MEET SPUD’S STARS

Spud fans have the chance of enjoying pre-release screenings of the eagerly-awaited film Spud: The Movie at elected Ster-Kinekor cinemas in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town on November 27. A bonus will be meeting some of its stars, director Donovan Marsh, author John van de Ruit, and the producers.

Spud is only scheduled to open in South Africa on December 3, but fans will be able to watch the film ahead of general release and meet the various personalities at the three centres.

In Durban, author John van de Ruit, Jamie Royal, who plays Gecko, and producer Brad Logan will be on duty at Ster-Kinekor Gateway, and the event begins at 16h00.

Donovan Marsh’s film, based on the hugely popular John van de Ruit book, stars Troye Sivan as Spud and John Cleese as The Guv, with a large cast of young talent from all over South Africa.

Spud: The Movie takes place in South Africa during the early 1990s, when Nelson Mandela was released and the ANC unbanned, and chronicles John “Spud” Milton’s first year at an elite, boys-only private school. Cursed with parents who have embraced the lunatic fringe, and a senile granny, Spud must negotiate some tricky waters in a dormitory full of strange, off-the-wall characters. It’s a foreign and often hostile environment in which he finds himself, but Spud is imbued with intelligence, wit and a likeable personality.

He overcomes the odds, engages with the Crazy 8, meets a few girls and bonds with the eccentric English teacher, The Guv, played by John Cleese, who teaches him something about life and literature.

Tickets to the screenings can be booked online either on a WAP-enabled cellphone or PC via www.sterkinekor.com or by calling TicketLine 082 16789 (value added service rates apply), or in cinema at the self service terminals (SSTs) or Box Offices.