“As a proudly Durban-based company, we are delighted to be continuing our close relationship with the Durban International Film Festival and to have the South African premieres of our films at the Festival, and to have writer/director, Amanda Evans present her debut feature SERPENT as the Opening Night film,” said Sanjeev Singh. “Of special significance to Durban is THE KILLING FLOOR, the first film from the Durban production company, KZF.  BELOW HER MOUTH is a ground-breaking film with an all women crew, while VICEROY’S HOUSE explores the role played by Britain’s last Viceroy to India, Lord Mountbatten in negotiating independence and handing India back to its people in 1947,” concluded Singh.

Opening Night film, SERPENT, explores a romantic escape into nature which becomes the ultimate moment of reckoning when a husband and wife are trapped in a tent with a deadly black mamba. Unable to escape and with certain death looming, the tent becomes a heated confessional to a cataclysmic truth. Betrayed, the couple finds themselves spiralling into a dark and dangerous game of survival, where the truth can do anything but set you free.  SERPENT is the first feature from director, Amanda Evans and stars Sarah Dumont and Tom Ainsley.

BELOW HER MOUTH is a bold, uninhibited drama that begins with a passionate weekend affair between two women. Dallas, a roofer and Jasmine, a fashion editor, share a powerful and immediate connection that inevitably derails both of their lives., BELOW HER MOUTH is directed by April Mullen and stars Canadian actress, Natalie Krill and Swedish model, Erika Linder in her first acting role.

THE KILLING FLOOR follows a sequence of events while a vigilante group orders a hit man to execute the first of four drug dealers, Melvin Poon sits in his magistrate friend Billy’s offices and reflects on his life. He has no choice but to concede that he has failed. As a writer, as a farmer… as a man. Not one of his five novels, his five ‘canon’s of truth’, have been picked up for publication. He’s also in the process of losing his inheritance; a magnificent sugar estate that’s been passed down from generation to generation of Poon men. The film is written and directed by Philip Gardner and features Jonathan Pienaar, Patrick Ndlovu and Durban’s Themi Venturas.

In VICEROY’S HOUSE we see the last Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten, tasked with overseeing the transition of British India to independence, but meets with conflict as different sides clash in the face of monumental change. This year marks the 70^th anniversary of India’s independence from Britain as well as the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947.  The film stars Hugh Bonneville, Gillian Anderson, Michael Gambon, Manish Dayal and Om Puri, and is directed by Gurinder Chadha.

Videovision Entertainment also proudly returns as a sponsor of the Durban FilmMart for the eight consecutive year. The company has sponsored the “Best South African Film Project” prize since the inception of the FilmMart.  Valued at R75 000, the prize guarantees the winning film a commercial release once it is completed and includes marketing and distribution support from Videovision Entertainment. The Durban FilmMart runs from 14 to 17 July.

The full programme of the Durban International Film Festival can be accessed from: http://www.durbanfilmfest.co.za/

Photo material:

SERPENT: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fw3zyreag94h0sq/Serpent.jpg?dl=0

Caption:  Sarah Dumont and Tom Ainsley in SERPENT

BELOW HER MOUTH: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gxmc6umt9bn9h0r/Below%20Her%20Mouth.jpg?dl=0

Caption:  Erika Linder and Natalie Krill in BELOW HER MOUTH

THE KILLING FLOOR: https://www.dropbox.com/s/cssx0f0sz7k63th/The%20Killing%20Floor.jpg?dl=0

Caption:  Patrick Ndlovu and Jonathan Pienaar in THE KILLING FLOOR

VICEROY’S HOUSE: https://www.dropbox.com/s/scwvyk45frdcr39/Viceroy%27s%20House.jpg?dl=0

Caption:  Hugh Bonneville, Neeraj Kabi and Gillian Anderson in VICEROY’S HOUSE.

Ends…

Samukele Ngubane

Public Relations Manager- DIFF 2017

Unami Concepts for the Center for Creative Arts

www.durbanfilmfest.co.za

Cell: 078 556 0965 | Fax: 086 527 7254 |Email:sam@unamiconcepts.co.za