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artsvark · 6 years

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Five Fingers For Marseilles official trailer out

Vuyo Dabula in Five Fingers for Marseilles

SA’s first western, Five Fingers for Marseilles, opens on 6 April. The official trailer is now revealed.

This year, 2018, is turning out to be an exciting year for South African film. ‘Five Fingers for Marseilles’, a western that tells the story of a group of young men (the ‘Five Fingers’) 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.

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

TIFF world premiere

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.

After it screened at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, in late September, a festival review spoke of the world of the film as “a gorgeous, complex world,” calling ‘Five Fingers for Marseilles’ one of the most striking debuts of recent years and naming it part of “a wave that will completely redefine the international perception of what African cinema can be.”

‘Five Fingers for Marseilles’ 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.

“I’ve long loved the idea of bringing the western into a South African space, but not in a way that risked ‘gimmick’ or stuck to the routine or the expected,” says Drummond. “In the world of Five 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.”

Ntsika Tiyo, Vuyo Novokoza, Sibusiso Bottoman, Toka Mtabane Abongile Sithole and Qhawe Soroshi in FIVE FINGERS FOR MARSEILLES.

All-star cast

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. Vuyo Dabula, star of television’s ‘Generations’, 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. Dean Fourie, Kenneth Fok, Brendon Daniels, Anthony Oseyemi, Garth Breytenbach, Tseko Monaheng, and Mosili Makuta round out a stellar supporting cast.

A Sesotho cowboy tale

Sibusiso Bottoman in FIVE FINGERS FOR MARSEILLES

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.

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.

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. ‘Five Fingers for Marseilles’ is distributed in South Africa by Indigenous Film Distribution.

Five Fingers For Marseilles official trailer out was originally published on Artsvark

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artsvark · 7 years

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SA feature competes at Toronto Film Festival

SA feature film Five Fingers for Marseilles in competition at Toronto International Film Festival.

Vuyo Dabula in Five Fingers for Marseilles

‘Five Fingers for Marseilles’, a contemporary South African Western set in the rugged badlands of the Eastern Cape, will be in official competition at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), to be held from 7 to 17 September. This will also be the film’s world premiere.

TIFF is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting more than 480 000 people annually. The film will feature as part of TIFF’s Discovery programme line-up which highlights up-and-comers around the world from 35 countries.

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Directed by Michael Matthews and written by Sean Drummond, ‘Five Fingers for Marseilles’ is a predominantly Sesotho, Western-inspired tale of an outlaw who returns home after years on the run, and finds a chance for redemption.

“A major motion picture of this scale, complexity and intent has never before been made in South Africa,” says producer Asger Hussain. “It’s the most complex, daring and ambitious undertaking that the local film industry has seen in a very long time. We are extremely excited to have a film of this nature in competition at TIFF. Compared to Berlin, Cannes and even Sundance, Toronto is the one festival that has been known to pick both major crowd pleasers and award winners, including favourites like ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, ‘Precious’, and ‘The King’s Speech’.

Vuyo Dabula heads an all-star cast that includes Hamilton Dhlamini, Zethu Dlomo, Kenneth Nkosi, Mduduzi Mabaso, Aubrey Poolo, Lizwi Vilakazi, Warren Masemola, Dean Fourie, Anthony Oseyemi, Brendon Daniels and Jerry Mofokeng. Cast by acclaimed casting director Moonyeenn Lee, the film also features people from local Eastern Cape communities in supporting roles, and introduces to the big screen Toka Mtabane, Vuyo Novokoza, Ntsika Tiyo, Sibusiso Bottoman, Abongile Sithole, and Qhawe Soroshi.

Sibusiso Bottoman in FIVE FINGERS FOR MARSEILLES

It tells the story of how, 20 years ago, the young ‘Five Fingers’ fought for the rural town of Marseilles, against brutal police oppression. Now, after fleeing in disgrace, Tau returns, seeking peace. Finding the town under new threat, he must reluctantly fight to free it. Will the Five Fingers stand again?

Writer Sean Drummond says the timing of the film is optimal. “Good Westerns always had socio-political undercurrents running through them,” says Drummond. “By putting a highly entertaining, contemporary spin on this South African Western, the film explores subjects that resonate right now with many people.”

Ntsika Tiyo, Vuyo Novokoza, Sibusiso Bottoman, Toka Mtabane Abongile Sithole and Qhawe Soroshi in FIVE FINGERS FOR MARSEILLES.

‘Five Fingers for Marseilles’ will be released in South Africa by Indigenous Film Distribution. “The film is a perfect fit for the much-respected festival’s independent spirit,” says Helen Kuun, CEO of Indigenous Fil Distribution. “‘Five Fingers for Marseilles’ will screen alongside new works from filmmakers known for taking stylistic and thematic risks with their work.”

Major TIFF titles include ‘The Shape of Water’ by Guillermo del Toro (US), Darren Aronofsky’s ‘mother!’ (US), starring Jennifer Lawrence, and ‘Breathe’ by Andy Serkis (UK). Aaron Sorkin makes his directorial debut with ‘Molly’s Game’ (US), starring Idris Elba and Jessica Chastain. Also on the programme schedule are ‘I Love You, Daddy’ by Louis C.K.; Andrew Haigh’s much-anticipated ‘Lean on Pete’; action maestro John Woo’s ‘Manhunt’; ‘Redoubtable’, Michel Hazanavicius’ glimpse into the life of Jean-Luc Godard; Hirokazu Koreeda’s ‘The Third Murder’; and a Michael Jackson twofer: John Landis’ ‘Michael Jackson’s Thriller 3D’, preceded by Jerry Kramer’s ‘Making of Michael Jackson’s Thriller’.

‘Five Fingers for Marseilles’ was awarded Best South African Film in Development at the Durban FilmMart’s finance forum in 2013. It was produced by Drummond and Matthews’ Be Phat Motel Film Company and Yaron Schwartzman and Asger Hussain of Game 7 Films, in association with Stage 5 Films and Above the Clouds. Schwartzman and Hussain’s previous credits include TIFF competition title ‘The Paperboy’, starring Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman and Matthew McConaughey, as well as TIFF 2009 Audience Award winner, ‘Precious’. ‘Five Fingers for Marseilles’ was also made possible with the backing of South Africa’s National Film & Video Foundation and the Department of Trade and Industry, and with additional support from Dupa Films.

“Given the scale of the film, we are aiming to carve a new a new path for high-value South African films aimed at both a local and world audience,” says Drummond.

SA feature competes at Toronto Film Festival was originally published on Artsvark

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