BAY OF PLENTY

Winning film ... made in Durban ... and proud of it!

The movie Bay of Plenty walked off with no less than four awards at the prestigious South African Film & Television Awards (SAFTA) held recently in Pretoria. The production scooped the Best Ensemble, Best Full-length Drama, Best Art Direction (Anita van Hermert) and Best Actor (Thomas Gumede) awards.

“Durban can be extremely proud of this achievement,” says Toni Monty, head of the Durban Film Office (DFO). “Not only because it was made locally but because it utilised the skills of a number of local professionals, such as line producer Laurette Marais and assistant director Thabani Gigaba, under the leadership of executive producer Sara Blecher and award-winning director of photography, Mike Downie.

“The Ethekwini Municipality has shown its commitment to the support of the city’s film industry by putting all the resources at their disposal, behind the efforts of the DFO and industry role-players,” Monty continues.

Bay of Plenty was filmed in and around Durban over a period of just over five months in 2007 and is based on the real-life experiences of a group of lifeguards based at South Beach, Durban. During the struggle years, when most municipal swimming pools were closed, the pool in Lamontville was the only exception. It was managed by a ‘tough’ man who pulled children off the streets, taught them to swim and put them through a strict training regimen. Years later, when the Ethekwini Municipality were looking for black lifeguards to work on Durban’s beaches, a large number of the recruits came from the Lamontville pool.

The lifeguards are the heroes who jump from helicopters to save drowning members of the public, face the large and often hostile crowds that gather on Durban beaches over the festive season and deal with petty theft, drugs, lost children and the dramas at sea. Bay of Plenty not only portrays these heroes in action, but also takes a look at their personal lives, loves and heartaches. The all-star cast included actual lifeguard Sihle Xaba, Thomas Gumede and Meshack Mavuso, who plays the role of Vusi in Isidingo. He was also one of the directors. Many of the cameos and bit parts were portrayed by real lifeguards.

“The production would not have been possible without the tremendous support of the DFO and the Ethekwini Municipality,” says line producer Laurette Marais. “Their support added to the authentic look and feel that made this production such a winner. What makes this even more noteworthy is that, with the assistance of the DFO, we were able to train local young people as crew members while maintaining high artistic standards.”

The Durban Film Office (DFO) is the film-industry development arm of the Ethekwini Municipality, mandated to position Durban as a world-class film production destination and facilitator for the development of the local film industry. The DFO drives activity and development in the sector in order to boost tourism, job creation and the development of core skills and SMME’s in the region. The organization is also actively seeking and creating opportunities for setting the benchmark as the leading authority in the field in South Africa.