Project 10 - Being Pavarotti

Elton is a boy of 13 who sings opera in Hermanus, a small seaside town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, popular with tourists for whale sightings. His love of opera music begins after his cousin gives him a tape by Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, and his passion leads Elton from performing solo stints at open-air festivals to opening acts for established opera singers from nearby Cape Town and singing for council officials and academics in the city. But Elton Nelson Nkenke Nkanunu is black, poor and one of six children. His unemployed mother is often absent, leaving his grandmother to soldier on valiantly, fighting off despair with both hands. Elton’s quest to become an acclaimed opera singer is set against the backdrop of his life as a teenager. He and his opera-singing friends are harassed by authorities and beaten by police, who prefer to retain foreign tourists at the expense of local black buskers.
Yet his irrepressible talent and love for music bubble up in him constantly: He belts out Italian arias in the family kitchen.