By Jaco Lotriet

South African film productions have garnered quite a few accolades in recent years on the International scene. Sink and especially Tsotsi come to mind, cementing our country’s achievements in filmmaking, not only on the local scene, but especially abroad. This wide acclaim catapulted our filmmakers into the upper ranks of producer royalty, subsequently exposing them to a much larger audience.

When a film such as Die Stropers comes along, we can only hope that this production will gather as much praise, as its predecessors have. With a standing applause from the audience at the recent 71st Cannes Film Festival, as well as having won best cinematography at the eighth annual kykNET Silwerskerm Film Festival, Die Stropers may be well on its way to achieving the critical acclaim it deserves.

Cape Town-born writer and first time director, Etienne Kallos, who spearheaded this production, audaciously strode into a world of an intense psychological drama. Centred on an extremely conservative Christian Afrikaans family, Kallos addressed the often thorny topics of religion and sexuality entwined head-on, in this coming-of-age production. It should be stated that a lot of recent media publications seem to centre on, and even exaggerate the theme of homosexuality in the film. While it certainly forms an integral part of the storyline, I would rather state that it is subtly implied, and in no way offensive.

The aforementioned conservatism however, is ultimately tied to the religious theme and relates to the strict constraints and traditionalism sometimes found in the Afrikaner community, whereby the fear of God and the reconciliation between failure and the inability to express one’s true self, is emphasised. This truthful, often gritty conveyance on screen, may leave an Afrikaner audience reeling, as it could uncover feelings of shortcomings that they would much rather shy away from. Perhaps, as is evident in this day and age with the more open-minded younger generation, this might actually not be the case…

Either way, it is impossible to ignore the film’s confrontational, dark and sometimes perplexing nature. Perplexing, because even though the audience may wonder how the story will play out, nothing quite prepares them for its unravelling conclusion. This, in part, can be credited to the contrasting and gripping performances of two actors in particular, as well as exquisite cinematography, combined with a sweeping score.

The protagonist Janno and antagonist Pieter, are both played by two newcomers; Brent Vermeulen and Alex van Dyk, respectively.   These two actors’ depiction of their characters can best be described as jaw dropping performances, but particular praise goes to Van Dyk as the cool, calculated and manipulating Pieter. Having briefly experienced these actors’ actual personalities at the film’s red carpet event, I was astonished at how remarkably different their characters were.   Not only does this point to their great intrinsic acting skills, but also outstanding direction from Kallos.

Evgueni- and Sacha Galerines sweeping score, combined with Michal Englerts spectacular cinematography immerses the audience further in the deep melancholy unfolding on screen. Die Stropers is a slow-paced, Afrikaans movie, featuring English sub-titles, hence its accompanying title, The Harvesters.  Scant dialogue and intimate moments of silence accentuates its overall mood and for good reason, becoming more apparent with the films’ progression, whilst maintaining the line of suspense throughout.

A must-see production of this magnitude requires investors in bringing the producers ‘extraordinary vision to life and includes the KwaZulu -Natal Film Commission, Agence Film France, the Greek Film Institute, the Polish Film Institute and the Department of Trade and Industry. The film is produced by Sophie Erbs, the Cinema de Facto of France and Thembisa Cochrane, of Spier Films, South Africa. Executive producers are Dr Lwazi Manzi and Michael Auret, also from Spier Films.

Die Stropers is distributed in South Africa by Indigenous Film Distribution and opened nationwide in South Africa on 15 March 2019.

The post Die Stropers appeared first on Stage and Screen.

Queer cinema has steadily grown to become one of the leading forces in film internationally over the last five years. And South Africa is no different. Etienne Kallos’s film Die Stropers, which won critical acclaim at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, opens nationwide on 15 March and is the latest in a series of award-winning films about gayness.

The South African-French-Greek-Polish co-production, by first-time Greek-South African director Kallos, is an intense psychological drama exploring the coming-of-age of a new generation of Afrikaans youth. Set against a severe and dusty landscape, it tells the story of obedient Afrikaans teenager, Janno, played by Brent Vermeulen, whose deeply religious mother, Marie, brings home a troubled street orphan and drug addict, Pieter, portrayed by Alex van Dyk, to foster on the family’s remote cattle farm in the Free State.

It explores the thorny issue of identity and sexuality in a provocative and darkly moving way. As Pieter goes through withdrawal, Janno takes him under his wing, introducing him to the farm, the local prayer group and the church boys’ rugby club. But Pieter is far worldlier than Janno, and instantly spots the fact that Janno has a crush on his best friend. Pieter also introduces Janno to the lively nearby black community, and reveals that he has been selling his body to local men for cash. Janno finds this shocking, but he’s also envious.

In South Africa, Skoonheid, directed by Oliver Hermanus, was the first Afrikaans film to be selected for the Cannes Film Festival, and won the Queer Palm in 2011.

Inxeba (The Wound) won 19 awards of excellence at festivals around the globe, including the BFI, the African American Film Critics Association, and the International Queer & Migrant Film Festival in Amsterdam. At home, the film walked away with 8 SAFTAs.

In 2018 Kanarie, the tale of a queer teenage man who gets called up for military service, sparked international interest and raked in several international accolades before even hitting the big screen in South Africa. It won the Silwerskerm Film Festival award for Best Feature Film, among other awards, as well as Best LGBTQ film at the Cape Town International Film Festival. It went on to win awards in Chicago and Atlanta in the US. Kanarie was also part of the Official Selection at the 2018 OutFest in Los Angeles, as well as the Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival.

Die Stropers had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where it received a standing ovation from the audience. The film has already won a number of international awards including:

• Sundance/Mahindra ‘Global Filmmaker Award’
• Gan Foundation, ‘Prix Opening Shot Award’
• Rome International Film Festival ‘Alice Nella Citta Jury Award for Best First Feature’
• Cheries-Cheris Film Festival, ‘Grand Prix’ Award
• African Film Festival of Khouribga, ‘Best Director’ Award

Die Stropers is a Spier Films production. The film’s investors include the KwaZulu Natal Film Commission, Agence Film France, the Greek Film Institute, the Polish Film Institute, and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and produced by Spier Films. The film’s producers are Sophie Erbs, Cinema de Facto (France) and Thembisa Cochrane, Spier Films (South Africa). The executive producers are Dr Lwazi Manzi and Michael Auret, Spier Films.

Die Stropers is distributed in South Africa by Indigenous Film Distribution.

The post Die Stropers appeared first on Stage and Screen.