The Building - A Gritty Fairytale

Join us for a screening of "The Building - a gritty fairytale."

Short documentary

2026, 28min, color, English

directed by Daria Tchapanova

The Building – A Gritty Fairytale is both an acoustic and visual journey, centred in a place of artistic production and the transformative power of a community. At the same time, then film reflects on broader global themes—mobility, artistic freedom, migration and resilience —while grounding them in a deeply local story.

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The short documentary focuses on August House in Johannesburg—an industrial building transformed into one of South Africa’s foremost artist studio spaces.? Blending documentary filmmaking with an artistic cinematic approach, the film portrays the building and its inhabitants, revealing how collective artistic practices create strength, continuity, and belonging within unstable social and economic contexts. August House becomes a powerful example of the fragile balance between art, society and urban transformation. The personal stories of its inhabitants intertwine with shared experiences, forming a portrait of a vibrant creative ecosystem. Told from the first-person perspective of the director, the film places a central question at its heart: What constitutes a multidimensional artistic collaboration in art spaces??

Team

produced by Daria Tchapanova in collaboration with META Foundation

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Director | Daria Tchapanova

Camera & Editing | Daria Tchapanova

Sound Recordings | Peter Zirbs?

Mix & Additinal Recordings | Peter Zirbs

Text | Sara Hallatt & Daria Tchapanova

Text Editing | Melisande Seebald

Subtitles | Sara Hallatt & Daria Tchapanova

With August House artists & facilitators Dustin August | Nicola Bouwer | Ayola Goxo | Gift Khoza | Shandré Lummis-Rabie | Bekezela Mabena | Kamogelo Masemola | Simon Mashapo Jr. | Nanini Mgandela | Khotso Motsoeneng | Alpheus Ngoepe | Sara Hallatt | David Mayers | Thembekile Mlilo | Kelvin Mwale

And Italo Almeida | Melissa Haiden | Black Mabutho | Andile Mbeje | Koloti Moji | Maria Fidel Regueros | Mbali Tshabalala | Sky Walker |Andrew Wessels

Research context Kim Gurney | Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon

Thanks for the support by

Lower Austria Art & Culture Film

Lower Austria Art & Culture Visual Arts