We Are Together
Multi award-winning documentary film showing the power of music at a South Africa orphanage opens in the UK on 7 March 2008.
We Are Together tells the remarkable and moving story of a group of children who use music to overcome hardship and loss. Most of the children at Agape Orphanage in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa have lost their parents to AIDS. Agape is a Greek word meaning “unconditional love”, which is exactly what the children at Agape receive. The orphanage was sent up by “Gogo (= Grandma)” Zodwa Mqadi who whilst working as an HIV counsellor found that many of the people she was counselling expressed deep concern about what would happen to their children when they were no longer around.
Being part of the orphanage’s choir, the children discover the power of their collective voices to strengthen their spirit and inspire others. We Are Together is an uplifting and inspirational testament to the power of music. Every day the children continue to train for what they hope will be their big break, a trip to the UK for a series of concerts. Whilst this doesn’t happen in the film they did get the amazing opportunity to travel to New York to sing with Alicia Keys and Paul Simon (Alicia Keys supports AIDS work through her US-based charity, Keep A Child Alive).
British director Paul Taylor filmed the children of Agape for over three years, capturing their highs and lows, including the trip to New York. The film concentrates on Slindile Moya, 12 years old at the start of filming, an incredible young lady with an endearing spirit and inner strength that belies her young age. Together with some of her siblings she lives at Agape, whilst her older siblings live in their parents’ house. The parents passed away and since then life has not been easy for the family. She says: “When I sing it reminds me of my home and my mother because she was the person who taught me to sing. I’m happy with the way my life is now and there are good things happening. The only thing I miss is being able to tell my mum when the good things happen. I wish I had the chance to make her happy, the way she made me feel when I was young.”
During the filming Slindile and her siblings are hit with more hard news: Slindile’s older brother Sifiso, 26 at the start of filming, has HIV. Like many of his fellow South Africans in 2004, Sifiso cannot afford the expensive anti-retroviral treatment that would have helped him live a longer and more fulfilled life. Singing is very important to Sifiso and as he becomes more ill, he finds solace and is soothed by his sisters’ beautiful songs.
In 2003, filmmaker Paul Taylor spent three months during his summer break from film school in KwaZulu-Natal volunteering at the Agape Orphanage (“without a camera or the intention of making a film”). He was profoundly affected by his experiences there, the children’s personalities and, in particular, their beautiful singing. He returned with producer Teddy Leifer to make a film and help facilitate the production of the CD that would eventually bring the children to the attention of the world.
About filming in South Africa he says: “We very quickly got a sense of how strong people were. There was also a lot of humour and it was so much fun to be there. In fact, the whole experience of filming in South Africa ended up with us spending such a large amount of time off camera, just laughing and having fun with the children, that despite all of the pain and sadness that we also saw, I can’t think of South Africa as anything other than a place of fun and happiness. That’s what the real South Africa feels like to me – not a place of just suffering and despair, which is something that we often get from some one-dimensional representations we see of Africa. It was important the film didn’t just dwell on suffering and sadness.”
He continues: “When people are suffering, it appears to me that there is also usually an incredible capacity for laughter and humour in those situations and this is a part of what makes the human spirit so powerful. The whole experience taught me so much about the strength of the human spirit and the capacity for people to deal with terrible situations with so much dignity.”
The compelling documentary has won the Audience Award at all of its premieres including at its UK premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival, beating off competition from the likes of Ratatouille and Death Proof.
We Are Together is showing in UK cinemas from 7 March 2008. The soundtrack CD featuring The Children of Agape , Paul Simon , Ladysmith Black Mambazo , Soweto Gospel Choir and Zwai Bala is out from 3 March. A special edition DVD will be released later in the year.
Profits from the film, soundtrack and DVD are being donated by EMI to AIDS-related charities and education initiatives through the RISE foundation, founded by We Are Together director, Paul Taylor and producer, Teddy Leifer.