context: What happens when a nation, ravaged by government-enforced oppression, breaks loose from its shackles and takes hold of its own destiny? Is the transition from tyranny to democracy smooth? Are inequities ameliorated? When neighbors fenced within barbed wire security gates fear neighbors living in shack huts, how does a shattered society congeal? How does one look a passing stranger in the eye?The Creators introduces the intricate reality of modern day South Africa through the eyes of its artists. Weaving through the lives of Faith47 (street art), Warongx (afro-blues), Emile Jansen (hip hop), Sweat.X (performance art), Blaq Pearl (spoken word) and Mthetho Mapoyi (opera), the film culminates in an intertwined story exploring the lives of its creators. Born into separate areas of the formerly-segregated country, the artists recraft history -- and the impacts of apartheid -- in their own artistic languages.The story begins in the mind of Cashril Plus, an eleven year old animator and son of graffiti artist Faith47. Through Cashril's eyes, we see his mother paint in the streets and forgotten townships haloing Cape Town.We soon enter the townships with Ongx, an afro-blues artist and the first place winner of a national music competition with Africa's largest music production company, Gallo Records. When Ongx realizes that his award will not turn out as expected, he is forced to play music in the streets and wash dishes in order to make ends meet. In a country where nearly one in four people is unemployed, Ongx lives within a devastating framework for creative possibility. While Ongx's consciously sings in his first language, Xhosa, the township around him turns increasingly towards English-language pop music. Demonstrating pride in traditional African culture, Ongx himself is a microcosm representing the schism between his peoples roots and an increasingly westernized media landscape.Ongx's perspective transitions to that of Mthetho, an AIDS orphan who grew up mimicking the opera CD his father left behind. Now a twenty-two year old opera legend, Mthetho uses the form to escape from the multiple stabbings, burnings and gang wars he endured during his youth. With a knife scar stretching the length of his cheek, Mthetho is pulling himself out of the cycle of gang life, using music to lift his heart and support his family.We transition into the world of Emile, an MC and bboy from the seminal hip hop group Black Noise. Known as the "Godfather of South African hip hop," Emile participated in anti-apartheid protests and school boycotts during his youth, uniting a generation of youth around hip hop before the fall of apartheid. The issues now facing free South Africa are numerous and subversive. Emile responds with breakdancing workshops, Africa-wide b-boy competitions, and "conscious rhymes for unconscious times."The entrance of poet and singer Janine takes us into Mitchell's Plain, one of the world's most dangerous neighborhoods. The younger sister of Mr. Devious, a hip hop activist killed amidst gang warfare, Janine's life is imbued with the struggle between a violent environment and a peaceful core. As a spoken word artist and performer known as Blaq Pearl, Janine works in a prison teaching creative writing to inmates. Her brother's killer now walks free on the streets just minutes from Janines family home. Her poetry expresses a situation that too many can relate to in a country with some of the worlds highest reported incidences of rape and murder.We transition to Sweat.X, a radical black/white electro duo who grew up in Soweto and Pretoria -- at the time, possibly the poorest and richest areas of South Africa, respectively. Sweat.x exemplifies the growing population of South Africa that is tired of stale, on-the-sleeve activism. Their music leaves the didactic lectures in the past, forging the current, or perhaps futuristic, South Africa partying as one. Sweat.X tours throughout rural South Africa, ironically embracing colonial remnants while emphasizing the dichotomy between the rich and poor living side by side in each town/township duo. Using pump up/get down music to connect with the impoverished communities of South Africas Karoo, Sweat.X tries to leave politics in the past, only to find that apartheid's remnants are difficult to escape.The artists featured in The Creators sculpt South Africa's future through their art, using fragments of a tumultuous past. By entering this chaotic socio-political reality through the lives of six struggling individuals, the documentary puts a macro lens on the real-life effects of apartheid on South Africans' lives and creations, years after its demise. Humorous, disturbing, and empowering messages seep between the cracks of a calcified society as each artist crafts a different history in his or her own artistic language. The film culminates in an intertwined narrative that emphasizes the shared reality of all South Africans, despite the segregation which remains long after apartheid's demise.
question: How old is Cashril?
answer: 11