Springbok Impi warrior Alfonzo Franke has become co-director of Muti Films, a production house in Cape Town, IOL reported.
Franke joins Muti founder Guto Bussab in leading the company. He will keep performing as an Impi at Springbok home Tests.
“It’s more than a gig. It’s more than the five minutes of fame,” Franke said of his Impi role. “I’m going out there to war for my country.”
Franke made his Impi debut in 2017 at a Test against New Zealand. He was told to be fierce towards then All Blacks captain Kieran Read.
“The All Blacks captain said he had never seen anything like this before,” Franke said. “Even the coach said he wished half of his team had that amount of passion.”
He is now in his tenth year as an Impi. He is the only member of the first group of three who still performs.
The Impi tradition goes back to 1921. That year in Wellington, the Springboks answered the All Blacks haka with indlamu, a Zulu war dance.
The Impi now lead the Springboks onto the field before home Tests. They come out with drums, chanting and raised spears.
Franke grew up in Rocklands, Mitchells Plain. Teachers at his school first noticed his creative talent. He later studied film at AFDA and started his own company, Tarblak Films.
In 2023 he won Best Cinematography for a short film at the kykNET Silwerskerm Festival Awards. The award was for his work on Die Blokke.
He also worked on YVR by Youngsta CPT, which won Best Video at the 2019 SA Hip Hop Awards. He has filmed artists such as Koffee, Wu-Tang Clan, Nasty C and Shane Eagle.
Franke said his upbringing still shapes the way he makes films.
“In the hood you don’t get resources, you get reality. So you learn to flip it. You learn to make something out of nothing,” he said.
“I know how to turn a stoep, a kitchen, a back alley into a world, because for us, that was the world,” he added.
His link with Muti goes back more than ten years. He started at the company as Bussab’s assistant.
The two later worked together as a directing team. One project was the 2016 music video Cupid’s Crooked Bow for Ghanaian rapper M.anifest, shot in Accra.
“It was clear that his input was essential in my own creative process,” Bussab said.
Muti has made adverts and content for brands including MTN, British Airways, Coca-Cola, Standard Bank and Absa. It also co-produced the film Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema.
That film was South Africa’s official entry for the 2009 Academy Awards. Together, Bussab and Franke have more than 50 years of experience.
Franke also plans to set up a Little Warriors Foundation. It will support children facing battles with health and poverty.
Source: this article is based on reporting by IOL. Image: IOL. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Entertainment desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Rirhandzu Baloyi writes about entertainment for Tzaneen Voice. Rirhandzu covers South African music, film, TV, streaming, awards and celebrity news, from amapiano and local soapies to Showmax and Netflix releases. Stories stick to what happened, who was involved and when fans can watch or listen.