South African director Judy Naidoo has been invited to screen her film ‘Kings of Mulberry Street’ at the 28th St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) which will be held from 7 to 17 November in St. Louis, Missouri. The festival provides the opportunity for St. Louis filmgoers to view the finest in world cinema and screens approximately 300 films over a period of 10 days.
‘Kings of Mulberry Street’ will be eligible for the Audience Choice Awards for Best Feature and Best International Feature. Confirming the invitation, Chris Clark, Artistic Director at Cinema St. Louis, called ‘Kings of Mulberry Street’ funny and sweet and said his team were delighted to be screening it for their audience.
“I am absolutely thrilled about the opportunity to screen the film at this year’s SLIFF,” says director Judy Naidoo. “The popular festival is known for exploring cross-cultural understanding through the art of the cinema, and for enhancing cultural diversity by bringing horizon-expanding international films to audiences.”
The St. Louis International Film Festival has a solid and growing national and international reputation for its programming, particularly for its foreign language films.
“‘Kings of Mulberry Street’ is a production I am extremely proud of,” Naidoo says. “The film has been well received in South Africa and I am excited to be able to take it to an American festival audience.”
Set in the early 80s, the fictionalised area of Sugarhill District in KwaZulu Natal, ‘Kings of Mulberry Street’ is a charming, nostalgic story of two young Indian boys who have to find a way to overcome their differences and unite in order to defeat the bullying local crime lord who’s threatening their families. A delightful and hilarious adventure, with universal themes that will appeal to the whole family, the film also pays tribute to classic 80s Bollywood movies and their heroes. Visually colourful and vibrant, the film is touching and heart-warming.
The film opened in South Africa on 28 June and is distributed by Indigenous Film Distribution.
