An uplifting animated short film set on the streets of Johannesburg, Street Smart tells the story of a street kid who discovers the awesome power of a smart idea. Based on a true story, it captures the daily struggles of a young Zulu boy who discovers a way to stop begging and start selling. An inspirational animated short coming in at four minutes, it’s core message is around social upliftment and self-empowerment, underscoring the notion that we never underestimate the power of a good idea.
This short is created almost in its entirety by Cape Town indie film-maker Tim Greene (Boy Called Twist, Skeem, The Fury). Apart from Greene, Street Smart features a vocal and motion capture performance by Kudzi Usaihwevu with music by Daniel Phillip Eppel. What makes this beautiful-crafted and moving film extraordinary is that it was made entirely without cameras, lights, or any crew at all. Part of an exciting new movement known as “real-time film-making”, it was created inside the Unreal Engine gaming platform.
Director Tim Greene is passionate about exploring the power and potential of new film-making technologies . “Whether it’s using AI text-to-video prompts, or real-time 3D animation, the days of photorealistic film-making are approaching fast. It’s both scary and extremely exciting. There’s no stopping it, so the trick is to make sure that you’re on the right side of history!”