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Indigenous Film Distribution, a company that focuses on South African and African content and helps the continent’s filmmakers to get their movies watched on a variety of platforms.

Award-winning Wonderlus now playing at cinemas

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Award-winning <em>Wonderlus</em> now playing at cinemas

When a picture-perfect country wedding ends in a fiasco, the next morning a group of severely hungover friends who have known each other since varsity days find themselves having to piece together what happened the previous night. In search of answers, the groom seeks to pursue the love of his life, the bride tries to untangle herself from the past and a waitress aims to escape the present. That’s the story at the heart of Wonderlus, a new Afrikaans film that opened on 27 April.

The film looks at the meaning of true love and whether there is a balance between ‘doing what is right’, and ‘doing what is right for you’.

Directed and written by Johan Cronjé, it stars a fresh young cast including Mila Guy, Edwin van der Walt, Beer Adriaanse, Simone Nortmann, Lynelle Kenned and Stiaan Smith. Lea Vivier won the Silwerskerm festival award for Best Actress for her role as the waitress in Wonderlus, a free spirit who plans to teach English overseas. Adriaanse won the festival’s award for Best Supporting Actor, while Best Script went to Cronjé.

“This is a contemporary and racy story that is unlike any other Afrikaans film we’ve seen before,” says Helen Kuun, MD of Indigenous Film Distribution, which is distributing the film. The dialogue is modern and reflects how young Afrikaans-speaking people talk today. Above all, the film is an existential reflection on love and marriage that is at times heartbreakingly funny and at others really sad.

“Wonderlus asks questions about love and responsibility,” says Cronjé. “They are well-known themes, but I believe it’s important to continue to question how and why people experience certain emotions and how we create ideas about what love is – that interrogation is even more important than trying to find the answers. Much of the film is really intimate, and that’s because I wanted to tell the story honestly.”

Shot by Devin Toselli, the camera work is a stand-out feature, as are the scenes set in an endless field of sunflowers, and of friends lost in the veld. “We shot the film entirely with hand-held cameras, apart from a few shots mounted on a car. The soft untenable moment of a camera held in a hand is such a lovely tool to keep an audience engaged.”

The film was produced by Nouvanaand Films in association with kykNET Films, the Department of Trade and Industry (dti), and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).

View the teaser trailer, HERE.

Five Fingers for Marseilles secures release in the USA

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<em>Five Fingers for Marseilles</em> secures release in the USA

South Africa’s first western Five Fingers for Marseilles opened nationwide at cinemas on 6 April.

While South Africans were the first to see the fast-paced action film, Five Fingers for Marseilles will also be released in the USA on 7 September, starting in New York and Los Angeles, before moving to an additional 15 American cities. 

“We are thrilled to be working with the team that produced the Oscar-winning films Precious and The Paperboy... This is excellent news as it gives the film, which has fairly universal ideas and themes, access to a global cinema audience,” said writer-producer Sean Drummond.

Post the USA theatrical release it will also be made available on Amazon Prime, Amazon’s exclusive streaming video on demand service, increasing its reach even further. Five Fingers for Marseilles has also secured releases in Japan and Scandinavia, with more to follow.

Five Fingers for Marseilles tells the story of a group of young men (the ‘Five Fingers’) who stand up to brutal police oppression in Marseilles, a town in the rugged badlands of the Eastern Cape. Tau, one of the Five Fingers, kills two policemen and is sentenced to 20 years in prison. When he is released, the embittered ‘Lion of Marseilles’ discovers his comrades are now in prominent positions in the town. But there’s also a vicious new threat afoot, prompting Tau to reform the Five Fingers, take on old allies and new enemies.

“The film is hitting all the right notes with reviewers who have praised its cast, screenplay, directing and cinematography,” says Helen Kuun of Indigenous Film Distribution. “It’s not only action-packed and visually exquisite, but it also makes some incisive comments on the socio-political context in South Africa right now.”

