FILM NEWS

Dolly film in development

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 11:29

Cape-Town born screen
writer Sir Ronald Harwood

A feature film about South African born cricket player Basil D’Oliveira, known around the world as Dolly, is currently in development from a screenplay written by Cape-Town born screenwriter Sir Ronald Harwood (Oscar-winner for The Pianist).

Dolly (working title) will be produced by Andy Harries (The Queen) and Paul Yule, an international filmmaker who has made a documentary on D’Oliveira called Not Cricket : The Basil D’Oliveira Conspiracy.

The film will chronicle the story of D'Oliveira, a brilliant 'coloured' cricketer from South Africa who was forced to move to England and play cricket for them because the apartheid laws in South Africa would not allow him to play first-class cricket in his home country.

He went on to play forty-four test matches and four ODIs for England.

In 1968 England was forced to cancel a cricket tour to South Africa because the apartheid government would not allow D’Oliveira to play in South Africa as part of the English cricket team. This became the focus of a conspiracy that led to the sporting isolation of South Africa for the next two decades.

The screenplay by Sir Ronald Harwood’s encapsulates D'Oliveira's emotional personal journey, as well as the high-stakes political intrigue.

The film will be a Greyhound / Left Bank Production, and is aiming to go into production in 2012.

D’Oliveira died aged 80 at his home in Worcester, England on 19 November 2011.

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