Throughout our years of studying we both worked on numerous short films. Genevieve directing and writing 8 of her own short films and Nicole focusing more on the acting side, also joining the Universities Theatre Societies committee, acting, directing and producing plays that were performed across Cambridge. While still at the Academy, Genevieve landed an internship for Doug Liman (Mr.and Mrs. Smith and The Bourne Identity) working hands on in the Industry on films such as Fair Game starring Noamie Watts and Sean Penn and on a pre-elections commercial featuring Robert Di Nero. In 2008, Nicole took up a summer internship at Twenty Twenty Vision, a film production company in Berlin, where she had the opportunity to get an insight of the Industry from a producer’s point of view.

In June 2009, Genevieve began writing CamelThorns. Nicole flew over to New York for a visit only a month later and we began working on the script intensely, also putting together a pitch to obtain funding for a teaser. We pitched the idea to Doug Liman who agreed to Executive Produce (Fund) the short film. Thus, in November 2009 the first step of CamelThorns was completed, with an all Namibian cast and crew. The teaser, which is one sequence taken from the feature script now serves as a fundraiser to receive further funding for the feature film.

RECOGNITION
So far the short film has received immense local and international recognition, winning a Merrit award at the Los Angeles Cinema Festival of Hollywood, Best Film of the night at the Short Cut monthly film night in Melbourne, Australia and Audience Choice award at the Namibian Film Awards. It has also been selected for screening at the International Film Festival of South Africa, at the Independent Images Film Festival for Women in Zimbabwe, at the Swansea Bay Film festival in Wales, at the International Film Festival of Ireland and at the International Film Festival of Australasia. We are extremely pleased about the results so far as the teaser’s cast and crew is purely Namibian, and matches International standards in all aspects, from a technical standpoint to performance.

WHY NAMIBIA?
We feel that there are many reasons why Namibia is a filmmakers playground, but one of the most fundamental is the amazing natural sets that can be found not only in the astonishing rural areas but also in the cities and towns spread across the country. The feature film CamelThorns aims to portray exactly that. Being a road movie, inspired by films such as ‘Thelma and Louise’ CamelThorns tells the story of two girls who get into serious trouble and try to escape their reality by running away.

The journey of the characters Marie and Jessica starts out in the countries capital, Windhoek. The girls then travel down south through the wonderfully surreal and alluring wide-open spaces, vast deserts and moon landscapes to
Swakopmund, situated at the coast, with rugged Atlantic Ocean beaches. From here their adventure continues, traveling up north passing Volcanic mountains and encountering Namibia’s contrasting cultures as well as Wildlife in it’s natural habitat. The characters also travel through Etosha, one of the biggest National game parks in the world. Here they spend a night in a luxurious lodge.

CAMELTHORNS-PROFITABLE
Films are not only discrete texts, which can have a worldwide impact but are also a virtual medium to communicate across cultures. In regards to CamelThorns, we believe that the unique story line together with Namibia’s sceneries and high technical and performance standard will make this film extremely profitable. Audiences that visit the cinema want to be entertained and view films that feature strong characters that are relatable. An appealing aspect of the film CamelThorns, are the themes of the film, which are friendship, love, trust and unity. The characters Marie and Jessica, both beginning of their 20s are extremely relatable, as so many young people in Namibia and across the world find it hard to choose their path in life. The journey of the girls begins with a harmless drug bust, however escalates when they make a run from the authorities, accidentally killing a man on the road, resulting in a hit and run. They now make themselves full blown criminals. Marie and Jessica, unhappy where their life is heading take this opportunity to plan an escape out of Namibia, with Europe as their final destination in mind- The grass is always greener on the other side.

We aim to make CamelThorns a powerful cinematic experience, provoking tears and laughter, finally putting Namibia on the map of the film industry world-wide.

MISSION STATEMENT
We are aware that the film industry is ballooning in Namibia with many foreigners realizing the innate beauty of our country and of course also, the favorable exchange rate. Although this interest creates a few jobs and enhances exposure, this is mostly temporary and provides only long-term possible rewards in the tourism field. This is because Hollywood productions such as ‘Flight of the Phoenix’ consist of mainly international crewmembers. Big production companies fly in people from overseas, as they are not aware of how much potential is found in Namibia.

As the local Film Industry is still in the process of developing, funds are very limited. However, although the teaser for CamelThorns was shot on a low budget, we managed to create a product, which matches the International standard, which proves the great potential in this country. Our aim is therefore to make a feature film, which will not only be internationally recognized but also give Namibian artist the opportunity to learn and show their work on the big screen while at the same time showcasing Namibia as a filmmaking location, which would benefit the country’s economy as a whole.

FUTURE PLANS
G.T Detering and Nicole Davidow are also in the process of planning productions for the future, as we would like to use the knowledge that we gained overseas and make it beneficial to the film industry in Namibia. We shot another short film entitled Hatchet Popcorn at the end of October 2010 which was launched in Namibia at the end of January with a turn out of 300 people who all responded very positively towards the film.

We are now on the search for an international co-production for CamelThorns and the funds needed to make the feature film. We will be attending the Rotterdam Film Festival and the Berlinale at the beginning of 2011, meeting with potential investors and co-productions.