The cast includes Vuyo Dabula, Hamilton Dhlamini, Zethu Dlomo, Kenneth Nkosi, Mduduzi Mabaso, Aubrey Poolo, Lizwi Vilakazi, Warren Masemola, Dean Fourie, Anthony Oseyemi, Brendon Daniels and Jerry Mofokeng. Cast by acclaimed casting director Moonyeenn Lee, the film also features people from local Eastern Cape communities in supporting roles, and introduces to the big screen talented newcomers Toka Mtabane, Vuyo Novokoza, Ntsika Tiyo, Sibusiso Bottoman, Abongile Sithole, and Qhawe Soroshi.

Five Fingers for Marseilles was awarded Best South African Film in Development at the Durban FilmMart’s finance forum in 2013. It was produced by Drummond and Matthews’ Be Phat Motel Film Company and Yaron Schwartzman and Asger Hussain of Game 7 Films, in association with Stage 5 Films and Above the Clouds. Five Fingers for Marseilles was also made possible with the backing of South Africa’s National Film & Video Foundation and the Department of Trade and Industry, and with additional support from Dupa Films.

Five Fingers for Marseilles earns more than R500K on opening weekend

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<em>Five Fingers for Marseilles</em> earns more than R500K on opening weekend

Michael Matthews’ Five Fingers for Marseilles, starring Vuyo Dabula, made a thunderous debut at the box office, opening with more than R500 000 in ticket sales.

The film has outperformed past South African favourites in the action/crime/drama genres – at Rosebank Nouveau it was the number one film. At other sites it played ahead of Black Panther, but just behind Tyler Perry’s Acrimony. These included Sterland, Loch Logan and Newtown over the weekend.

“We had high expectations for the film,” says Helen Kuun, MD of Indigenous Film Distribution. “We always knew it was something special from the first screenings. It’s all about great storytelling and a spectacular cast.” Sean Drummond wrote the impressive Five Fingers for Marseilles script.

Because of the positive response to the film, it will be screened at four additional sites this week to meet public demand – at Festival Mall in Pretoria, and at Sandton City, Vaal Mall in Vanderbijlpark and Mimosa Mall in Bloemfontein.

The film has had rave reviews from local critics, with The Sowetan calling it “one of the best local productions ever made”. The Sunday Times described it as “the South African Avengers”, while The Independent called it “a star-studded, genre-bending film”. Channel24 said it is “a great local film that should be praised for more than just being a western”, and City Press named it “a true spectacle”, and “one for the history books.”

Five Fingers for Marseilles was awarded Best South African Film in Development at the Durban FilmMart’s finance forum in 2013. Produced by Drummond and Matthews’ Be Phat Motel Film Company and Yaron Schwartzman and Asger Hussain of Game 7 Films, in association with Stage 5 Films and Above the Clouds, it was also made possible with the support of South Africa’s National Film & Video Foundation and the Department of Trade and Industry, with additional services from Dupa Films.

Five Fingers for Marseilles trailer

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<em>Five Fingers for Marseilles</em> trailer

2018 is turning out to be an exciting year for South African film. Five Fingers for Marseilles, a western that tells the story of a group of young men (the ‘Five Fingers’) who stand up to brutal police oppression in Marseilles, a town in the rugged badlands of the Eastern Cape opens at cinemas nationwide on 6 April. The film has already lit up the global festival circuit and has earned excellent reviews.

Five Fingers for Marseilles is the feature directorial debut of Michael Matthews, and the feature screenwriting debut of Sean Drummond. The film is produced by Asger Hussain and Yaron Schwartzman of Game 7 Films and Sean Drummond/Michael Matthews of Be Phat Motel Film Company. Dylan Voogt of Stage 5 Films is co-producer, and Paulo Areal and Dumi Gumbi serve as executive producers.

The film will have its African premiere at Rapid Lion, the upcoming South African International Film Festival, and it will open at cinemas nationwide on 6 April. Five Fingers for Marseilles is distributed in South Africa by Indigenous Film Distribution.

