The sizzling local comedy feature, Real Estate Sisters, is to premiere globally on Netflix on 26 April 2024. This follows a recent successful special screening of the film in New York, after its premiere at the Joburg Film Festival in February.
Written by Reabetswe Moeti-Vogt and Zoe Ramushu, Real Estate Sisters is directed by Reabetswe Moeti-Vogt. The film is produced by Moeti-Vogt and Ramushu’s Totem Zea, a 100 percent Black female-owned company, with the support of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition. Real Estate Sisters marks the company’s much-anticipated debut feature film.
The film is one of 6 micro budget projects supported through a joint film-fund by Netflix and the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sport Arts and Culture of South Africa. The fund aim was to alleviate the pressure filmmakers face to raise additional funding and boost recovery of the creative industry from the pandemic, whilst ensuring job creation.
Set in South Africa’s capital city, Pretoria, Real Estate Sisters follows the antics of two broke, sassy sisters who run a struggling real estate agency but aspire to move from selling run down apartments in shoddy parts of the city to selling high end suburban homes. Things start looking up when they are approached to sell a multi-million Rand mansion in the exclusive Waterkloof, that is until they stumble upon a dead body in the basement. Thrills, spills and much hilarity follows as the sisters, determined not to lose this opportunity, must outwit scary underworld figures and keep a potential buyer on the hook.
The film is a love letter to Moeti-Vogt’s hometown, Pretoria, celebrating the beautiful, cosmopolitan city that is so close to the filmmakers’ hearts. The city has a vibe of its own, home to international embassies, wide jacaranda-lined streets, a bustling street life and some of the most colourful characters imaginable. “The city has always been an inspiration to me, this world has shaped my voice and coloured the lens through which I tell stories.” Comments Moeti-Vogt.
Last month, the filmmakers partnered with the South African Consulate General in New York and the esteemed New York Film Academy which culminated in a VIP reception and packed-out screening of the film at the Academy.
The filmmakers, dressed in bespoke creations by renowned African designer Chuks Collins, radiated confidence with a press photoshoot on the iconic Empire State Building and unveiled their labour of love to a global audience. “We brought Pretoria all the way to New York, and they were ready to receive,” said Moeti-Vogt, reflecting on the monumental moment.
Jim Miller, VP of Strategic Initiatives, who attended the screening, was full of praise for the film: “The audience laughed throughout the film, demonstrating that Real Estate Sisters is bound to be a hit not only in South Africa but in many international markets as well.”
“After leaving New York with a Student Oscar nomination under my belt, it was great to come back to the city with Totem Zea’s short which screened at the Lincoln Center in 2022 and again, now, with this Totem Zea produced film, from Africa, proving that where you’re based, the colour of your skin, your age – nothing should limit your dreams and ambition as a young Black woman,” remarked Ramushu.
The film stars Gina Koffman (The River, Izwe lani Nawe) Leera Mthethwa (Ses’topla, Gomora), Lerato Makheta (eKasie: Our Stories, Isidingo), Marcus Mabusela (iNumber Number, I am all Girls), Sibongile Nojila (Skeem Saam, Isidingo), Jerry Chirindza, Sammy Fever, Jude Ben O’Donovan and Karin van der Laag (Story of an African Farm, God is African).
Real Estate Sisters is distributed by Indigenous Film Distribution.
