(Pictured
in the prison courtyard China Boy (Presley Chweneyagae) & Buttons (Warren
Masemola) decide on Magadien's (Mothusi Magano) fate)
Award-winning director, Khalo Matabane (State of Violence,
Conversations on a Sunday Afternoon and Nelson Mandela: The Myth and Me),
acknowledged as one of South Africa’s leading talents has begun shooting his
latest feature, 28’s, a
gritty exposé of life inside prison.
The film, inspired by Jonny Steinberg's award-winning non-fiction novel,
The Number, its big screen adaptation by Paul Ian Johnson reveals the
origins of the fearsome numbers gangs that operate in prisons throughout South
Africa.
Harking back to a sketchy 200-year-old tale, it's said that the 27s and
28s originate from group of highwaymen. These robbers, under the guidance of an
elder, escaped the misery of the mines and white oppression only to roam the
Zululand hills plundering colonial outposts and relieving travellers of their
goods. Fast forward two centuries and we encounter Magadien, hardened
repeat-offender whose life is his loyalty to his brothers in the 28’s. But something stirs his
rebellion, a life-threatening move as there's no way out, of prison or from the
sworn bloody oaths of his brotherhood. This is a hard-hitting tale of the
reality of South African prisons and near-impossible redemption.
Casting Director, Moonyeenn Lee and Matabane have assembled a strong
cast which include Mothusi Magano (Of Good Report, Hotel Rwanda, Tsotsi)
who leads as the conflicted Magadien, and is supported by Warren Masemola (Eye
in the Sky, Machine Gun Preacher), and Sibusiso Msimang (Vaya);
Presley Chwenegyagae (Tsotsi); Lemogang Tsipa (Eye in the Sky, Black
Sails and Wallender); Kevin Smith (Isidingo, The Gospel According
to St Matthew) and Deon Lotz (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Shepherds
and Butchers, Skoonheid). Renowned South African story-teller Gcina Mhlophe
plays Magadien’s mother.
The production team is headed by award-winning producers Carolyn Carew
and Tsholo Mashile (90 Plein Street and When We Were Black). Carew says that the process of
making this film has been long time in the making with Khalo spending the last
few years with the real Magadien Wentzel in Cape Town and afterwards with
ex-prisoners in KZN to fully grasp the language and culture of the gangs.
Creative talents include Cinematographer Dewald Aukema (Skin,
Angus Gibson & Jo Menell’s Mandela); Editor Megan Gill (Tsotsi,
Miners Shot Down and Shepherds and Butchers); Production Designer
Willie Botha (Kite; Art Director: Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom; Special
Effects: Black Dahlia, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency).
Durban based Anant Singh's Videovision Entertainment are co-producers,
and will also distribute the film. Anant Singh commented, “I have been an
admirer of Khalo’s work for a long time and we are delighted to have the
opportunity to work with him. With his talent and creative vision for the
project, he will certainly craft an amazing film.”
The production also marks the first co-production between South Africa
and Reunion Island’s Tiktak Productions. The film also received funding support
from the KZN Film Commission, the National Film and Video Foundation and the
Department of Trade and Industry.
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