A new Namibian mockumentary hits the scene as film-maker Mikiros Garoes debuts ‘The Spot’, a restaurant-centered comedy set at Groot Aub.
Following the daily shenanigans of the chaotic staff at the Ileni Inn as filmed by a visiting documentary crew, the fourth wall breaking web series is set to drop every Wednesday and stars an impressive parade of local talent.
“It’s a huge ensemble cast of local comedians, musicians, actors and entertainers. Viewers will see familiar faces such as Hildegard Titus, Lloyd the Comedian, Mark Kariahuua, Denzel ‘NSK’ Naobeb, Hazel Hinda, Adriano Visagie and Dice,” says Garoes, who wrote, directed and produced the series.
“We also discovered some amazing new comedic talent in Romeo Honga and little Uno Gaoseb, who plays a Namibian ‘Dennis the Menace’. There are so many more local talents that you have to tune in to see.”
Inspired by Garoes’ over 10-year career working in the restaurant industry as a waitress, bartender and hostess, ‘The Spot’ is a comedic exploration of this world through a Namibian lens.
“’The Spot’ centres around the Ileni Inn’s charismatic but incompetent staff and the hilarious customers they have to deal with,” says Garoes. “It’s zany and over the top at times but also peppered with some truly heartwarming moments.”
Characters coming to our screens include a hippy waitress with her eye on Bali (Titus), an entitled regular (Kariahuua), an elderly patron (Lloyd), a hunky waiter (Dice), an eternally irritated staffer (Honga), a fed up manager (Visagie) and Hinda in multiple roles as an employee and customer.
If you’re wondering why the series is set at Groot Aub, the answer is twofold.
“Groot Aub holds a special place in my heart as a large portion of my family comes from and resides there,” says Garoes, who produced the series through her company Momoga Films Productions, in collaboration with the Namibian Film Commission
“Financially, the Groot Aub restaurant we shot at was the only restaurant we could afford to rent out fully. The owners were gracious enough to give us free reign at the location to do our thing over several days.”
While the web series was produced in 2022, it has only recently dropped on YouTube.
“’The Spot’ was originally conceived as a TV series but because of financial constraints it was more realistic as a web series. We still hope to take it to TV or streaming services for future seasons,” says Garoes of the nine-episode production.
Garoes, who is the screenwriter of ‘Lukas’ (2024), ‘Kapana’ (2020) and ‘The Date’ (2019), as well as the director of ‘Penda’s Dilemma’ (2023), also chalks the delay up to wanting to get the project in shape.
“I’m a perfectionist and I’d rather take the time to get it right as opposed to rushing it,” she says.
“I’m grateful to the amazing cast and crew for patiently hanging in there.”
Viewers can watch the first episode of ‘The Spot’ titled ‘Where is the Boerewors?’ on ‘The Spot Web Series’ channel on YouTube and can look forward to a new episode every Wednesday for the next few weeks.
“We’re in a time when it’s tough for a lot of people out there, locally and globally. So it’s important for me to create lighthearted, funny content for people to escape into,” says Garoes, who describes the show as a love letter to Namibia.
“Namibians from all tribes will get a kick out of this as we put emphasis on having all major Namibian dialects in the show, along with our unique sense of humour,” she says.
“For international audiences, it’ll give them a peek into how Namibians really are: our humour, our way of talking and relating to each other, our music, our slang, our charm, our drama and all things that make us us.”
Follow the_spot_nam on Instagram for more information and subscribe to ‘The Spot Web Series’ on YouTube to watch the show.
– martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on Twitter and Instagram; marthamukaiwa.com
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