South African rural community thriller “Snake,” the closing film of the 6th Joburg Film Festival, is a feature that wouldn’t have been made if it wasn’t for streamer money.
Based on the heart-wrenching 2011 book by Tracey Farren, who also penned the screenplay, a powerless farm girl Stella, played by 9-year-old Lamiyah Barnard, becomes the only one who can stop a smarmy and mysterious interloper who arrives with a flute and dazzles everyone in a rural town, hiding his nefarious intent while going on a killing spree.
“Snake” will play on two streamers and was made with pre-license funding from both: eMedia and e.tv’s eVOD in South Africa and Amazon’s Prime Video.
Shot in rural South Africa with painfully beautiful scenes of poverty and decay, the Known Associates Entertainment production was lensed over seven and a half weeks near Atlantis, Malmesbury and Philadelphia in the Western Cape province.
Based on the heart-wrenching 2011 book by Tracey Farren, who also penned the screenplay, a powerless farm girl Stella, played by 9-year-old Lamiyah Barnard, becomes the only one who can stop a smarmy and mysterious interloper who arrives with a flute and dazzles everyone in a rural town, hiding his nefarious intent while going on a killing spree.
“Snake” will play on two streamers and was made with pre-license funding from both: eMedia and e.tv’s eVOD in South Africa and Amazon’s Prime Video.
Shot in rural South Africa with painfully beautiful scenes of poverty and decay, the Known Associates Entertainment production was lensed over seven and a half weeks near Atlantis, Malmesbury and Philadelphia in the Western Cape province.
- 3/4/2024
- by Thinus Ferreira
- Variety Film + TV
Wendy Bednarz’s “Yellow Bus,” which follows a mother’s quest for justice after suffering an unthinkable tragedy, won the prize for best film at the Joburg Film Festival during an award ceremony Saturday night at the Sandton Convention Center in Johannesburg.
The film, which world premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, is set in an unnamed Arabian Gulf country and follows an Indian family that endures a tragedy when their daughter is neglected on a school bus in the sweltering desert heat. Consumed by grief, mother Anada (Tannishtha Chatterjee) sets out to find the truth about who is accountable.
In its citation for the prize-winning film, the jury noted: “This film spoke to the core challenges faced by marginalized immigrants. The protagonist’s nuanced performance brought to light the resilience and determination needed when an individual faces a social-political system.”
Bednarz was not in attendance to accept the award.
The film, which world premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, is set in an unnamed Arabian Gulf country and follows an Indian family that endures a tragedy when their daughter is neglected on a school bus in the sweltering desert heat. Consumed by grief, mother Anada (Tannishtha Chatterjee) sets out to find the truth about who is accountable.
In its citation for the prize-winning film, the jury noted: “This film spoke to the core challenges faced by marginalized immigrants. The protagonist’s nuanced performance brought to light the resilience and determination needed when an individual faces a social-political system.”
Bednarz was not in attendance to accept the award.
- 3/3/2024
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Following on the heels of a successful post-pandemic reboot one year ago, the Joburg Film Festival kicks off its sixth edition on Feb. 27, with the glitzy capital of South Africa’s media and entertainment industry showcasing a selection of top talents from the host country and across the African continent.
The event opens with the world premiere of Gordon Main’s apartheid-era documentary “London Recruits,” a film that sheds light on a pivotal moment in the South African liberation struggle, and wraps March 3 with the premiere of “Snake,” a psychological thriller from veteran filmmaker Meg Rickards.
After returning to Johannesburg cinemas last year for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, this year’s edition looks to grow the event’s footprint, increasing the number of festival venues as well as the amount of films on offer, with a program that includes more than 60 titles from 30-plus countries.
The event opens with the world premiere of Gordon Main’s apartheid-era documentary “London Recruits,” a film that sheds light on a pivotal moment in the South African liberation struggle, and wraps March 3 with the premiere of “Snake,” a psychological thriller from veteran filmmaker Meg Rickards.
After returning to Johannesburg cinemas last year for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, this year’s edition looks to grow the event’s footprint, increasing the number of festival venues as well as the amount of films on offer, with a program that includes more than 60 titles from 30-plus countries.
- 2/26/2024
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Amazon Prime Video has closed a multi-picture licensing agreement with South Africa’s Known Associates, the parent company of Johannesburg-based Known Associates Entertainment (Kae) and Cape Town-based Moonlighting Films, the company announced Thursday during the Joburg Film Festival.
The deal grants Prime Video exclusive SVOD access to over 20 South African feature films, including Zane Meas’ “Klip Anker Baai,” Marvin-Lee Beukes’ “Tickets,” Jahmil Qubeka’s “You Are My Favorite Place,” Dick d’vLz Reubïn’s “Gereza” and Norman Maake’s “Piet’s Sake 2.”
The slate also includes at least eight newly produced films in 2023, among them new features from Ian Gabriel (“Four Corners”), Alastair Orr (“Triggered”), Meg Rickards (“Tess”) and John Barker, who will be filming the sequel to his 2022 Toronto Film Festival premiere “The Umbrella Men” (pictured).
“We’re delighted to be bringing Prime Video customers this diverse and compelling slate of South African movies from the dynamic team at Known Associates,...
