More Than Just A Game, which tells the dramatic and little-known story of organized football played among prisoners on Robben Island will be screened at the World Economic Forum on Africa which is currently underway in Cape Town. The screening will take place at the Cape Town Convention Centre in the Main Plenary Hall on Friday, 6 June at 9.00am. More Than Just A Game stars Presley Chweneyagae (Tsotsi), Wright Ngubeni (Generations), Tshepo Maseko (Isidingo), is directed by Junaid Ahmed and produced by Anant Singh and Helena Spring.
The screening of More Than Just A Game marks the continuation of an initiative started by Dr Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, to use the visual medium and motion pictures to highlight issues that affect Africa. This initiative began with the screening of the Academy Award Nominated Yesterday at the Annual Meeting of the Forum in January 2006 and was followed with the screening of Faith’s Corner at the Africa Forum in Cape Town last year.
Told through the stories of five former prisoners, More Than Just A Game follows the story of how political activists who were unjustly imprisoned on Robben Island in the 1960s rise above their incarceration by creating a football league, the Makana Football Association (Makana FA), and find an outlet for their passion and commitment to discipline through football.
Producer Anant Singh is participating in the World Economic Forum on Africa and is a panelist on the session, “Locking In The Legacy” on Thursday, 5 June 2008. This session will examine South Africa hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the social and historical legacy that it will leave behind.
Producer Anant Singh commented, “We are delighted that the Forum has elected to screen More Than Just A Game. The film has a special relevance as we advance towards the 2010 FIFA World Cup as it shows how political prisoners on Robben Island fought for the right to play football and when they were granted the privilege, they played according to strict FIFA rules. It is also appropriate for the Forum as it has programmed a session dedicated to the legacy of the World Cup in South Africa. We are very excited that More Than Just A Game has been acquired by Sony Pictures for worldwide distribution as this would ensure that the film gets a wider international audience.”
More Than Just A Game will be released on DVD later this year by Nu Metro Home Entertainment for Videovision Entertainment.
More Than Just A Game is a Videovision Entertainment production in association with Telkom Media, Filmex (Pty) Ltd, Distant Horizon, and the National Film and Video Foundation of South Africa. The film stars Presley Chweneyagae, Wright Ngubeni, Az Abrahams, Tshepo Maseko and Merlin Balie. It is executive produced by Sudhir Pragjee and Sanjeev Singh and produced by Anant Singh and Helena Spring with Chuck Korr, Lord Ted Rowlands, Double Jab Productions and Hannelie Bekker co-producing. The screenplay is by Tom Eaton and it is directed by Junaid Ahmed.
