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French Toast sweetens the local box office this past weekend
The weekend when South Africa celebrated Freedom day, cinemas saw the release of FRENCH TOAST, sweetening the local box office circuit with more than R660,000.
The week leading up to release was filled with interviews, cook offs, school visits, premieres and fan events, which the cast participated in with great enthusiasm and energy and was met with much excitement by the public.
The film was shot both in France and South Africa and the set created by the producers in Hartebeespoort was used to shoot the film, was the location of the outdoor premiere on the 17th April as well as now being a functional Café open to the public – simply called the French Toast Koffie Kaffee.
The film is directed by Paul Kruger and stars Lika Berning, Theirry Ballarin, Deon Lotz and Helene Lombard.
The film revolves around photographer Lise le Roux (Berning), who lives with her father on a wine farm near Stellenbosch. Her mother passed away some time ago, leaving a secret French toast family recipe behind as a symbol of her legacy. One day Lise stumbles upon her mother’s old diary and to her astonishment finds out that she has a brother or sister somewhere in France. Despite the fact that Theo, her father’s right hand winemaker, is about to propose, Lise decides to travel to Paris in order to find her lost sibling and hopefully some truth.
On arrival in Paris she meets a French chef, Jean-Pierre Baptiste (Ballarin). Jean-Pierre is need of a photographer for his new cookbook. Lise agrees to take the photos for his cookbook, if he returns the favour by helping her track the clues to her lost sibling. As they explore Paris together, Jean-Pierre’s expressive personality slowly unravels Lise’s reserved layers. Lise’s life starts transforming into a palette of new tastes, textures, colours and emotions… Until suddenly something happens that causes Jean-Pierre to disappear, making Lise promise that she will never try to find him again.
Does Lise eventually find the truth that she hoped would set her free?
Produced by Hartiwood Films, and distributed by Times Media Films, FRENCH TOAST is now showing at cinemas around South Africa.
