Tabase’s Athi Petela co-directs new star-studded TV series

When she was in primary school, television director Athi Petela was introduced to the art of storytelling by her mother.

Little did they know that the story bug would bite and stay with her into adulthood, when she now brings to life some of SA’s favourite TV shows as a director.

Petela, who grew up in Tabase, is one of three directors at the helm of the much-anticipated BET Africa drama series Queendom, by Clive Morris Productions, who guide its star-studded cast.

Boasting industry heavyweights such as Dawn Thandeka King, Hamilton Dlamini, Sindi Dlathu, Themba Ndaba, Mike Mvelase, Linda Mtoba and more, Queendom explores themes of cultural heritage, tradition, fate, ancestry, power struggles, identity and survival.

The daily drama unfolds the story of Nthandokayise Mthombeni, portrayed by Mtoba, a maverick community leader in Tsakane, who discovers that she is the rightful heir to the throne of the Khahlamba Kingdom.

Her mother, Tholakele Mthombeni, played by Dlathu, has been keeping this secret from her for 30 years.

“The most exciting thing for me is that it’s a very culturally rich world that we live in on the show.

“What I’ve also particularly found exciting [as a director] is finding the characters’ voices through the actors, because characters are different when you read them on paper and when the actor actually plays the character.

“It’s such an interesting collaboration,” Petela said.

When she was younger, Petela lived with her grandmother in Tabase while her mother pursued her tertiary studies away from home.

Whenever her mother visited home, she would encourage Petela to update her on what she had missed while away.

“She bought me a book and a pen and told me to write everything down as it happened so I would remember when she returned,” she said.

Her mother also instilled a culture of reading through reading her Bible stories.

In that way, Petela fell in love with storytelling.

Though starting out a love of writing, Petela said she became interested in directing, a skill that ensures a rich and accurate translation of the writer’s story from paper to screen.

“I’ve always thought I wanted to be a literature writer but I don’t say I understood what it meant.

“I came across directing while in film school where I would write something and someone else would direct it but I would be dissatisfied because it would not become what I had in mind as a writer, so I just decided I wanted to write and bring the story to life myself.

“Because I’m also a writer, I’m a performance-driven director and pay attention to little things like tilting your head as an actor.

“I’m very big on collaborating with the actors to make sure the story comes across as it should,” she said.

Though she pursued a logistics qualification at the University of Johannesburg after matriculating, the writing bug would not let go.

While working in the accounts department of Stage Five Films in Cape Town, Petela scored a bursary to study film and television production at Big Fish School of Digital Filmmaking.

The first film she was involved in, Trapped, aired on TV in 2022.

She has also produced and directed various well-known TV shows including Top Billing and Expresso.

She has also worked on multiple Black Brain Pictures productions including Lockdown, Side Dish, and Loving Thokoza.

Petela has also written and directed public service announcements (PSAs) on gender-based violence and road safety.

She is particularly proud of a project she did with the UN Population Fund, for which she wrote and directed PSAs about HIV and Aids, Covid-19, gender-based violence, and the human trafficking of disabled people.

She is now on a mission to tell stories from the perspective of young children, with plans to shoot the first film in March.

Queendom is coming to BET Africa, on DStv channel 129, soon.

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