The artist discusses his improbable path to helming the short, written by Spike Lee, Tim Jones, Jeff Leisawitz, and Lubabalo Mtati, about two boys whose friendship is tested by the violence of apartheid surrounding them; screens at Tribeca June 6 and June 13.
When artist Pola Maneli joined writers Spike Lee, Tim Jones, Jeff Leisawitz, and Lubabalo Mtati on the animated short Apart, he was originally brought on simply to create the film’s poster.
Then Maneli became the director.
“I didn’t get a lot of details about the story when I was first brought on,” explains Maneli, whose art has previously appeared on the cover of The New Yorker and in the collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. “But as the writers and producers started to see more of my work, they wanted me to become more involved in world building and in creating the film’s visual language. And the more I got involved, the more adamant I became about wanting to direct.”
Apart unfolds amid the harsh realities of South African apartheid—an institutionalized system of racial segregation enforced from 1948 to the early 1990s—where two boys, Themba and Joel, form a dangerous friendship. As hate and fear threaten to pull them apart, their bond faces its greatest test in the form of a life-saving gesture. Through their eyes, we glimpse a moment of innocence—where hope, empathy, and understanding still feel possible.
The short screens in New York at Tribeca’s Shorts Program on Saturday, June 6, at 2:30 p.m. in the Shorts Theater at Spring Studios. There will also be another New York screening on Saturday, June 13, at 6:15 p.m. at AMC 19th Street East 6.
Watch the trailer:
Apart—animated using traditional 2D frame-to-frame, cut-out, 3D, and 2.5D techniques—is brought to life by a team of artists rooted in South African culture and history. Along with the visionary team of writers, Grammy-winning South African musician Black Coffee shaped the film’s distinct soundscape as music supervisor, while South African fashion designer Laduma Ngxokolo created the distinctive “isiXhosa” style for the characters, fusing cultural heritage into the fabric of the story. Maneli, whose work centers on the multidimensional experiences of people of color in South Africa, has lived there his whole life and brought an intimate familiarity with the landscape, environments, and history of the film’s setting.
“There are so many people in my life I can point to who are just like the characters in this movie,” says Maneli. “So, in the process of developing the visuals... I didn’t say this to anyone, but I got to a point where I was like, ‘Man, I have to direct this.’ I think the team picked up on that and, when we finally had the conversation to make it official, it was a dream come true.”
And not just because of the chance to direct. For all he’d accomplished as an illustrator, Maneli had never had the opportunity to see his work come to life in animation before.
“Seeing that was crazy, and it’s hard to describe the feeling,” he shares. “I’ve always tried not to pit different disciplines against one another. Comics and illustration are just as important and powerful as animation. And I legitimately do believe that. But there is something to be said for seeing your images moving for the first time. It’s undeniable, like fireworks going off in your head.”
In total, 18,000 frames of animation were created by a team of 266 professionals—including 157 animation artists and 50 members of the art department—over approximately 600 days using 14 different software tools.
“It was amazing and I never really got used to it,” notes Maneli. “Even by the end of production, it was still pretty dope.”
It was also the first time Maneli had spent so much time illustrating landscapes from home and researching their history.
“It was really important to me that we got those kinds of details right,” he says. “So, for the scenes that are set in a hospital, that was based on an actual hospital within walking distance of where I was staying during production. It wasn’t as challenging as you might think. Not much about the main architecture has changed in 30-odd years. There are a lot of working-class neighborhoods that don't look much different from the way they did when I was growing up. So we had plenty of real-life visual references to pull from.”
He adds, “We showed a level of reverence toward the scenery, backgrounds, settings, and characters so that everything felt as authentic and real as possible.”
But for all the realism and historical accuracy embodied in the film, Maneli’s favorite scene is the one in which friends Themba and Joel retreat to their place of fantasy and escape.
“The interior of the fort the boys create for themselves stands out to me as a really special setting,” says Maneli. “It’s filled with all kinds of pop culture Easter eggs, like posters for films that would have been popular during that era, as well as pinups of football players that anyone familiar with football from that time would recognize. We wanted that space to feel like an extension of their friendship and the inner world they had built between themselves. It’s full of everything they have in common and everything they love, extended to these four walls. We wanted it to feel magical, colorful, warm, and inviting—something separate from what was happening in the outside world.”
While the fort’s design certainly stands out in color from the rest of the settings, the film as a whole still makes use of strong colors and stark contrasts. It’s in line both with Maneli’s art style and with the way a child would see the world.
“One of the reasons I felt so confident I could direct the movie was that there were so many parallels between this story and my visual sensibilities,” says Maneli. “This movie is told through the eyes of kids, so you want to make sure you speak to the vibrancy, color, and imagination of that world, while also acknowledging the broader surroundings in which it all takes place. It felt like a natural fit to me.”
But even a perfect fit can challenge an artist and push them out of their comfort zone.
“I was surprised by how much I learned about myself on this production, despite being South African, being very familiar with this history, and living in the aftermath of apartheid,” Manelli reveals. “When we talk about bonds, relationships, and friendships that are threatened or pulled apart, I think about that in my own life and even within myself. There are parts of myself I’ve cleaved away because of external perceptions—parts of myself that were idealistic, hopeful, and imaginative. It’s been really informative—a helpful reminder that there’s a lot to be gained by seeing the world through the perspective of a child. I envy them.”
Victoria Davis is a full-time, freelance journalist and part-time Otaku with an affinity for all things anime. She's reported on numerous stories from activist news to entertainment. Find more about her work at victoriadavisdepiction.com.
