The filmmakers of the feature film Sink, which released 18 March
2016, have been pleased with the positive reactions to the film. Following the film’s
premiere at Silwerskermfees last year, where it garnered five awards, it has now been lauded by critics and audiences alike after its local theatrical release. The
consensus being that the finely crafted drama explores new territory for local films.
The film opened on 24 sites and did a gross box office taking of R378 384 over the
long weekend; this equates to an average of R15 766 per theatre.
Critic Leon van Nierop described Sink as “one of the top ten Afrikaans
films of all time’ adding that the movie “sets the tone and charts a course from
which we cannot divert.’ He praised director Brett Michael Innes’ “subtle direction
and understated style…’
Beeld’s Laetitia Pople described Sink as advancing the
South African film industry by a giant step and said that the film is a worthy
international competitor.
Based on the novel Rachel Weeping by Brett Michael Innes,
Sink tells the story of Rachel, a Mozambican domestic worker living in
Johannesburg, who is forced to make a life-changing decision after her daughter
dies while in the care of her South African employer; return to poverty stricken
Mozambique or continue working for the people responsible for the death of her
child so that she can keep her home, her visa and continue to support her family.
Things become even more complicated when she finds out that her employers are
expecting their first child forcing all three to try to find a way to live with the tragic
accident that has brought them together.
The film stars Anel Alexander (Faan se Trein, Semi-Soet, Discreet),
Shoki Mokgapa (The First Grader, Judge Dredd, Long Walk to
Freedom), Jacques Bessenger (Ballade vir “n Enkeling, Wolwedans in
die Skemer, Verraaiers), Amalia Uys (Double Echo, Sy Klink Soos
Lente), and 6-year old Asante Mabuza (The Last Face).
Sink producers, Anel Alexander, Johan Kruger and Brett Michael Innes,
are headed to the 40th Atlanta Film Festival in the first week of April where the film
will be screened in competition and then on to the Festival voor het Afrikaans in
Amsterdam on 10 April.
