(Above: Joey Rasdien, Schalk Bezuidenhout & Riaad Moosa)
Award-winning South African comedy, Material, returns with a sequel in 2021, once again starring popular comedian, Riaad Moosa
Remember the team that brought us the box office sensation Material, the hilarious, heart-warming film about a dutiful young Muslim man who moonlights as a stand-up comedian in Joburg nightclubs? Well, they’re back.
In New Material, much-loved character, Cassim Kaif, played by Riaad Moosa, continues to ply his trade as one of South Africa’s few Muslim comedians while balancing the demands of a marriage, a young child, and living in a house with his ageing parents. His father Ebrahim (Vincent Ebrahim) has reluctantly accepted his son’s chosen career for now, but it is still a simmering issue.
While Cassim’s career is going reasonably well, he performs mostly to Johannesburg Muslim audiences and yearns to expand his audience nationally and further hone his craft. Yusuf (Joey Rasdien), his best friend and agent, plans a national tour, but is totally out of his depth. From the outset, the tour is beset with problems from an over-eager sponsor (played by Rajesh Gopie) who expects too much from the deal to Cassim having to make tough decisions when international opportunities present themselves. This is exactly what Cassim wanted. Or is it?
The sequel to the smash hit film also stars Zakeeya Patel, Denise Newman, Kurt Schoonraad and media personality, Shashi Naidoo.
“Riaad Moosa, Schalk Bezuidenhout and Joey Rasdien are a formidable comedy team, the very best in homegrown talent,” says Helen Kuun, MD of Indigenous Film Distribution. “Between them, they have no shortage of material and they also have an incredibly diverse and enthusiastic loyal following, so we are really excited about the film.”
New Material is directed by Craig Freimond, who won the Golden Horn Award for Best Achievement in Directing in a Feature Film for Material in 2013. A writer and director for film, television and theatre, Freimond is also known for Gums and Noses (2014), Jozi (2010), Material (2012) and Beyond the River (2017), the award-winning film inspired by the true story of Siseko Ntondini and Piers Cruickshanks who won gold in the 2014 Dusi Marathon.
The film is produced by Robbie Thorpe, who has produced over two hundred hours of television and ten feature films including Material, Man on Ground (2011, official selection Berlin), Beyond the River and Vaya (2016, official selection Toronto and Berlin films festivals).
It’s edited by Megan Gill, a South African-based editor and in a career spanning 20 years, has worked on a wealth of television and film productions. Most recently, Gill edited the critically-acclaimed Keira Knightley film Official Secrets (2019), and Eye in the Sky starring Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman. She also edited Tsotsi, Rendition, Otelo Burning, X-Men Origins: Wolverine among many more.
Moosa won the SAFTA (South African Film and Television Award) for Best Actor for his role in Material, which also received SAFTA's for Best Film, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor in 2013.
New Material is produced by Ochre Moving Pictures and Blu Blood Africa, and is distributed by Indigenous Film Distribution[SJ1] .
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gtCD4P1I8c
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