In another breakthrough for Afrikaans language film, Roepman has signed a contract with American production and distribution company D Street Media Group which will see the film released across North America in early 2012.
Roepman producers Sallas de Jager and Danie Bester said in a statement that they are very excited by the opportunity to show the world that Afrikaans stories told by South African filmmakers can stand its ground in the most important and competitive film market in the world. They also said that they hope this will only be the beginning of a long tradition of South African films travelling on a regular basis to the US. “We have to start believing in ourselves, our stories and truly believe in the universal appeal of the stories we tell,” de Jager said.
Dexter Davis, CEO of D Street, in his statement said: “The acquisition of Roepman continues D Street Media Group’s commitment to bringing the best and most thought provoking international films to North America. We cannot properly convey the excitement we have with the introduction of the first South African film in the Afrikaans language to the US audience.”
Davis went on to say that – “The producers are smart, aggressive filmmakers who understand the international market place, D Street is looking forward to a long and productive relationship.”
Piet de Jager, CEO of Bosbok Ses Films (BSF) and executive producer of Roepman is extremely excited about the deal and said: “From the beginning we set out to produce a world class film and everyone who worked on Roepman bought into this mind-set. Because of this, the dream of releasing an Afrikaans film in the US became a reality.”
Davis also offered BSF a “First look-deal” for their next three films. This is also a first for a South African company. BSF also confirmed via De Jager that they’re currently negotiating possible co-productions in the future with D Street.
Roepman tells the story of the loss of innocence of a young boy called Timus set in 1966, and is South Africa’s fourth highest grossing Afrikaans drama to date.
Screen Africa reported yesterday that another Afrikaans language film, Skoonheid by director Oliver Hermanus, secured a US distribution deal with TLA Releasing.
