South Africa-made film Fynbos by production company A Four Letter Word had its
world premiere at the Durban International Film Festival in 2012 and was
selected to screen at the Slamdance Film Festival in the US in January this year.
According to director and screenwriter Harry Patramanis, his first feature film
Fynbos was made as an exercise in minimalism.
“Not in the sense that we didn’t have much equipment, but in the sense of how
minimally you can tell a story so that you leave room for audience interpretation.
Because of the way movies are marketed these days, there is a tendency to
over-explain stories and think that people are stupid.
“We wanted to make a film where the audience can become clever again –
without making a boring film, because that is another challenge,’ he explains.
Patramanis and producer Eleni Asvesta are both originally from Greece but are
now based in Los Angeles. “We’ve been visiting South Africa for almost 20 years
to shoot commercials,’ says Patramanis, “and we’ve always felt an attachment
to your country.’
The screenplay was originally written in Los Angeles almost 10 years ago by
Patramanis and his friend Jonathan Glatzer, to be set in the American west.
“We slowly abandoned it because it just didn’t gain momentum. Three years ago
we were scouting locations for a car commercial in the Western Cape, and we
suddenly saw a house that was very close to the description of a house in our
script. The image almost told the story on its own. Suddenly we thought: wow,
we can make the film here.’
Different angle
According to Patramanis they rewrote the script to localise it. “We worked with
great respect for the fact that we’re foreigners, and we didn’t want to make a
film that was judgemental of the country and its people. But we also found it
advantageous that we’re outsiders, as we can see things from a different
angle.’
In the film, described as a mystery drama, a real estate developer on the brink
of bankruptcy travels with his wife to a remote property he needs to sell
urgently. While showing the house to a brother and sister from London, his wife
disappears.
Fynbos was made independently and is completely self-financed. “We relied very
much on the actors to carry the film, and luckily the story itself attracted very,
very good talent. They all worked on deferred payments, so in a sense, they’re
all co-producers,’ notes Patramanis.
The film stars Warrick Grier, Susan Danford, Jessica Haines, Cara Roberts,
Sthandiwe Kgoroge, John Herbert and Chad Philips.
Asvesta adds that the location is very important in the film. “We needed a glass
house in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a township area. The original
house we saw is a popular commercials location, so we didn’t want to use it and
had to go on quite a journey to find the right location. Eventually we found the
perfect house in a book about modern South African architecture. It’s called the
Fynbos House in Betty’s Bay, and was designed by an architect called Sarah
Calburn.’
Amazing crew
The film was shot by German cinematographer Dieter Deventer over 24 days
starting on 23 September 2011. It was shot on an Arri Alexa that was flown in
from Greece.
Says Patramanis: “Media Film Service in Cape Town provided additional camera
support, and we worked with an amazing South African crew. We also had some
help from Moonlighting in Cape Town, who we have worked with many times
before on commercials.
“In terms of the cinematography, we went for a very naturalistic look. Because
it’s a glass house, it gave the feeling of being in a fish bowl and almost became
like a stage where we could move the camera around and observe the life
within.’
He notes that the shoot itself went well. “I think the challenges we faced were
mostly creative, not technical. We worked less than 12 hours a day and were
never behind schedule, and we had gorgeous, gorgeous weather.
“The time of shooting was very quiet and very focused. I never said “action’ as
we wanted the actors to stay in character, so we were almost rolling every
minute.’
The film was edited by Yorgos Mavropsaridis in Greece, with grading by Kodak
Cine Labs in Athens and sound by Wildfire Studios in Los Angeles.
According to Patramanis they will explore different means of distribution. “We
hope to have a festival run, and we’ll also look at releasing on video on demand
and online, as many people don’t have access to art house cinemas. Our target
audience is film lovers and film buffs – I think they will enjoy this film.’
