The ground-breaking isiZulu feature film, Yesterday scored another triumph on Tuesday night when it had its North American Premiere at a Special Gala Screening at the Toronto International Film Festival. The Toronto audience broke into a spontaneous applause at the end of the screening, much to the delight of lead star Leleti Khumalo, writer / director, Darrell James Roodt and producers Anant Singh and Helena Spring who were present at the event. Yesterday also had a Gala Presentation at the 61st Venice International Film Festival where it won the inaugural Human Rights Film Award.
Anant Singh announced from Toronto today, that HBO Films has acquired Yesterday for distribution in the United States where it will be released in January 2005 through Fine Line, the speciality film division of New Line Cinema, the company that produced and distributed the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. HBO Films is the film production and distribution unit of the cable television network Home Box Office (HBO), producer of the hit TV show Sex and The City. HBO Films began producing films solely for its cable channel, but now distributes its films to cinemas through a partnership with New Line Cinema and its Fine Line specialty film division. The multi-award winning Maria Full Of Grace is among HBO Films’ recent successes.
“Yesterday has garnered positive reactions since its World Premiere at the Durban International Film Festival in June. We are thrilled that international audiences from Bangkok to Venice, and now Toronto have responded so positively to the film,” commented Anant Singh. “We are also pleased to have concluded a deal with HBO Films for the international distribution of Yesterday. I have a long association with the HBO team and I am confident that Yesterday is the best hands for international distribution,” continued Singh.
Colin Callendar, President of HBO Films commented, “We are happy to have concluded a deal for the distribution of Yesterday in the United States. We are certain that the film has great potential in the United States.”
Yesterday is a Videovision Entertainment production in association with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, M-Net, The National Film And Video Foundation and Distant Horizon. The music for Yesterday was composed by Madala Kunene and it is executive produced by Sudhir Pragjee and Sanjeev Singh, produced by Anant Singh and Helena Spring and written and directed by Darrell James Roodt. The film was shot on location in KwaZulu Natal.
Photographs from the Toronto Special Screening may be downloaded from: www.yesterdaythemovie.co.za/photography.
