Dr Eubulus Timothy receiving his certificate of recognition from Dr Vishwas Deoskar (CEO, IICT), at the BRICS Waves Bazaar 2026 event in Mumbai, India.
Image: Supplied
CINEMA is a modern concept. Whether in Hollywood, Bollywood, the Amazon or KwaMashu, the cinematic experience is the same. Cinema connects people globally, reflecting traditions and social realities, bypassing our rational defences and providing a space to escape.
The world's first film production studio, the Black Maria, or the Kinetographic Theater, was completed on the grounds of Edison's laboratories at West Orange, New Jersey, in 1893. It was a Scottish inventor, William Dickson, who had perfected the motion picture camera while working for Edison and had decided on the 35mm format.
South Africa was one of the first countries in the world to see and hear sound motion pictures.
On April 19, 1895, the first Kinetoscopes in South Africa were opened to the public in Heywoods Arcade on Pritchard and President streets in Johannesburg – then a small town only nine years old. In August 1895, Lingards Waxworks in Durban exhibited the penny-in-the-slot mechanical novelties. On October 14, 1899, three days after the declaration of the Anglo-Boer War, William Dickson set out for South Africa to record the war on film.
The use of film as a new medium for propaganda was discovered and exploited during that war. Hence, the Anglo-Boer War was the first ever war to be captured on film. The Electric Theatre in Durban was the first permanent theatre to be established in South Africa on July 29, 1909.
On December 11, 1910, the first "Electric Theatre" for "Coloured People Only" was opened on the corner of Grey and Alice streets in Durban. The first programmes showed scenes outside the mosque in Grey Street.
As a kid living in Goodhope Centre in Queen Street, our world was different. We played cricket in the street between the green Mamba buses, football on the Esplanade and sneaked into the yacht club to fish between the boats. Town life was different. And in the centre of it all were the Victoria Street cinemas.
As a kid, I sneaked into The Avalon to see The Thomas Crown Affair. I remember saying to myself, “I can do that.” Steve McQueen will always be the "essence of cool".
When I was 10, my dad bought me a Chinon 8mm movie camera and sound recorder, and I started making my own little movies with my friends from Goodhope Centre. Pastor J.F. Rowlands would visit us, watch my movies and liked the name of my movie company. My company was, and is, called Trinity Pictures.
My first feature film was Shakespeare’s Othello, set in modern-day Cape Town and shot on 35mm film, with Sello Maake kaNcube as Othello and Hakeem Kae-Kazim as Iago.
I got a call one day and the young woman said, “Hello, I am Diana and I would like to play Emilia in your Othello.”
I said, “Diana who?”
It was Diana Hayden, Miss India and Miss World. So Diana played my Emilia.
When Othello screened at Cannes, I was sitting on the beach outside the South African Pavilion when a lady came up and said, “Are you Eubulus?”
I said yes.
She said, “I’m Aishwarya Rai. Diana said I must come wish you for Othello.”
She sat down and we were joined by Shah Rukh Khan. They were there for the world premiere of Devdas. And that’s one of my many Cannes stories.
After winning Durban Tourism Filmmaker of the Year 2026 for The Cane Cutter, the Government of India, through the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), invited me to participate in BRICS WAVES Bazaar 2026, held on August 6 and 7 in Mumbai, India.
BRICS WAVES Bazaar is an international business platform that brings together professionals from the media and entertainment industry across BRICS nations and partner countries to foster collaboration, business opportunities and knowledge exchange across film, television, animation, VFX, gaming, OTT, music, digital media and other creative sectors.
I am truly grateful to the High Commissioner of India to South Africa, H.E. Shri Prabhat Kumar, for allowing me to be part of this. Coming from a country with such strong, diverse cultures, cross-cultural storytelling helps us appreciate that we are all human, and our differences enrich our fellowship and do not diminish it.
As the director of Trinity Pictures South Africa, I am an advocate of cross-cultural narratives, international collaborations and the power of storytelling to connect diverse audiences, which would greatly enrich the discussion.
The response to my participation was just phenomenal. It made me very emotional, just by the way those who attended responded to my input on cross-cultural storytelling.
Doordarshan, India's state-owned public broadcaster with more than 650 million viewers, immediately featured me in a story.
Dr Eubulus Timothy is a dental surgeon, teacher, writer and award-winning filmmaker. He qualified as a dental surgeon from Manipal University and obtained two postgraduate diplomas from the University of the Western Cape.
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