New Afrikaans film Die Windpomp has been selected to participate in the Australian Gold Coast Film Festival (GCFF). The highly anticipated fantasy love story will premiere in April alongside films such as Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Says Mitch Ziems, Programme Director of the GCFF: “Die Windpomp is wonderfully written and incredibly touching. There is a large Afrikaans community in Australia, and Die Windpomp is the perfect fit. We are thrilled to have the film in this year’s line-up.’
To the film’s credit, Die Windpomp was not submitted to the GCFF for consideration, the festival director heard about the film and after viewing the trailer, requested the movie.
Comments Die Windpomp’s producer Chris Roland of Cape Town-based ZenHQ Films: “It doesn’t happen often that a festival calls a producer and requests a film. We usually submit films to festivals along with thousands of other submissions and hope we get noticed. It’s fantastic when we get asked.’
In Australia, reviewers are referring to Die Windpomp as “poignant’ and have rated it with a $16 ticket price, a rating system used to determine how much reviewers would pay to see a film from $1 to $20.
Says Roland: “That equates to about R150, impressive when you consider the average ticket in South Africa is R55!’
Die Windpomp is being submitted to several film festivals as part of its international marketing strategy, including the Cannes Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival in France and Canada respectively.
The film, written and directed by Etienne Fourie, revolves around a summer romance between Hendri and Margot, two young people living in a retirement village, with a very unexpected twist at the end.
Die Windpomp releases nationwide in South Africa on 25 April through Times Media Films.