The deal grants Prime Video exclusive SVOD access to over 20 South African feature films, including Zane Meas’ “Klip Anker Baai,” Marvin-Lee Beukes’ “Tickets,” Jahmil Qubeka’s “You Are My Favorite Place,” Dick d’vLz Reubïn’s “Gereza” and Norman Maake’s “Piet’s Sake 2.”
The slate also includes at least eight newly produced films in 2023, among them new features from Ian Gabriel (“Four Corners”), Alastair Orr (“Triggered”), Meg Rickards (“Tess”) and John Barker, who will be filming the sequel to his 2022 Toronto Film Festival premiere “The Umbrella Men” (pictured).
“We’re delighted to be bringing Prime Video customers this diverse and compelling slate of South African movies from the dynamic team at Known Associates,...
- 2/2/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Feel-good drama will be pre-sold internationally at Cannes.
UK-based sales outfit Film Seekers has boarded feel-good drama Pizza With Love starring Belfast’s Colin Morgan and Rosabell Laurenti Sellers from Game Of Thrones.
Film Seekers will be pre-selling the title to international buyers at Cannes. Production will begin in South Africa this November.
Pizza With Love is being written and directed by South African filmmaker Meg Rickards, whose film Tess won the Best South African Film award at the Durban International Film Festival in 2016.
A feelgood drama set in the world of competitive pizza, Pizza With Love tells the story...
UK-based sales outfit Film Seekers has boarded feel-good drama Pizza With Love starring Belfast’s Colin Morgan and Rosabell Laurenti Sellers from Game Of Thrones.
Film Seekers will be pre-selling the title to international buyers at Cannes. Production will begin in South Africa this November.
Pizza With Love is being written and directed by South African filmmaker Meg Rickards, whose film Tess won the Best South African Film award at the Durban International Film Festival in 2016.
A feelgood drama set in the world of competitive pizza, Pizza With Love tells the story...
- 5/13/2022
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Durban — The 9th edition of the Durban FilmMart (Dfm) closed Monday night, with an award ceremony celebrating an exciting crop of African film projects currently in development.
Toni Monty, head of the Durban Film Office and the Dfm, said, “As one of the most important film industry events and film finance platforms on the continent, we are really pleased that we have grown the Dfm substantially this year, with 877 delegates attending. We had over 40 countries participating this year, of which 19 were from Africa. A total number of 52 projects were pitched to potential partners, financiers, filmmakers, producers, distributors and agents during countless meetings.”
She commented: “As one of the most important film industry events and film finance platforms on the continent, we are really pleased that we have grown the Dfm substantially this year, with 877 delegates attending. We had over 40 countries participating this year, of which 19 were from Africa. A total...
Toni Monty, head of the Durban Film Office and the Dfm, said, “As one of the most important film industry events and film finance platforms on the continent, we are really pleased that we have grown the Dfm substantially this year, with 877 delegates attending. We had over 40 countries participating this year, of which 19 were from Africa. A total number of 52 projects were pitched to potential partners, financiers, filmmakers, producers, distributors and agents during countless meetings.”
She commented: “As one of the most important film industry events and film finance platforms on the continent, we are really pleased that we have grown the Dfm substantially this year, with 877 delegates attending. We had over 40 countries participating this year, of which 19 were from Africa. A total...
- 7/24/2018
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Durban — With the four-day Durban FilmMart building a bridge between African filmmakers and the international market, 16 projects from across the continent arrive in South Africa this week for pitching sessions with potential co-producers, broadcasters, sales agents, investors, and other industry experts from around the world.
“The projects are at various stages of development. We do each year attempt to create a balance between what presents as strong projects, as well as new emerging talents,” said Toni Monty, head of the Durban Film Office, which jointly organizes the Dfm along with the Durban Int’l. Film Festival and the eThekwini Municipality. “This is important to ensure that we not only present filmmakers that have a fairly established profile and need to get their next project out there, but also to tap into the undercurrent and ensure we are bringing new talents into the marketplace.”
Here’s a look at the eight...
“The projects are at various stages of development. We do each year attempt to create a balance between what presents as strong projects, as well as new emerging talents,” said Toni Monty, head of the Durban Film Office, which jointly organizes the Dfm along with the Durban Int’l. Film Festival and the eThekwini Municipality. “This is important to ensure that we not only present filmmakers that have a fairly established profile and need to get their next project out there, but also to tap into the undercurrent and ensure we are bringing new talents into the marketplace.”
Here’s a look at the eight...
- 7/19/2018
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The 36th Durban International Film Festival in South Africa has wrapped its annual showcase of international film, with this year's menu providing distinctly more African fare under the new directorship of Pedro Pimenta. South African documentary The Shore Break is Ryley Grunenwald's second feature, after Dawn Of A New Day, and firmly establishes her place among the cadre of fantastic female documentarians making their mark in the region (e.g. Meg Rickards' 1994: The Bloody Miracle; Tarryn Lee Crossman's Fatherland; Annalet Steenkamp's I, Afrikaner).At the heart of The Shore Break is a very difficult question: how to develop one of the most rural and remote areas of South Africa, Amadiba in Pondoland - largely bereft of roads, schools, health services and jobs - without sacrificing either...
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- 8/2/2015
- Screen Anarchy
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