SA Films shine on global stage

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SA Films shine on global stage

South Africa has scored an Oscar nomination at the 90th Academy Awards for the animation film Revolting Rhymes, produced by Triggerfish, which received a nomination in the category Best Animated Short Film. The film is an adaptation of Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake’s classic book of fairytales. The nominations in all 24 Oscar categories were announced in a live presentation which took place in Hollywood on 23 January. Johannesburg audiences will be able to see Revolting Rhymes at The Bioscope in Maboneng on 16 February.

In the same week controversial South African film Inxeba (The Wound), which made it to the Oscar shortlist after it was submitted in the category of Best Foreign Language Film, has been nominated for an award in the category of Outstanding Film – Limited Release, by the GLAAD Media Awards, which recognises fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community and the issues that affect their lives. This is the first time that a foreign language film has received a nomination.

Six public screenings of Inxeba are being held in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth and Durban on 24 January whereby local audiences will be given the opportunity to vote on whether it should have won an Oscar ®. To date Inxeba has earned 19 Best of Category Awards around the world.

The debut feature from director John Trengove, Inxeba is a critically acclaimed drama, which explores tradition and sexuality and is set amid the Xhosa rites of passage into manhood.

The film, which will be released countrywide on 2 February, is being distributed in South Africa by Indigenous Film Distribution.

Five Fingers for Marseilles lights up the global festival circuit

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<em>Five Fingers for Marseilles</em> lights up the global festival circuit

When modern-day South African western Five Fingers for Marseilles, set in the rugged badlands of the Eastern Cape, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), film review site Screen Anarchy reported: “Director Michael Matthews and screenwriter Sean Drummond know the language of the western genre well enough to give it due place: wide angle shot of a beautiful, empty landscape, which speaks to both the wildness of this end of the line place, and the people who cling to it, even if the future seems less than hopeful for change.”

Since then, the film has been receiving rave reviews at festivals around the world. After it screened at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, in late September, a festival review spoke of the world of the film as “a gorgeous, complex world,” calling Five Fingers for Marseilles one of the most striking debuts of recent years, and naming it part of “a wave that will completely redefine the international perception of what African cinema can be.”

“Five Fingers represents a new style of film production for South Africa and we are excited by the very positive reception it has had from different audiences, says Drummond. “In Toronto, it was described as one of the best westerns of the year and one of 2017’s most compelling debut features.”

The film portrays the reality of South Africa in the style of the Western, highlighting issues of issues of racism in a post-apartheid society, using the conventions of the western genre, such as the wilderness, trains, outlaws, and life-endangering fights. It stars Vuyo Dabula, Kenneth Nkosi and Jerry Mofokeng.

It tells the story of Tau, a troubled young outlaw – one of the Five Fingers gang – who returns to the town he fled as a youth and is forced to confront his past (and the town’s difficult future), while also finding a chance for redemption. Filmed in Sesotho, the story takes place in Marseilles, a town in the rugged Eastern Cape.

The Five Fingers are a fictional group of young fighters that fought against police brutality in the small rural town of Marseille more than 20 years ago. When Tau returns to Marseilles seeking a quiet pastoral life, he finds that the town is once again under threat, and is need of heroes once more.

In October, the film headed to the Busan Film Festival in South Korea where it caused a buzz. Busan is the most prestigious film festival in Asia and was presided over by Oliver Stone this year.

The next stop for the film was the BFI London Film Festival, where reviewer Keith Shiri described it as “a deftly-constructed, Western-inspired drama, whose thrilling and intensely raw tone is made more breath-taking by the stunning backdrop it unfolds against.” He added: “With its excellent cast, led by a superb central performance from Vuyo Dabula, Five Fingers for Marseilles is a tension-driven drama, building inexorably towards a climactic, ‘High Noon’-style showdown.”

Hollywood has also given the film a nod, with Variety saying, “the film commands attention with a deliberately paced and well-observed story that focuses on, among other things, the inescapable influence of the past and the unavoidable corruption spawned by ambition.” The magazine added that “Five Fingers for Marseilles turns out to be an impressively effective and engrossing cross-cultural hybrid that has a great deal more than novelty value going for it.”

