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Jo Katsaras up for Emmy for No.1 Ladies |
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No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, the BBC adaptation of Alexander Mc-Call Smith’s bestselling novels, shot in Botswana with Film Afrika. The series is up for three awards, including Outstanding Costumes for a Series for South African costume designer Jo Katsaras (Racing Stripes) and costume supervisor Zureta Schulz (Man to Man). Jo was flying from Durban to Johannesburg when the nominations were announced. “As we landed in Joburg, I turned my mobile on and heard all the messages while stuck in a line of passengers waiting to disembark. I was overwhelmed with joy and got rather emotional about it. I stood outside Oliver Tambo Airport and silently thanked Anthony Minghella for his influence in my life. Then the phone did not stop ringing for almost two days with friends and colleagues from all over the world calling to congratulate me.” The pilot of No.1 Ladies Detective Agency was the last film Anthony directed before tragically passing away. “He inspired me so much as a human being and as a director that I feel that I gave him my absolute best,” Jo says. No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency stars Grammy-winning singer Jill Scott as Precious Ramotswe, a Miss Marple-like private eye in Botswana. “With the script being about a woman with integrity in a land like Botswana, that's gentle and humble, I wanted to capture that,” Jo explains. “There is no harshness in the costumes except in the baddy, Charlie Gotso, who I put into a very Zen white linen two piece. Having grown up in Africa, I have always been so fascinated by the way people in Africa put themselves together in such a unique way, with whatever little they have, managing to truly express who they are or even being very stylish with inexpensive clothing." "This script was the perfect opportunity for me to capture all that on celluloid. My intention was also to make people smile at the quirkiness of Africa, which I feel I did.” She believes that her nomination is because the costumes were “something the world has not really seen before. We've always seen the dark side of Africa in movies and this is light and fun. It's unique and refreshing.” Jo says the show flowed remarkably calmly. “A big challenge was that I was only allowed to take a limited amount of crew into Botswana. I had six weeks to prep and had a lot of work to do. We put together a local Botswana crew who had never done a movie before, so in amongst the time limitation, we had to train them. I love teaching people but I must say that the time limitation was touch and go. They rose to the challenge and did brilliantly. In fact recently my onset extras standby, KG, came down to South Africa to work on another show with a fellow costume designer.” She loved the experience of working with production designer Johnny Breedt. “I had only done the pilot of Skin with him before, so it was a new experience. There was this amazing creative synergy that transpired unconsciously and it was magical. I have him to thank for all his beautiful sets that my characters were portrayed in and our two DOPs, Seamus McGarvey on the pilot and Guilio Baccari on the series, for capturing it all so exquisitely. It's so important.” In July, Jo exhibited the costumes at The Fashion Institute of Design and Marketing in Los Angeles, after an invitation from Mary Rose, president of The Costume Designer’s Guild in America. The series screens on Mondays at 9:30pm on M-Net. Kevin Kriedemann | |||
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