at 14:06hrs | Views
A South African filmmaker has said that Beyonce would be stealing her heritage if she made a movie about Sarah Baartman.
Deidre Jantjies, from Cape Town said, "I felt betrayed when I heard she plans to write and star in her own movie based on Sarah Baartman when I have been working on the concept for the past year."
Beyonce reportedly has a team of writers and acting coaches to help her with the film.
Deidre said she sees herself in Saartjie in the way her body is structured and the shape of her cheek bones, her head and her nose.
"As a coloured female with Khoisan blood running through me I believe it is my duty to tell the story. I think Beyonce will tell the story like the imperialists who never gave Saartjie a voice," she said.
"Saartjie was shipped off to the UK in the early 1800s by a Scottish doctor Alexander Dunlop and was exhibited for her large buttocks," she said.
"I want to show her life before she endured the sadness of being a sex slave."
Deidre went to the Sunnyside Festival in La Rochelle, France in June last year to pitch her idea and to get funding.
"I haven't received feedback but I have been working on my script since then," she told Daily Sun.
She said the National Film and Video Foundation have told her there is no law preventing Beyonce from making the film.
"I plan to carry on with the project although I know it is a case of David versus Goliath," said Deidre.
She said she thought it was possible that her idea was stolen.
"I have been pitching to overseas people and going to workshops. The Sunnyside Festival also has people from all over the world," she said.
"I would want to ask Beyonce why she chose Saartjie when they have so many icons of their own."
However, Beyonce's representatives have denied her involvement in the project after the star recieved a lot of backlash.
Deidre Jantjies, from Cape Town said, "I felt betrayed when I heard she plans to write and star in her own movie based on Sarah Baartman when I have been working on the concept for the past year."
Beyonce reportedly has a team of writers and acting coaches to help her with the film.
Deidre said she sees herself in Saartjie in the way her body is structured and the shape of her cheek bones, her head and her nose.
"As a coloured female with Khoisan blood running through me I believe it is my duty to tell the story. I think Beyonce will tell the story like the imperialists who never gave Saartjie a voice," she said.
"Saartjie was shipped off to the UK in the early 1800s by a Scottish doctor Alexander Dunlop and was exhibited for her large buttocks," she said.
"I want to show her life before she endured the sadness of being a sex slave."
"I haven't received feedback but I have been working on my script since then," she told Daily Sun.
She said the National Film and Video Foundation have told her there is no law preventing Beyonce from making the film.
"I plan to carry on with the project although I know it is a case of David versus Goliath," said Deidre.
She said she thought it was possible that her idea was stolen.
"I have been pitching to overseas people and going to workshops. The Sunnyside Festival also has people from all over the world," she said.
"I would want to ask Beyonce why she chose Saartjie when they have so many icons of their own."
However, Beyonce's representatives have denied her involvement in the project after the star recieved a lot of backlash.
Source - Daily Sun
