Sarah-Leigh Burger – 2018 Festival

Mite-y Beard

A displeased wife enters a world of unexpected adventure after deciding to finally confront her husband's stubborn, unkept beard.

Sarah-leigh Burger grew up in Mnandi, on the outskirts of the Johannesburg-Pretoria metropolis in South Africa. She studied insects at Rhodes University where, ironically, it was her entomology supervisor who gently advised that she should shift direction from biology to something more creative. Yet, having completed her biology studies, the creepy-crawlies followed her all the way to The Animation School in Cape Town and influenced The Mite-y Beard short film, which she wrote and directed in her final year. With the help of an excellent team of fellow students and incredibly supportive lecturers, her story came to life. Sarah has written a range of stories in the form of songs with her band, The Fishwives; and with the years of experience with them, was able to write the original song for The Mite-y Beard. She is currently interning at Triggerfish Animation Studios in Cape Town.

Sarah-leigh Burger says, “The Mite-y Beard was inspired by my experiences in dealing with long-term relationships, understanding other’s perspectives, and my own journey in learning how to avoid someone else’s inner demons. It was a quirky and strange concept and I was lucky enough to a have team that trusted me to lead, as well as skilled enough to support my creative demands.”