The new Afrikaans-language South African film, Jakhalsdans, grossed R600,000 at the local box office during its first weekend of release (23 to 25 April). This is the strongest opening weekend performance for an Afrikaans film since Lipstiek Dipstiek in November 1994.
Jakhalsdans, directed by Oscar-nominated Darrell James Roodt (Yesterday), is the first feature film to be released by newly established South African company, Indigenous Film Distribution.
Set and filmed in the picturesque town of Loxton in the Northern Cape, Jakhalsdans stars popular local singers Theuns Jordaan and Elizma Theron in the lead roles of a screenplay written by Afrikaans crime novelist Deon Meyer. It also stars local model Christina Storm and Neil Sandilands. The film tells the story of a female teacher who has spent her last savings on a house in Loxton so that she can raise her five-year-old daughter in the countryside. But the town’s school is about to close and she is compelled to save it. To do so, she needs the help of the town recluse.
Jakhalsdans was the best-performing feature film at 17 of its release sites over its opening weekend. These are Indie Cinemas Woodlands and the Ridge, NuMetro North Park, Walmer Park, Klerksdorp and Worcester as well as Ster Kinekor Cape Gate, Tygervalley, Somerset, Mimosa, Mooi River, Rustenburg, Key West, Kollonade, Wonderpark, Centurion, Brooklyn Nouveau.
“We are thrilled to see that South Africans are enjoying our film’ says producer Anton Ernst. “Saturday’s box office was practically double what we took on Friday which is the first positive sign of consumer uptake for a film.’
Indigenous Film Distribution CEO Helen Kuun adds: “The film is performing countrywide from Klerksdorp, to Worcester, Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Johannesburg which is very encouraging. This level of opening weekend takings makes it the best-performing local feature film released this year.’
“I’ve always had a great love for the remote, brooding landscapes of the Karoo,’ says director Roodt. “The film provided a wonderful opportunity for me to work with stars like Theuns Jordaan and Elizma Theron and to create a love story that is quintessentially South African. It’s something completely different from the comedies which have dominated the Afrikaans language local film industry over the past few years and it’s encouraging to see that audiences are responding to it.’
A total of 18 full-length Afrikaans language feature films have been released on the big screen in South Africa between 1980 and 2010. Jakhalsdans earned 7% more at the box office this weekend than teen comedy success story Bakgat in 2008, 34% more attendances than Paljas in 1998, 74% more attendances than the Robbie Wessels-helmed comedy hit Poena is Koning (2007) and 59% more than Die Storie van Klara Viljee (1988).
Other highlights on the Indigenous Film Distribution slate for 2010 include Schuks Tshabalala’s Survival Guide to South Africa (with Leon Schuster), The Unforgiving (psychological thriller) and Liefling (musical).
