Nama location girl thrives in acting

…as Baxu and the Giants scoops best foreign narrative Film award in San francisco

By Rosalia David

Ten-year-old Camilla Joann Daries broke the internet after nailing the lead role of !Hubaxu in the movie Baxu and the Giants, which is essentially about poaching.
Apart from scooping seven nominations locally, Baxu and the Giants’ also walked away with the Best Foreign Narrative award at the San Francisco Independent Short Film Festival.

Speaking to Confidente, Camilla said she was quite excited to find what the future holds for her, as her life took an immediate twist after scooping a nomination in the best female actress category at the Namibian Theatre and Film Awards scheduled for October.
’I didn’t expect the movie to be nominated in all those categories, I am surprised and my life has changed so much.

People call me Baxu now,” she said.
Born in Nama location, Camilla is a jovial child who is passionate about singing but the acting bug has now sparked a new ambition in her to pursue an acting career.
“I actually never knew I would be an actress, we were on our way to church and my mom was informed that there are auditions happening somewhere and they are looking for a ten-year-old girl. We went there and I got the script and went for it,” Camilla explained.
For a tween who is still getting to grips with the reality of being a famous actress now, she said she will never drop out of school to pursue an acting career but would rather continue focusing on her schoolwork until she attains a degree.

“Even though I feel good to have gotten this far, I don’t think I will ever get a big head and quit school. My mother has worked hard to put me in school and I believe education is the only way out of poverty,” Camilla noted.

Camilla is in Grade 4 and has plans to become a successful singer, dancer and a qualified doctor someday. Apart from having the opportunity to feature on big screens, she said she learned how to speak proper English throughout the rehearsals of the film as she has Damara-Nama as a language at school.
“Whenever we are asked at school what I would want to become someday when I grow up, I always say, a doctor, dancer, singer and actress,” she said, adding that she is well known at school now and everyone wants to associate with her now that she has featured in a movie.

“I had friends that didn’t want to be with me or were treating me bad, but now everything changed and the respect that people from my location give my mother has also changed,” she smiled.