{"id":6090,"date":"2018-02-13T17:46:28","date_gmt":"2018-02-13T15:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/?p=6090"},"modified":"2018-02-13T17:46:28","modified_gmt":"2018-02-13T15:46:28","slug":"sas-first-western-five-fingers-fro-marseilles-opens-on-6-april-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/blog\/2018\/02\/13\/sas-first-western-five-fingers-fro-marseilles-opens-on-6-april-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"SA’s First Western Five Fingers Fro Marseilles Opens On 6 April 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

2018 is turning out to be an exciting year for South African film. \u2018Five Fingers for Marseilles\u2019, a western that tells the story of a group of young men (the \u2018Five Fingers\u2019) who stand up to brutal police oppression in Marseilles, a town in the rugged badlands of the Eastern Cape opens at cinemas nationwide on 6 April. The film has already lit up the global festival circuit and has earned excellent reviews.<\/p>\n

It tells the story of Tau, who kills two policemen, and is sentenced to 20 years in prison. When he gets out, the embittered \u2018Lion of Marseilles\u2019 discovers his comrades are now in prominent positions in the town. But there\u2019s also a vicious new threat afoot, and so Tau must reform the Five Fingers and take on old allies and new enemies.<\/p>\n

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Brendon Daniels<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
TIFF world premiere<\/h6>\n

The film made its world premiere at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival and went on to screen at Fantastic Fest, BFI London Film Festival, and the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Since then, it has been receiving rave reviews.<\/p>\n

After it screened at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, in late September, a festival review spoke of the world of the film as \u201ca gorgeous, complex world,\u201d calling \u2018Five Fingers for Marseilles\u2019 one of the most striking debuts of recent years, and naming it part of \u201ca wave that will completely redefine the international perception of what African cinema can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2018Five Fingers for Marseilles\u2019 is the feature directorial debut of Michael Matthews, and the feature screenwriting debut of Sean Drummond. The film is produced by Asger Hussain and Yaron Schwartzman of Game 7 Films and Sean Drummond\/Michael Matthews of Be Phat Motel Film Company. Dylan Voogt of Stage 5 Films is co-producer, and Paulo Areal and Dumi Gumbi serve as executive producers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve long loved the idea of bringing the western into a South African space, but not in a way that risked \u2018gimmick\u2019 or stuck to the routine or the expected,\u201d says Drummond. \u201cIn the world of\u00a0Five Fingers for Marseilles, I found a story I was burning to tell, a chance to explore a seldom seen part of the country, to capture a vivid way of life, explore little known histories and a chance to write complex, compelling characters, with depth and weight, for the best actors in the country, and a film that would create heroes, anti-heroes and villains that might even become iconic.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Vuyo Dabula<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
All-star cast<\/h6>\n

Casting began five years before production, with multiple generations of South African talent joining the project, from veteran stars Jerry Mofokeng, Kenneth Nkosi, Hamilton Dhlamini and Mduduzi Mabaso to relative newcomers Lizwi Vilakazi and Warren Masemola.\u00a0 Vuyo Dabula, star of television\u2019s \u2018Generations\u2019, steps into a career-defining lead role, carrying the film with flair, opposite Zethu Dlomo, fresh from her starring role in US drama series Black Sails.\u00a0 Dean Fourie, Kenneth Fok, Brendon Daniels, Anthony Oseyemi, Garth Breytenbach, Tseko Monaheng, and Mosili Makuta round out a stellar supporting cast.<\/p>\n

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Warren Masemola<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
A Sesotho cowboy tale<\/h6>\n

Written in English, the film was always intended to play in a local language, and Basotho screenwriter Mamokuena Makhema came on board as a translator and cultural advisor, consulting on language, culture and nuance, and ensuring the dialogue in Sesotho captured the poetry and depth of the original script.<\/p>\n

Actors were given the freedom to look at their own lines and translations, too, and the film was written with the intention of allowing silence, allowing for removing dialogue and letting scenes play with emotional beats as per the script, but not necessarily the words themselves.<\/p>\n

The film will have its African premiere at Rapid Lion, the upcoming South African International Film Festival, and it will open at cinemas nationwide on 6 April. \u2018Five Fingers for Marseilles\u2019 is distributed in South Africa by Indigenous Film Distribution.<\/p>\n