South African film director Darrell James Roodt made an international name for himself with the debut feature A Place of Weeping (1986), a passionate condemnation of apartheid that the New York Times hailed as “... remarkable and ground breaking".

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In 1990, he made his first film with American backing,  Jobman (1990) which opened The London Film Festival . One of Roodt’s best known films is his adaptation of the anti-apartheid stage musical Sarafina!(1992),  starring Whoopi Goldberg which the LA Times called “A stirring, emotional, powerful ten. It’s  an important inspirational film that shimmers with Oscar gold”.

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Darrell Roodt was nominated for an Oscar, for his film “Yesterday” in 2004. It was acclaimed by Time magazine as “one of the best films of the year.” He has made over twenty features working with Oscar nominated actors such as James Earl Jones, Richard Harris, and Melissa Leo. He has also worked successfully with Oscar nominated composers such as John Barry and Phillip Glass. He has won numerous awards at various festivals throughout the world including a Humanitarian Award at the Venice Film Festival in 2004, as well as the Prime Minister’s prize at the Taormina Film Festival in Italy for his outstanding contribution to English language cinema.

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DARRELL ROODT Q&A

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 Why did you choose those specific locations?
Anyone who sees the film will instantly understand why I chose to shoot in such an extraordinary location. The Red Stone Hills, nestled in the mighty Zwartberg are a unique feature and the characters literally glowed in these landscapes.​

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What were the low points?
The only low point – if this is a problem was that we often shot the movie when it was 40 degrees in the shade. I love the heat so this was not the slightest bother to me at all!

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​What comments do you have on the cast?
I have worked with Angelique Pretorius before and I knew that she was the perfect actress to bring this character to life.  It was also refreshing to cast Andre Frauenstein as the young pastor as this gave the story a new dimension. I was also blessed with wonderful supporting actors including Chris De Clerq and Chante Hinds as the best aunt and uncle combination you could wish for.​

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Any memorable scenes?
Standing on the mountainside watching the glowing lanterns rising into the early evening air in the vastness of the Karoo, was a religious experience in itself.  I also loved painting the pink house in the middle of yet another breath-taking landscape.​

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What were the highlights during the film?
Living and filming on Petro Potgieter’s farm was a blessing. I wish we could have shot for a whole year!
 

 

 

 

 

 

ANTON ERNST​

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Independent South African producer Anton Ernst has created an impressive body of work over the past 10 years including the 2010 sleeper hit Jakhalsdans an Afrikaans language love story. He started his career at the SABC where he worked on television productions such as the series Hotnotsgode at the same time freelancing as a writer on Franz Marx's award-winning soap Egoli. Following this, he worked as assistant production accountant on the feature film Red Phone starring Arnold Vosloo and Michael Ironside.

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Moving to London, he joined Bauer Martinez Studios, where he became finance executive and co-producer on various movies shot in Europe and North America. These included Modigliani starring Andy Garcia, Out of Season starring Dennis Hopper and Dot Kill starring Armand Assante. In 2004 he produced the action movie Wake of Death starring Jean-Claude van Damme and followed that with the 2006 drama, Number 10 starring Colin Moss and Mandoza which was released theatrically in South Africa. 2007 saw the production of Cryptid starring Lori Petty and later that year he produced the South African inspired Anton produced Surviving Evil in 2008, a slick horror movie starring Billy Zane, Colin Moss, Christina Cole and Natalie Mendoza.

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