After garnering awards and critical acclaim at film festivals in South Africa and abroad, director Meg Rickards’ (1994: The Bloody Miracle, Land of Thirst) feature film Tess will open at local cinemas on 24 February 2017.
Produced by Paul Egan and Kim Williams of Boondogle Films, Tess is based on Tracey Farren’s award-winning novel Whiplash and is a searing portrait of a young street worker desperately trying to still the demons of her past. Sassy twenty-year-old Tess sells her body on the streets of Cape Town. She survives by popping pain killers and through her wry humour. Though she tries to escape her past, it continues to torment her and she is forced to fight back, conquering her demons and searching for the truth.
“The fact that Tess is a sex worker is almost incidental”, says Rickards. “She’s a young woman undergoing a tumultuous journey: facing the truth of her childhood, coming to terms with it and moving forward with her inner dignity intact”.
Tess stars Christia Visser (Ballade vir ‘n Enkeling, Hollywood in My Huis), Nollywood actress Nse Ikpe-Etim (Reloaded), Brendon Daniels (iNumber Number, Four Corners) and Dann Jacques Mouton (Noem My Skollie). Lee-Ann van Rooi, Quanita Adams, Amanda Lane, Warrick Grier, Oscar Peterson, Mark Elderkin and Greg Kriek round out the cast.
The film had its world premiere at the Durban International Film Festival in July 2016 before going on to screen at the kykNET Silwerskermfees and at the BRICS International Film in New Delhi . (Also the Brussels and Gothenburg International Film Festivals) Tess was hailed by critics and audiences alike and has already garnered a number of awards including: Best South African Feature Film, Best Editing and Best Actress for Christia Visser at DIFF and then Best Actress, Best Editing and Best Cinematography at kykNET Silwerskerm.
Tess was funded by KykNET, the National Film and Video Foundation, the DTI and Thundafund.
Times Media Films distributes.