Stephen Spling Aspeling
Stephen Aspeling, better known as "Spling", has been a film fanatic since he first watched the psychedelic elephant dance from Dumbo in the early ’80s and a movie critic since 2007. Now a trusted independent South African movie authority, he’s turned a lifelong passion into a full-time pursuit: reviewing, writing, presenting, promoting, evaluating and adjudicating film for a host of websites, radio stations, magazines, newspapers, TV shows, festivals and events over the years.
Inter-review with Stephen "Spling" Aspeling about his book, The essence of dreams: An anthology of film reviews
2023-12-04"[South Africa’s] biggest challenge is self-esteem for our own talents – having to be told who’s world-class by international speculators, rather than realising this through our own people and media. Then, we’re also struggling to get the funding of local films right, performing miracles on shoestring budgets and being expected simply to rinse and repeat these miracles."