Five Fingers for Marseilles will be released in South Africa in April 2018 by Indigenous Film Distribution.

Five Fingers for Marseilles was awarded Best South African Film in Development at the Durban FilmMart’s finance forum in 2013. Produced by Drummond and Matthews’ Be Phat Motel Film Company and Yaron Schwartzman and Asger Hussain of Game 7 Films, in association with Stage 5 Films and Above the Clouds, it was also made possible with the support of South Africa’s National Film & Video Foundation and the Department of Trade and Industry, with additional services from Dupa Films.

View the teaser trailer here.

Inxeba hits international awards tally of 19

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<em>Inxeba</em> hits international awards tally of 19

Nakhane Touré, star of South African film Inxeba (The Wound) has won the FIRPRESCI prize for best actor in a foreign language film at the 29th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF), in California. The prize was awarded by a jury of international film critics. This latest accolade represents the 19th award of excellence that the film has won at festivals around the globe.

Inxeba premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017. It tells the story of Xolani, a lonely factory worker, who joins the men of his community in the mountains of the Eastern Cape to initiate a group of teenage boys into manhood. When a defiant initiate from the city discovers Xolani’s best-kept secret, a closeted love affair, his entire existence begins to unravel.

“In addition to curating the best in international cinema, PSIFF has come to be known as the first stop on the road to the Academy Awards, and is focused on encouraging new filmmaking talent,” says Helen Kuun, MD of Indigenous Film Distribution, which is distributing Inxeba in South Africa. “The film has been a festival favourite around the world and is among the nine titles shortlisted for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar this year.”

The nominees for the Oscar will be announced on 23 January, a couple of weeks after the nomination voting by the Academy members has closed and the finalists for the awards have been verified. Awards Watch, which tracks and predicts the nominees and winners of the Oscar, has given Inxeba an 80 per cent chance of winning the Foreign Language Film race.

“The response from across the globe has been exceptional,” say producers Cait Pansegrouw and Elias Ribeiro of Urucu Media. “We are extremely excited about the future of this film, and what it signals for the South African industry. Most of all, we are thrilled to be able to share it with audiences at home from the 2nd of February!”

Los Angeles Times said the cast is “remarkable”, describing “Nakhane’s quiet intensity like a flame in fear of being extinguished, while [co-star Bongile] Mantsai’s textured portrayal of a closeted man with a protective coating of alpha bullying creates a through line of emotional suspense.”

RogertEbert.com described John Trengove’s direction as “strong and sure”, characterising The Wound as “a film that deals with issues of masculinity, sexuality and community that will strike universal chords with viewers of all stripes, regardless of where they are from or where their beliefs may lie.”

The New York Times said, “[Trengove’s] direction is perfectly judged up to and including the shudder-inducing ending.”

Commenting on Nakhane, ScreenAnarchy.com noted that “This film would be worth watching for Nakhane’s performance alone, but it cannot be emphasized enough how good The Wound is as a whole.” Commenting on the film itself, reviewer Stuart Muller said, “Originality alone can count for a lot on the silver screen, but when originality sincerely serves the soul of a story the result is inevitably something quite profound. The Wound stands as a masterpiece of modern South African film-making, and an essential contribution to the social struggle for life and love for all.”

Australian film review site Switch had this to say about the film: “With a well-considered concept, The Wound is a great look at how tradition and modernity are coming to head. It’s not a criticism in any way, nor does it strive to provide a solution to the problem. Rather, the film is about holding up a mirror to the problem, and leaving the audience to evaluate the best answer.”

At the BFI Festival in London, where the film won the Sutherland Award’ recognising the director of the most original and imaginative first feature in the festival, The Wound was described by the prize jury as a “dynamic and inimitable coming-of-age story that takes a heart-breaking look at masculinity and sexuality.”

Inxeba is releasing in cinemas in South Africa on 2 February 2018.

INXEBA (The Wound) shortlisted for Academy Awards Best Foreign Film

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<em>INXEBA (The Wound)</em> shortlisted for Academy Awards Best Foreign Film

INXEBA (The Wound) the debut feature from director John Trengrove, is among the nine films shortlisted for the 90th Academy Awards Foreign Language Film Category.

