South Africa / 1997 / 75mins / Documentary / English

A documentary approached like a feature about a handful of characters and their life stories, dreams and memories.

Brian Tilley

Brian Tilley came to film from theatre in 1981 to work on independent documentaries. In 1985 he was a founding member of the Video Collective VNS/Afravision, which made documentaries about social and political issues. Brian Tilley has won several awards for both his documentary and fiction film work. Fruits of Defiance (1990), a film about the mass defiance campaign and the release of Nelson Mandela, won first prize in the Third World section of the Montreal Television Festival. His documentary work has covered a history of the ANC, the sex industry in Johannesburg and several episodes of Parklife Africa, a Discovery series set in the Kruger Park. His feature work includes the drama series The Line aka In a Time of Violence (1994) which he wrote and directed. Broadcast all over the world, it won a merit award at the 4th festival of African Cinema in Milan in 1994 and two South African Artes Awards for screenplay and director. His short film Lucky Day (1998), which he wrote and directed, was selected for the Best of the Fest at the 1999 Edinburgh Film Festival and won best short film at the Southern African Film Festival. Learn More

Oliver Schmitz

Oliver Schmitz (born 1960) is a South African film director and screenwriter. His film Mapantsula was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival. His 2010 film Life, Above All (Le Secret de Chanda) was selected as the South African entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards. It made the shortlist of nominations announced in January 2011. Growing up in Cape Town, Schmitz comes from a fine art and music background. With others, from 1981-1983 he ran a cult nightclub (Scratch), that successfully beat Apartheid segregation laws and nurtured a generation of creative and militant youth. Schmitz has made several films, four of which have screened in official selection in Cannes - one being the Parisian omnibus film Paris je t'aime (Place des fetes). Shepherds and Butchers, with Steve Coogan and Andrea Riseborough premiered at the Berlinale 2016, where it won an audience award and Best Directing at the South African Film and Television Awards. Learn More