Norman Maake

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1979, Norman Maake is a graduate of AFDA (the South African School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance) where he made the short film Home Sweet Home (1999), and the feature film Soldiers of the Rock (2003), winner of Best Screenplay at PAFF 2003 and the Mario Van Peebles award in 2004. Maake went on to display talent in television commercials but was drawn back to his passion for long form drama directing. Homecoming, his much acclaimed three hour TV mini-series, was cut into a feature film (2005). Norman directed the mini series Entabeni, an adaptation of Macbeth, in 2007, and in 2010 he directed the mini series Unsung Hero about the Soweto String Quartet founder, Mike Masote. In 2008 Norman wrote the screenplay The Fighting Prince about a South African boxer, and was signed up by James Schamus of Focus Features to direct this and two other films, but the project was eventually put on hold when the debt crisis hit the world. In 2011 Norman directed the 13×48 mins drama series Skeem Saam, produced by Winnie Serite and David Max Brown. Norman Maake’s film Love Lives Here was released nationwide in cinemas in 2019.

Filmography

Home Sweet Home (1999)
Lefifing Bofelong Ba Lesedi (1999)
Miyela Africa (2001)
Cha-cha-cha (2001)
Soldiers of the Rock (2003)
Homecoming (2005)
Entabeni (2007)
Surviving the Fifties (2008)
Unsung Hero (2010)
Skeem Saam (2011)
Unsung Hero (2012)
Love Lives Here (2019)