The other eight finalists for nominations in 2017 are:

Chile, A Fantastic Woman, Sebastián Lelio, director

Germany, In the Fade, Faith Akin, director

Hungary, On Body and Soul, Ildikó Enyedi, director

Israel, Foxtrot, Samuel Maoz, director

Lebanon, The Insult, Ziad Doueiri, director

Russia, Loveless, Andrey Zvyagintsev, director

Senegal, Félicité, Alain Gomis, director

Sweden, The Square, Ruben Östlund, director

Critically acclaimed drama Inxeba is an exploration of tradition and sexuality set amid the Xhosa rights of passage into manhood. This year there was a record of 92 foreign language films entered in the Oscars and the last time a South African film made the shortlist was eight years ago, with Oliver Schmitz’s Life Above All.

Since its world premiere at Sundance, Inxeba has collected more than 18 international awards and has found a home in over 30 territories worldwide. Most recently, it was awarded Best Foreign Language Film of 2017 by the African American Film Critics Association.

Director Trengrove orchestrates a dynamic examination of sexuality, masculinity, and the clash between traditional and contemporary African values. The film has been lauded by critics and is considered “a milestone in South African cinema (Variety), however, the leadership of the Xhosa Nation does not support the film’s exposure of its sacred initiation process (ulwaluko), nor its connection to a gay love story. The filmmakers have faced protests, calls by the Khosa King to ban the film and even death threats.

“The film’s interrogation of toxic masculinity seemed to resonate deeply with the Academy voters, given everything that is going on in the States at the moment, specifically in the film industry,” said producer Cait Pansegrouw. “Bringing this film to light has been an incredible experience. We are elated to have made it this far and are ready to push all the way to the end!”

“This is the best possible news to end off an amazing year,” said director John Trengrove. “For our film to be included in such incredible company is exciting and incredibly affirming. Also, I have so much love for the passionate team of producers and cast who have worked tirelessly this last month to make this moment happen.”

Inxeba is an international co-production between South Africa, Germany, The Netherlands and France, and was produced by Elias Ribeiro and Cait Pansegrouw of Urucu Media, directed by John Trengrove and co-written by Trengrove, Thando Mgqolozana and Malusi Bengu. It is co-produced by Batana Vundla of Cool Take Pictures with local support from The Department of Trade and Industry, M-Net, Indigenous Film Distribution and the National Film and Video Foundation.

The film stars Nakhane, Bongile Mantsai and Niza Jay. Inxeba will be released in South Africa on 02 February 2018, shortly after the announcement of the five Oscar nominations for Best Foreign Language Film.

Inxeba bags a string of international awards ahead of African premier

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South African film Inxeba (known internationally as The Wound) has
won the Best Film Award in the International New Talent Competition, at the current
Taipei Film Festival ahead of its African premiere at the Durban International Film
Festival.

This is a latest in a string of awards for the film, which explores tradition and
masculinity, and the clash between age-old rituals and modernity.
Described by Variety magazine as “a milestone in South African cinema’, the film
stars musician and novelist Nakhane Toure as Xolani, a lonely factory worker who
joins the men of his community in the mountains of the Eastern Cape to initiate a
group of teenage boys into manhood. When Kwanda (Niza Jay Ncoyini), a defiant
initiate from the city, discovers his mentor’s secret, Xolani’s entire existence begins to
unravel.

At the Valencia International Film Festival held in Spain from 23 June to 1 July;
Inxeba was awarded the Luna de Valencia for Best Feature Film, as well as
the Best Actor Award for Nakhane Toure.

At one of the world’s longest-running film festivals, the Sydney Film Festival, held
from 7 to 18 June, Inxeba won the Audience Award for Best Feature, with
ScreenDaily describing it as “a measured consideration of class, race, self-loathing
and self-assertion.’

At the 41st Frameline, San Francisco’s international film festival, held from 15 to 25
June and where 147 films were screened, Inxeba won the First Feature
Award.

