Carly Barnes

The production of Eye in the Sky, a thriller film about the use of unmanned military weapons or drones, is set to take place in South Africa in August, 2014.

The film will be directed by South African filmmaker Gavin Hood (Tsotsi, Ender’s Game) and produced by Entertainment One in partnership with Ged Doherty’s Raindog Films and Colin Firth, who will also star in the movie.

The story features a military intelligence officer who commands a drone operation in an attempt to locate terrorists in Nairobi, Kenya. Firth comments, “The use of unmanned aircraft in modern warfare and in the so-called ‘War on Terror’ poses critical questions for us all. Raindog was launched with the hope of making challenging thoughtful films, and I’m pleased to be a part of an exploration into such a crucial issue.’

Entertainment One will distribute the film in the U.K., Canada, Benelux, Spain and Australia/New Zealand.

On Thursday, 8 May the Basler Afrika Bibliographien (BAB), a library and archive on Southern Africa in Switzerland, in partnership with non-profit organisation AfricAvenir and Swiss based film series African Cinema Basel presents the Namibia in Motion film series.

Namibia in Motion includes five film events:

8 May: Taste of Rain

Directed and produced by Richard Pakleppa and co-produced by Bridget Pickering, Taste of Rain features the story of a woman trying to survive a drought which has hit her farm. When she encounters a water-diviner, her life is changed and she is forced to confront some of her own issues.

24 June: The Power Stone

The Power Stone is a documentary featuring the true story of a missing stone, which belongs to the Kwanyama people of northern Namibia and southern Angola. Directed by Andy Botelle and Kelly Kowalski, the film follows the quest to find the missing stone, which was once at the centre of the Kwanyana Kingdom.

2 September: Dead River, My Beautiful Nightmare, Try, 100 Bucks

A series of the most recent short films by Namibian directors.

23 October: The Ossis of Namibia

Directed by K.-D. Gralow, R. Pitann and H. Thull, The Ossis of Namibia tells the story of Black Namibian children who grew up in the German Democratic Republic after being relocated from various refugee camps during Namibia’s liberation struggle.

4 December: Yes-ja! The Kwaito Documentary

A documentary which features the life of Namibian Kwaito-musician Ees and his journey in exposing Kwaito Music to international audiences.

The opening film, Taste of Rain, will screen at 18h15 at the BAB at the Klosterberg 23, in Basel, and will include a greeting by HE Sabine Bohlke-Moller, the Namibian Ambassador to Switzerland and United Nation Institutions in Switzerland.

Visit the AfricAvenir website for more information.

South African filmmaker Ben Stillerman sets out to capture the conflicted relationships of family, business, community and country in the documentary Taking Stock.

The film will feature Stillerman’s father, Clive Stillerman, a shopkeeper who runs a family business in Benoni, Johannesburg.

“Over the course of the month, I hope to learn what makes him (Clive) tick, and be with him as he takes stock of his business and his life, examining his interactions with those around him at work and at home,’ says Ben.

Stillerman junior, who is now based in Los Angeles, will travel to South Africa in June with a US crew to film the movie, which is due to release in early 2015.

“For 35 years the business has been with him through marriages, children, a divorce, family feuds, social change, deaths, several recessions, and the rise and fall of apartheid. I believe that his life in business has had a profound impact on his life outside the business. I also believe that his business has had a much wider influence on the lives of his employees and family, than he realises,’ concludes Ben.

Visit the Taking Stock website for more information.

Shield and Spear, a South African documentary created by New York-based director Petter Ringbom, follows the countries’ cultural expression since 1994, when apartheid was abolished.

Art, music, identity, race, freedom of expression in South Africa and the way in which these themes have intersected with politics over the past 20 years is the focus of the film, which features interviews with a number of influential local artists and creators. Artist Brett Murray, photographers Zanele Muholi and Roger Ballen as well as a number of musicians including Xander Ferreira, Spoek Mathambo, Fokofpolisiekar, Yolanda and Jack Parow feature in the film.

Marquise Stillwell, founder of design company Openbox, is the film’s executive producer while Alysa Nahmias, co-director and producer of the documentary Unfinished Spaces, is the producer.

Shield and Spear will screen at Hot Docs International Documentary Festival in Toronto, which takes place from 24 April to 4 May, and at the 2014 Durban International Film Festivalfrom 17 to 27 July.

View the trailer on Vimeo.

Visit the Shield and Spear website for more information.

British drama film, Locke (2013), is written and directed by Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things) and stars English actor Tom Hardy (Inception).

The two had wanted to collaborate for a long time but Hardy could only spend two weeks filming, and as a result the duo rehearsed the film for seven days before using another week to shoot the movie entirely in a car.

Locke tells the story of Ivan Locke who, while on a road trip, has to deal with a number of issues on his mobile phone and has imaginary conversations with his father. During production Hardy performed the 90-page script for each take.

Locke featured at the Venice Film Festival , which took place from 28 August to 7 September 2013, where it was acquired by distribution company A24.

View the trailer on YouTube.