Videovision Entertainment’s SHEPHERDS AND BUTCHERS which won the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama Audience Award last year, received nine SAFTA nominations in the 11th South African Film and Television Awards it was announced earlier today. The film is helmed by award-winning director, Oliver Schmitz and produced by Anant Singh and Brian Cox (who also wrote the screenplay),
SHEPHERDS AND BUTCHERS received nominations for Best Feature Film, Best Achievement in Directing (Oliver Schmitz), Best Actor (Garion Dowds), Best Supporting Actor (Deon Lotz), Best Achievement in Editing (Megan Gill), Best Achievement in Production Design (Mike Berg), Best Achievement in Sound Design (Ivan Millborrow, Charlotte Buys), Best Achievement in Costume Design (Diana Cilliers) and Best Achievement in Make-up and Hair (Marli Kruger and Talli Patcher).
Set in late 1980’s South Africa, SHEPHERDS AND BUTCHERS follows John Weber, a hotshot lawyer who faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a prison guard who has killed seven men. What ensues is a compelling charge against the death penalty itself, in a case that changes history. It is based on the award-winning South African novel by Chris Marnewick, a former advocate of the Durban bar who filled the pages of his book with meticulously researched factual information amassed from his years as a defense attorney.
Commenting on the nominations, producer Anant Singh said, ““We are delighted with the nine nominations received by the SHEPHERDS AND BUTCHERS team. We congratulate each one of them on their nominations which are a tribute to their respective talents, creativity and skill. We applaud their achievements.”
SHEPHERDS AND BUTCHERS will be released on DVD in South Africa on 20 February 2017 through Next Home Entertainment. The film was released in the United States by Twentieth Century Fox last month and Netflix will release the film in selected international territories later this year.
SHEPHERDS AND BUTCHERS is an Anant Singh presentation of a Videovision Entertainment/Distant Horizon production in association with Times Media Films, WDR/ARTE and The Department of Trade and Industry South Africa. The film stars Steve Coogan, Andrea Riseborough and Garion Dowds. Music is composed by Paul Hepker, it is edited by Megan Gill with Diana Cilliers as Costume Designer and Director of Photography Leah Striker. The film is executive produced by Robert Naidoo, Sudhir Pragjee, Sanjeev Singh, Andrew Bonamour and Andrew Gill; co-produced by Barbara Buhl, Andreas Schreitmueller and Jan Krüger. Produced by Anant Singh and Brian Cox, the film is based on the book ‘Shepherds and Butchers’ by Chris Marnewick with the screenplay by Brian Cox and is directed by Oliver Schmitz.