Shortly before that, it was awarded the prize for Best Feature Film at the 32nd Lovers
Film Festival, an LGBTQI festival held in Turin, Italy from 15 to 20 June.

In April, the film received the Jury Prize for Best Narrative at the 19th annual
Sarasota Film Festival in Florida, in the US. The festival is known as a world-class
platform for thought-provoking films from some of the best known and emerging
independent filmmakers.
At the MOOOV International Film held in March 2017, in Belgium, it garnered a Special
Mention.

Inxeba, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and later
opened Berlinale Panorama, was a 2014 Durban FilmMart project. This initial pitch
enabled the team behind it to obtain funding from a number of international
financiers, resulting in a co-production between South Africa, France, Germany and
The Netherlands.

According to a Sundance review, “John Trengove’s hard-edged but beautifully wrought
study of clashing Xhosa models of masculinity will be an eye-opener to outsiders —
and some South Africans too.’

Inxeba is the first feature from writer-director John Trengove, and is co-written
by Trengove, Thando Mgqolozana and Malusi Bengu. The Xhosa initiation ritual which
forms the landscape of the film is also the subject of Inxeba co-writer
Mgqolozana’s novel, A Man Who Is Not a Man.

Inxeba will continue to travel around the world, having been sold to 19
countries for theatrical release thus far, and will be distributed in South Africa by
Indigenous Film Distribution.

“The release strategy for South Africa ensures that the film will qualify as a strong
contender to represent the country in the Foreign Language Film nominations for the
2018 Oscars,’ says Helen Kuun, MD of Indigenous Film Distribution. “We are excited
about Inxeba as it is an authentic South African story that has gained traction
globally.’

Director John Trengove, lead actor Nakhane Toure, some of the cast as well as co-
producer Cait Pansegrouw, will be in attendance at the premiere.

Inxeba will be screened at 18h00 on Friday, 14 July at The Playhouse; 20h00
on Tuesday, 18 July at Ster-Kinekor Gateway; and 14h30 on Saturday 22 July at Ster-
Kinekor Gateway.
Bookings for the Playhouse are through Computicket, and for Ster-Kinekor
on the Ster-Kinekor website.

iNumber Number keeps climbing South Africa’s Box Office Top 10

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In its opening week, the South African thriller iNumber Number earned the No. 6 position on the industry’s Top Ten, alongside Hollywood blockbusters like The Amazing Spider-Man 2. On its opening weekend, 25 to 27 April, the film was at number seven on the top ten for the weekend and has moved up to the number six slot for the week.

The film has earned 38% more than the popular 2008 gangster movie Jerusalema, and has thus far earned 92% more than the 2011 heist movie How to Steal 2 Million. It has also earned 99% of the box office takings raked in by Oscar winner Tsotsi on its opening week in 2005.

“We are all excited to see that local audiences are embracing the film,” says director Donovan Marsh.

Helen Kuun, CEO of Indigenous Film Distribution, which is distributing the film in South Africa, added that “iNumber Number is a high-energy crowd pleaser, and audiences are loving it.”

An action-packed movie, iNumber Number is about a pair of cops battling corrupt colleagues as well as a gang of thieves. Chili (S’dumo Mtshali, winner of Class Act in 2010), and Shoes (Presley Chweneyagae of Tsotsi and State of Violence fame) have been partners in the police force for eight years. After they make a risky arrest, their corrupt superior refuses to give them the reward they are due. Enraged, Chili realises that honesty does not pay and sets about infiltrating a gang of armoured car thieves. The film boasts an oddball cast that brings comic relief to the ruthless thuggery.

iNumber Number is South African director Donovan Marsh’s fourth film. An award-winning director, writer and editor, Marsh has worked in the local film industry since 1992. He wrote and directed the feature films Dollars and White Pipes, Spud and Spud 2: The Madness Continues.

The film had its world premiere at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival in September 2013. It was produced by Marsh, and Quizzical Pictures’ Harriet Gavshon, JP Potgieter and Mariki van der Walt.

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