{"id":4253,"date":"2020-07-04T16:48:42","date_gmt":"2020-07-04T15:48:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/?p=4253"},"modified":"2020-07-04T22:56:58","modified_gmt":"2020-07-04T21:56:58","slug":"axel-fuel-fumes-rivalry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/?p=4253","title":{"rendered":"Axel: Fuel, fumes, rivalry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\n<strong>By\nNesta Kupemba<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jealousy is a disease. It seeps in under your skin unexpectedly, writhes around until ultimately, its flag hoisted, your brain its territory. Once colonised, the sickness spreads &#8217;till all you feel is a pumping, aching envy that contaminates your every thought, action, and idea, saturating them with a sickly green hue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The underbelly of jealousy is explored in Jessica Teixeira\u2019s film <em>Axel<\/em>. Pitting women against each other is depicted often enough in films to be a trope, and it is one Teixeira falls into, as if two women can\u2019t be in the same field and get along. Perhaps that&#8217;s a societal problem, rather than the film&#8217;s.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In\nthis short feature the backdrop is asphalt, and the career is drag\nracing. Axel, played by Bianca Pieterse, is a drag racing superstar\nand has reigned supreme for several years. Along comes new racer\nMags, played by Aya Msani. Axel\u2019s confidence takes a knock and the\nseed of envy is planted. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The film depicts a silent rage, stemming from insecurity and fear as Axel\u2019s crown and throne threatens to drift away like the smoke of her exhaust pipe. Meanwhile Mags simply sees a woman she admires and aspires to emulate, but the praise she showers on her heroine only acts as a reminder of her declining popularity.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nfiction of Axel drips into our reality. Women are forced to work\ntwice as hard to get half the glory men obtain, forcing them be\nrivals rather than collaborators, or even engage in jocular\ncompetition. The jealousy that plagues Axel reflects the pressure of\nthe environment she is in. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the end, the monster Axel becomes pulls the mask off a vile and corrupt society.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Watch this 12-minute film on the National Arts Festival vFringe <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"here. (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/nationalartsfestival.co.za\/show\/axel\/\" target=\"_blank\">here.<\/a><\/em> <em>Tickets cost R35<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Writer<\/strong>: Jessica Teixeira<br>\n<strong>Director<\/strong>: Jessica Teixeira<br>\n<strong>Executive Producer<\/strong>: TyraLee Nel<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Editing<\/strong>: Matthew Aguirre<br>\n<strong>Cinematography<\/strong>: James Matthew Yates<br>\n<strong>Sound Design<\/strong>: Natasha Luttjeboer<br>\n<strong>Film Score<\/strong>: Kutloano Motlhake<br>\n<strong>DIT<\/strong>: Samantha Sabatelli<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Production Design<\/strong>: Siobhan Venter<br>\n<strong>Costume, Make-up, and Styling<\/strong>: Ashleigh Crawford<br>\n<strong>Visual Effects<\/strong>: Wian van der Walt &amp; Triston Pillay<br>\n<strong>Colourist<\/strong>: Samantha Sabatelli<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Nesta Kupemba Jealousy is a disease. It seeps in under your skin unexpectedly, writhes around until ultimately, its flag hoisted, your brain its territory. Once colonised, the sickness spreads &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/?p=4253\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":4255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[981,10],"tags":[39,1107,1108,1065],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4253"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4253"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4257,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4253\/revisions\/4257"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}