SA Filmmaker Julia Jansch is making waves globally with stories of transformation

Julia Jansch’s filmmaking journey began in London and Los Angeles, where she worked on major reality television productions including Idol and The X Factor. Seeking to tell more personal and socially grounded stories, she returned to South Africa and founded her own production company, Southern Point Pictures. Her documentary My Father the Mover won the Best Documentary Short award at the Tribeca Film Festival. Jansch’s work drew the attention of Disney, which commissioned her short documentary The Academy, now streaming on Disney+. The film follows Azile Arosi, a young woman from Khayelitsha who joins a sailing programme at Cape Town’s Royal Yacht Club. Through sailing, Arosi finds healing and a sense of empowerment. In an interview with BizNews, Jansch said she is committed to telling South African stories of transformation. She described townships like Khayelitsha as places marked by hardship but also by profound resilience and hope. “There is hope,” she said, “for girls everywhere, no matter what their background.”.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..Watch here:.Listen here:.Edited transcript of the interview.Linda van Tilburg (00:01) The Academy is a documentary streaming on Disney+, spotlighting a transformative sailing programme at the Royal Cape Yacht Club in Cape Town, South Africa. Directed by award-winning South African filmmaker Julia Jansch, it follows the journey of Azile Rossi, a young woman from Khayelitsha. We’re joined by Julia Jansch in the studio. Thanks for coming, Julia. We know you as the Tribeca winner for *My Father the Mover*. Tell us about this documentary and how it came to be on Disney.Julia Jansch (00:35) It’s incredibly humbling to have made a documentary for Disney, of all platforms, and I’m thrilled that such a major global platform took interest in this unique South African story. It centres on a young sailor, Azile Rossi, and the Academy, a sailing school at the Royal Cape Yacht Club in Cape Town. The Academy teaches kids from underprivileged backgrounds - especially young women and kids of colour - how to sail, aiming to transform the face of the yacht club. Sailing isn’t typically where you’d find young girls like Azile wandering about an old-school yacht club, so it’s a bold, transformative goal for the club, and the documentary tells Azile’s story within that context.Linda van Tilburg (01:43) As you said, sailing is quite an elite sport. Why use it to tell a story about identity, access, and transformation? Was it simply that the story was there, waiting to be told?Julia Jansch (02:00) With documentary filmmaking, you often start thinking you’re telling one story, but as you dig deeper - turning over stones, looking in crevices - something else emerges. I initially thought I’d focus on Lindani, who’s at the helm of the Academy. He’s a visionary teacher and organiser, and his philosophies on transformation are central to the story. But as I met the students, especially Azile, I found something much deeper and more personal. Azile was grappling with a painful personal wound, and the sea, along with sailing and finding belonging in this school and yacht club, was helping her heal. So, it became about telling Azile’s story within the world of the Academy and the Royal Cape Yacht Club, culminating in this exciting race around Robben Island, where she skippered for the first time - a very metaphorical journey.Linda van Tilburg (03:28) Yes, she was thrilled about circling Robben Island, especially with its connection to Nelson Mandela. Julia Jansch (03:41) Exactly. It was her first time skippering a boat, and she’s already sailed from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro twice - something I could never do! I was on a rubber ducky, chugging along behind on race day. Those girls are brave. The weather was wild, with that Cape Doctor southeaster wind howling, but Azile and her crew made it around the island. It was a remarkable feat.Linda van Tilburg (04:17) It seems you’re drawn to stories of transformation, which Azile’s story embodies. But what else did you uncover while making this? She also had to confront some personal identity issues, didn’t she?Julia Jansch (04:32) Yes, Azile comes from the Eastern Cape, and she only later discovered that her aunt, Normanisi, who’s in the documentary, raised her because her mother wasn’t around. She carried this sense of abandonment, struggling to understand it. When she finally met her biological mother, who’d visit occasionally, Azile would say, “Every time my mother left, I wanted to go with her, and I didn’t understand why.” In the documentary, she reflects on how the sea speaks to you, but you have to listen to what it’s saying. For her, the sea helped her forgive her mother and find a sense of belonging. She realised