(Film
maker Judy Naidoo on location filming “Hatchet Hour”)
Hatchet Hour, a Ladybug Films production which recently
scooped the Best Foreign Film Award at the LA Femme International Film
Festival, has opens in selected South African cinemas, presented by the
National Film & Video Foundation in association with The Department of
Trade & Industry and M-Net.
Based on an
original screenplay by Sofia de Fay, Hatchet
Hour is written by the swiftly-rising independent South African film-maker,
Judy Naidoo, in collaboration with Salah Sabiti, and directed by Naidoo. The
film stars Erica Wessels, Petronella Tshuma and Adam Croasdell.
A fiery
lawyer, Belle (played by Wessels), mistakenly believes her gardener, Amos, to
be an assailant, and shoots him dead. Belle decides not to report the accident,
and rather to take her chances in the legal system. She assumes that her
brilliant career, as well as that of her legendary lawyer father will be ruined
if the courts find against her and charge her with manslaughter. She must get
rid of the body and all evidence of the crime.
“This story
is an interesting exploration of how far ordinary people are willing to go to
keep things in their life on an even keel, and if at all any of our actions can
come without consequence,” says director Naidoo. “Is all good rewarded, and all
bad punished? In a cynical world, is there such a thing as karma?”
Naidoo says
that her intention for Hatchet Hour
is to take an audience from the comical to the tragic in 90 minutes. “I want
audiences to find humour in the witty cynicisms, and more importantly, laugh at
themselves for laughing at the taboo subject matter,” she says. “We laugh at
death precisely because we fear it”.
Hatchet Hour’s production credits list Judy Naidoo as producer,
with Barbara Snell as supervising producer, Anna Walton as line
producer. Production design
is by Chantel Carter, and costume design by Glynnis Harris. Other key credits
include Tom Marais (Director of Photography), Warwick Allan (editor) and
Brendan Jury (composer).
Hatchet Hour screenings in Durban are at Cine Centre,
Suncoast, and at Nu Metro, Pavilion. In Guateng screenings are at Nu Metro,
Menlyn Park, Nu Metro Clearwater Mall and at Montecasino’s Movies@. In Cape
Town screenings are at V & A Nu Metro and Canal Walk Nu Metro.
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