Sanjeev Singh, Director of Acquisition and Distribution for Videovision Entertainment announced today the acquisition of the films Made in Dagenham, Super and Kaboom ahead of their screenings at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival which takes place from 9 to 19 September 2010. The Bang Bang Club which was shot in South Africa last year will have its World Premiere in Toronto with a Gala Screening on 15 September.
Made in Dagenham follows Rita O’Grady who is the catalyst for the 1968 Ford Dagenham strike by 187 sewing machinists which led to the advent of the Equal Pay Act. Working in extremely impoverished conditions for long arduous hours which they must balance with their domestic lives, the women at the Ford Dagenham plant finally lose their patience when they are reclassified as “unskilled”. With humour, common sense and courage they take on their corporate paymasters, an increasingly belligerent local community, and finally the government itself. The leader of the women’s struggle is fast-talking, no nonsense Rita whose fiery temper and occasionally hilarious unpredictability proves to be a match for any of her male opponents, and is echoed by Barbara Castle’s struggle in the male-dominated House of Commons.
Super focuses on Frank, an average guy who transforms himself into superhero, The Crimson Bolt, after his wife Sarah hooks up with a smooth-talking drug dealer, Jacques. What Frank lacks in superpowers, he makes up for with a trusty wrench in his one-man war on crime. But every superhero needs a sidekick. Enter Libby, a cute psychopath working at the local comic book store. Transforming into “Boltie”, Libby teams up with Frank to take Jacques down. From the surprising imagination of writer-director James Gunn (Slither) comes Bolt and Boltie, a crazed crime fighting duo for the XBox generation. They’re here to save the day, or at least to beat you up. The film stars Rainn Wilson, Liv Tyler, Ellen Page and Kevin Bacon.
Kaboom, directed by Gregg Araki and which stars Thomas Dekker, Haley Bennett, Chris Zylka, Roxane Mesquida and Juno Temple, had its World Premiere in Cannes earlier this year. The film focuses on Smith’s everyday life in the dorms – hanging out with his arty, sarcastic best friend Stella, hooking up with a beautiful free spirit named London, lusting for his gorgeous but dim surfer roommate Thor – all gets turned upside-down after one fateful night.
The Bang Bang Club is based on the book of the same title, and chronicles the journey of photographer Greg Marinovich, from a broken home in a privileged Johannesburg suburb, to Pulitzer-Prize-winning photographer in the heart of the bloodiest combat zones of apartheid South Africa. It the story of four young South African photojournalists who come of age on the front lines of this so-called Hidden War. In a world inclined not to care, their shocking images shine a light on the unfolding human tragedy in the dying days of apartheid South Africa. The Bang Bang Club is directed by Steven Silver and stars Ryan Phillippe, Malin Akerman, Taylor Kitsch, Frank Rautenbach, Ashley Mulheron and a host of South African actors.
Commenting on the acquisitions, Singh said, “We have been tracking Made in Dagenham, Super and Kaboom from script stage and we are delighted that we have been able to conclude a distribution deal prior to their Toronto screenings. We are confident that Made in Dagenham will receive both BAFTA and Academy Award nominations and we will be releasing the film in January 2011. The Bang Bang Club will be released in South Africa in February 2011.”
Made in Dagenham, Super, Kaboom and The Bang Bang Club will be released by Videovision Entertainment through United International Pictures (South Africa).
