South African US-based creative exports, filmmaker Jonathan Dorfman and international music star Dave Matthews, will return to South Africa in December to celebrate their new film Joshua.
To be released locally by Nu Metro Film Distribution as from 28 December, Joshua is a psychological thriller starring Sam Rockwell and Vera Farmiga. Produced by Dorfman, Joshua was an Official Selection at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. The film was produced by ATO, the record label that Matthews founded. This is ATO Pictures’ first film venture. Matthews wrote and preformed a song for the end credits of the movie called The Fly.
Johannesburg’s Montecasino will host a press junket with the two personalities on 20 December, comprising round table as well as various in-studio TV and radio interviews.
Dorfman is a member of the board of managers of The 12th Floor Film Fund. He is also a founding member and has been MD of ATO Pictures since June 2002. Before joining ATO and relocating to New York, Dorfman graduated from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, with an Honors Degree in Comparative Literature and Film. He also went on to acquire over 15 years of experience in South African film, television and radio production. Between 1995 and 2000, Dorfman co-founded Wireless Pictures, an independent production and advertising agency based in Johannesburg.
Dorfman was part of the team that developed the Curious Pictures-produced local television drama series, Tsha Tsha, which has won numerous local and international awards, including the US Film and Video Festival and the NHK Award in Japan. He produced and directed two documentary films, Living Openly and Back to Alexandra, which was an official selection at the prestigious FESPACO festival in Burkina Faso.
After co-founding ATO Pictures, the company co-produced Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony with Bomb’s Desiree Maakgraaf. This feature documentary won both the Audience and Freedom of Expression Awards at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and has gone on to win over 10 major awards including a News and
Documentary Emmy Award in 2004.
In 2007, Dorfman was an executive producer on Tom Kalin’s Savage Grace starring Julianne Moore. The film was an official selection at the Director’s Fortnight in the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Also in 2007, Dorfman produced Choke starring Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Huston and Kelly MacDonald. The film is currently in post production.
Lead singer and fellow St. Stithians College’s graduate with Dorfman, Dave Matthews, whose trade mark is the percussive guitar, has appeared on VH1 Storytellers with guitarist/friend Tim Reynolds. His band has had two Grammy nominated albums: Under the table and Dreaming and Before these Crowded Streets.
Joshua is directed by George Ratliff and written by David Gilbert and Ratliff. Executive producers are Temple Fennell and Dan O’Meara.
