Dark Matter Studios (Leading Lady) and Collective Dream Films
(Platteland) recently completed the production of the feature film
Modder en Bloed. The producers have announced that the film is due
for its nationwide theatrical release in April 2016.
Modder en Bloed tells the story of Willem Morkel (Stian Bam), a Boer
warrior and family man, who’s wife and only child were killed by British soldiers
during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899 to 1902. Willem is incarcerated, with other Boer
prisoners-of-war, on the island St. Helena in the Atlantic Ocean. The tyrannical
Colonel Swannell (Grant Swanby) – a hot-headed imperialist with a consuming
hatred for the Afrikaner – is in charge of the English concentration camp.
Boer prisoners-of-war are subjected to the most brutal violence and degrading
treatment. They are constantly humiliated by the British commander and his
soldiers in an effort to break them down emotionally, and to physically cripple
them. But, despite the untold torture they had to endure and the inhuman suffering
they had to bear, their resistance and quest for vengeance, by whatever means,
became stronger and stronger by the day. So, when the gauntlet was thrown down,
Willem and his fellow prisoners rose to the challenge, eventually leading to revenge
in the most important rugby match of their lives.
The film features a cast of both South African and British movie personalities. Some
of the local stars include Bok van Blerk, Albert Maritz, Michael Richard, Edwin van
der Walt, Jacques Bessenger, Altus Theart, Albert Pretorius and Deon Lotz. The
British cast includes Charlotte Salt (The Tudors), Patrick Connolly
(Inferno), Nick Cornwall (Retribution) and Josh Myers
(The Sweeney). Filming took place in the Worcester area and parts of
Cape Town
Director Sean Else comments, “Handre Griessel warned me: “Sean. The winters in
Worcester are really rough; the wind howl around the corners, it’s freezing, and it
rains almost constantly.’ But I wouldn’t listen; on the contrary, I felt that such
weather would be perfect for an epic, periodic movie taking place on the prisoner-
of-war island of St. Helena during the Anglo-Boer War in 1901. And it turned out
just like that: the wind, the sand, the rain, the mist, and the cold during the many
long, stormy nights lend a truthfulness and reality to the film that money could
never have bought …. and it was rough, very rough! But it was an experience,
which brought an incredible team of people from right across the world, in front and
behind the camera, closer together as a group with every project challenge they
faced. In addition, Handre, his wife Esther, their parents and children and, indeed,
every person in the Worcester community bent over backwards to make the
impossible possible. I don’t know where to start to thank everybody for everything
they have done to persevere right up to the end, until the last camera shot was
taken. I can only say that I take immerse pride in the whole team and the movie
that we created together and fashioned into reality. I cannot wait to share this story
with the whole world.’
Modder en Bloed is presented in association with kykNET Films and
the DTI. The movie will be released locally on 1 April 2016 and will be distributed
by Ster-Kinekor Entertainment.
