Between Friends, a
South African university reunion movie in the tradition of The Big Chill and Peter’s
Friends, will screen at the Durban International Film Festival, South
Africa's largest and longest-running film festival, which is in its 35th year.
The festival will run from July 17 to 27, 2014.
This year, the ten day celebration of world class cinema
will see over 200 screenings of new films from South Africa, the continent and
the world, with a number of world premiere screenings of local and
international films.
“The festival is a key event for the African film industry
and we are delighted that Between Friends
has been selected for the programme,” says Helen Kuun, CEO of Indigenous Film
Distribution, which is distributing the film in South Africa. “The film is a
charming comedy-drama that looks at the strains and old rivalries between a
group of friends who have grown up a lot since they last met.”
Between Friends is
directed by Zuko Nodada, who has directed a number of films, theatre shows and
drama series for SABC1, including the hit drama series Intersexions and Bay of
Plenty. Nodada is also a graduate of the Durban University of Technology,
where he studied drama.
The film tells the story of a group of five university
friends who reunite at an upmarket game lodge in KwaZulu-Natal, seven years
after graduation. Haunting their reunion is the secret of a wild night they
spent together at the very same lodge some seven years ago. Long buried secrets
shared by the old friends are eventually exposed, causing tension to arise in
their current relationships.
Between Friends
features a cast of familiar faces. Thapelo Mokoena plays Nkanyiso, a suave,
successful entrepreneur who is reluctantly attending the reunion with his
gorgeous trophy girlfriend, Nisha, played by Amanda Du Pont. Mokoena starred in
2013’s Nothing for Mahala, played
Elias Motsoaledi in Long Walk to Freedom
and appearing in the Hunters Dry
advertising campaign. He is also a familiar face on television, having starred
in Intersexions, Mtunzini.com, and
hosted Fear Factor SA for a season.
Amanda Du Pont was cast in Intersexions,
End Game and Task Force in 2013,
and currently presents RGB on SABC1.
In the role of the older and wiser Njabulo, Nkanyiso’s more
laidback brother and manager of the game lodge, is Siyabonga Radebe. Radebe is
best known for his role as Cassius in the SABC 1 drama series A Place Called Home. He has also
appeared in Intersexions, the SABC1
mini-series uGugu no Andile, the ITV
drama Wild at Heart and the SABC1
legal drama series Sokhulu & Partners.
He also played the role of Obesandjo's 1st Lieutenant in the award-winning
South Africa science fiction film District
9, in 2009.
The films also stars Lihle Dhlomo, who won Best Newcomer at
the 2012 Mercury Durban Theatre awards and is well known on the Durban stage,
best known for his role as Dumisani Shabani in the SABC1 soapie Generations, and newcomer Madisa Nduna,
who made it the final four of Class Act 2.
She has had leading roles in Mzansi Magic’s Devil
in the House and Uninvited Woman
and is described as a household name in Loxion
Bioskope. This is her first feature film performance.
View the trailer here: _https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNMgLzTXd9E&feature=youtu.be
IFD Official Site: www.indigenousfilm.co.za
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