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Money is the root of all evil. It may give one a temporary high, but the pursuit of material wealth will eventually be the driving force toward your wreck and ruin, so you need to find that other connection in life if you have any hope of making it in this world. In Hard to Get, a very robust and stylistic South African noir from debut feature director Zee Ntuli, this is exactly what the two protagonists need to figure out if they hope to survive and create a better life.

Tk (Pallance Dladla) is the local lothario of his village, making bets with his friends to see how many minutes it will take for him to talk a girl into sleeping with him in the backroom of the bar in which he works. Enter the gorgeous Skiets (Thishiwe Ziqubu), a woman of mystery who immediately catches Tk’s eye.

Wrekin Hill Entertainment - the company that picked up Gallowwalkers, which stars Wesley Snipes, and released it in the USA this summer, has done the same for South African action/drama iNumber Number, directed by Donovan Marsh, which stars Sdumo Mtshali, Presley Chweneyagae, Israel Makoe, Hlubi Mboya, and Owen Sejake. This news comes on the hills of yesterday's news that Universal Pictures has picked up remake rights to the film, with plans to produce an American version, with Chris Morgan (Fast & Furious flicks scribe), and his partner Emile Gladstone, adapting.Both news items come a month after the...

A surprising move here by Universal. It's not often that South African films are remade by Hollywood studios. I'll have to research, but this just might be a first, or, at least, a very rare buy. The studio has announced that it picked up the remake rights to the South African action/drama iNumber Number, directed by Donovan Marsh (his third feature directorial effort), which stars Sdumo Mtshali, Presley Chweneyagae, Israel Makoe, Hlubi Mboya, and Owen Sejake. This is a month after the film World Premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it was picked up by Fortissimo Films. The company acquired worldwide distribution...

I Think I Got Yours: Marsh’s Latest a Simple Heist Thriller

Considering its locale, its budget, and enjoyably committed performances, South African filmmaker Donovan Marsh’s latest film, iNumber Number is no minor feat. But despite the pleasures of maintaining the realistic ambiance of a complicated heist gone wrong, the unfolding events are tiredly familiar and even with a slim running time groans inescapably and inevitably to a hopeful finale of second chance redemption.

Chili (S’dumo Mtshali) and Shoes (Presley Cheweneyagae) have been partners and undercover agents in the police force for the past eight years. After making a risky and complicated arrest on a case they’d been working for the past two years, the duo is denied their reward by a corrupt supervisor that tries to blackmail them into destroying evidence against a high profile perpetrator accused of raping two young girls. Enraged and tired of...

Ahead of its Toronto world premiere, Fortissimo Films has closed an all rights worldwide deal (excluding North America and South Africa) for iNumber Number by writer/director Donovan Marsh.

Xyz handles North America.

iNumber Number, which is local slang for ‘pulling a number,’ is a heist thriller with an ensemble cast led by S’dumo Mtshali, Presley Chweneyagae, Israel Makoe, Owen Sejake, Brandon Auret and Daniel Hadebe.

Indigenous Films will release in South Africa in the first quarter of 2014.

Producers are Harriet Gavshon, Jp Potgieter, Donovan Marsh, Mariki Van Der Walt and executive producers are Harriet Gavshon, Donovan Marsh, Nim Geva, Owen Kessel.

The film shot in Soweto, Johanesburg and Hartbeespoort Dam.

It premieres in Tiff’s Contemporary World Cinema section.

The deal was negotiated between Fortissimo’s Chairman Michael J. Werner and Winnie Lau, Executive Vice President, Sales and Acquisitions with Harriet Gavshon and Donovan Marsh of Quizzical Pictures.

Lau said: “From...

Fortissimo Films has acquired worldwide rights for South African film iNumber Number, which premieres at Toronto.

Ahead of its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff), Fortissimo Films has closed an all rights worldwide deal (excluding North America and South Africa) for the South African film iNumber Number,directed by Donovan Marsh.

The heist thriller stars S’dumo Mtshali and Presley Chweneyagae (Tsotsi), Israel Makoe (Tsotsi), Owen Sejake (Tsotsi), Brandon Auret (District 9) and Daniel Hadebe (District 9).

The film is scheduled for release in South Africa in Q1 of 2014 by Indigenous Films.

It is produced by Harriet Gavshon, Jp Potgieter, Donovan Marsh, Mariki Van Der Walt and executive produced by Harriet Gavshon, Donovan Marsh, Nim Geva, Owen Kessel.

Filmed in Soweto, Johanesburg and Hartbeespoort Dam, cinematography was handled by Tom Marais and production design by Chantel Carter.

The film will have its world premiere at the Contemporary World Cinema section at Tiff.

The deal was...

Titled iNumber Number, the violent action/drama from South African filmmaker Donovan Marsh (his third feature directorial effort), stars Sdumo Mtshali, Presley Chweneyagae, Israel Makoe, Hlubi Mboya, and Owen Sejake. Here's a synopsis: When Chili Ngcobo, an honest but ambitious undercover cop, is cheated out of a major reward by his corrupt superiors, he infiltrates a cash-in-transit heist gang, and instead of busting them, he decides to participate in a one off score. He must face off against his partner who refuses to let him do it and one of the gang members who recognizes him as a cop. The film is set to make its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film...

Reviewed by Jay Antani

(May 2011)

Directed by: Justin Chadwick

Written by: Ann Peacock

Starring: Oliver Litondo, Naomie Harris, Vusi Kunene, Tony Kgoroge and Israel Makoe

The true-life drama “The First Grader” could have easily veered into being another patronizing, Western-made treatment of Africans in the “bravely suffering” mold but, thanks to Ann Peacock’s focused screenplay and Justin Chadwick’s sensitive direction, the movie achieves a poignant, humanist sincerity. The Kenyan government’s ambitious 2003 initiative guaranteeing free primary school education to all its citizens is this story’s catalyst.

The goal of the government initiative, of course, was to give the nation’s poorer children the head-start advantage of reading and writing skills. But when the illiterate 84-year-old Kimani N’gan’ga Maruge (Oliver Litondo) shows up for his free education, he throws everyone — from bureaucrats and administrators to one local schoolteacher — completely off guard.

Hailing from the fiercely resilient...

Reviewed by Jay Antani

(May 2011)

Directed by: Justin Chadwick

Written by: Ann Peacock

Starring: Oliver Litondo, Naomie Harris, Vusi Kunene, Tony Kgoroge and Israel Makoe

The true-life drama “The First Grader” could have easily veered into being another patronizing, Western-made treatment of Africans in the “bravely suffering” mold but, thanks to Ann Peacock’s focused screenplay and Justin Chadwick’s sensitive direction, the movie achieves a poignant, humanist sincerity. The Kenyan government’s ambitious 2003 initiative guaranteeing free primary school education to all its citizens is this story’s catalyst.

The goal of the government initiative, of course, was to give the nation’s poorer children the head-start advantage of reading and writing skills. But when the illiterate 84-year-old Kimani N’gan’ga Maruge (Oliver Litondo) shows up for his free education, he throws everyone — from bureaucrats and administrators to one local schoolteacher — completely off guard.

Hailing from the fiercely resilient...