she belongs, no matter her circumstances - mother or no mother, present or absent. That healing through her relationship with the ocean is a universal story, relatable to anyone, whether from the Eastern Cape, Khayelitsha, or beyond.Linda van Tilburg (06:21) Do you think this story can resonate with an international?Julia Jansch (06:29) Absolutely. When The Academy launched on 9th July, I went to disneyplus.com, and it was right there on the homepage, so discoverable to anyone visiting the site. I had people from all chapters of my life reaching out, saying, “I’ve seen this documentary!” Some even shared their own sailing stories from way back. It’s amazing to see that response. Disney showcasing these niche South African stories to the world is fantastic. It puts a spotlight on our rich, universal stories that resonate globally.Linda van Tilburg (07:38) Tell us about your earlier work. What kinds of stories draw you in?Julia Jansch (07:48) My journey’s been quite varied. I started at film school, then went to business school, and worked in the media space at Fremantle Media in London, which produces shows like *Idol* and *X Factor* - very different kinds of real-world stories. I later moved to their Los Angeles office, then to Radical Media in New York, where I worked on development for documentaries like What Happened, Miss Simone? and Summer of Soul, as well as Abstract: The Art of Design on Netflix. In development, you pitch ideas, but once they’re greenlit, the “real creatives” take over, which frustrated me after a while. So, I founded Southern Point Pictures to make my own films. I’ve done commercials, short documentaries, and now I’m editing my debut feature documentary, with hopes - fingers crossed - for a greenlit feature narrative scripted film soon.Linda van Tilburg (09:32) It sounds like you’ve got a lot in the pipeline. Can you give us a hint about the topics or direction you’re taking?Julia Jansch (09:39) Yes, the feature documentary is about the world of car spinning - an unusual subculture. Southern Point Pictures is all about telling local stories for an international audience. We had *Spinners*, a scripted series that Canal+ translated into multiple languages. This documentary explores a personal story within that world, as I’m always drawn to how a broader context addresses an individual’s wound. The feature narrative, on the other hand, is a whodunit murder mystery set on a safari - quite different! Linda van Tilburg (10:41) What are the challenges and advantages of shooting documentaries and films in South Africa?Julia Jansch (10:50) South Africa is in a unique position right now. There’s a global spotlight on Africa, and people are keen to hear untold South African stories that are both novel and relatable. We have incredible spaces, places, cultures, and dynamics that captivate international audiences because they’re fresh and engaging.Linda van Tilburg (11:38) And the challenges? I saw you filming in Table Bay, which can get choppy with the Cape Doctor. And shooting in Khayelitsha - were those challenges?Julia Jansch (11:52) Absolutely, there are always challenges. That ferocious Cape Doctor wind swept through during the Robben Island race. Lindani had to decide if the race could go ahead, and Azile’s team finished well after everyone else - but the point was they finished. The wild weather added drama, which is great for a film. Shooting in Khayelitsha is trickier because it’s a dangerous place. I wanted to maintain intimacy with Azile as she opened about personal things, but we had to go in as a convoy for safety. When you work with the community, you’re protected, but anything can happen. We recently shot a feature in the Cape Flats, where it’s also incredibly risky. One day, our security team was robbed before we arrived, but by the time we got there, everything was returned because of community connections. It’s a blurry, complex world. There’s desperation, but you go in with empathy and respect.Linda van Tilburg (13:42) And there are always people willing to help.Julia Jansch (13:45) Exactly, there’s always someone ready to lend a hand.Linda van Tilburg (13:46) As a journalist, I’ve found that in townships, despite the dangers, there’s always someone to help if you run into trouble or lose something.Julia Jansch (13:58) Absolutely. Townships are places of desperation but also immense hope - a real yin and yang. It’s vital to show both the challenges and the hope, to paint an honest picture. I want to portray people like Azile as heroes, not victims. Azile became my hero, and the young female spinner I’m filming now - she’s incredible. I hope girls everywhere, no matter their background, see these women and feel they can overcome anything.

SA Filmmaker Julia Jansch is making waves globally with stories of transformation

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