24/08/2017
MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
24 August 2017
Of Good Report revives community big screen in PE townships
Community cinema is gaining steam in Nelson Mandela Bay as award-winning film producer Luzuko Dilima screens his internationally acclaimed film this weekend. The move is reminiscent of old time bioscopes in community halls in townships in the 1980’s.
Screenings of the multi-award winning debut from Dilima, “Of Good Report”, will be held at the Walmer Township in Port Elizabeth on Friday the 25th, 26th, and 27th August 2017 at Ekunyamezeleni Resource Centre within the Walmer Library. There will be three screenings per day at 14:00, 16:00 and 18:00.
It will be the seventh time that the film will be screened to a community audience since Dilima launched the initiative in recent years. The film has been screened in KwaLanga Township in Cape Town, Veeplaas and New Brighton Townships Port Elizabeth in addition to two screenings in the inner city.
The screenings are facilitated by a distribution company owned by Dilima’s New Brighton Pictures, Afree Cinema. It follows his successful securing of a distribution licence two years ago. “The idea behind “Afree Cinema” is to bring good quality films to communities at affordable prices,” says Dilima.
“It allows us to not only contribute to audience development initiatives but also broaden access to quality local and international products made by independent film makers given the challenges experienced with platforms dominated by conglomerates,” adds Dilima.
Of Good Report scooped a national South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTA) in the Best Feature Film category ahead of the big budget Mandela: A Long Walk to Freedom in 2014. It won awards across the world. It Won Best Feature Film at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles and had nominations at Toronto International Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival alongside Tom Hanks’ Captain Phillips all in 2013.
Screening the film in Townships is of critical importance especially at a time when there is a high rate of gender-based violence and the abuse and exploitation of young women by powerful individuals in society.
The film provides critical social commentary on the phenomenon of “blessers” in the wake of the recent protests. It also exposes how young girls in relationships with elderly men often find themselves pregnant before time, abused, and end up getting killed at times.
The film is mainly in IsiXhosa, a language spoken by the majority of people in the community and uses powerful characters which communities will recognise with. “This is the start of even greater things in the city and the Province. The idea has already aroused the interest of film stakeholders in the country and will grow to other areas as soon as discussions with investors are finalised,” says Dilima.
Ends
Issued by Truesight Communications on behalf of Afree Cinema and New Brighton Pictures. For more information, please Luzuko Dilima on 0760156827. For more information about upcoming screenings, the Facebook of the company can be followed on: https://www.facebook.com/AfreeCinema/.
About Afree Cinema
Afree Cinema is a subsidiary of New Brighton Pictures which is aimed at providing “local community-based cinema for township and rural folk. It brings state-of-the-art High Definition digital cinema providing alternative entertainment, and a welcoming, sociable and fun place to go.
Afree Cinema Previous Screenings!
• “Of Good Report” screening for International Students at Nelson Mandela University (in partnership with the Centre For Non-Racialism and Democracy)
• “Of Good Report” screening at Guga Sithebe in Kwa Langa – Cape Town.
• “Proudly Nelson Mandela Bay Film Screenings” at Tramways Building (in partnership with MBDA)
• Mandela Bay Festival “Film Program” at Roof Garden Bar (in partnership with NMBM- Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture)
• “Taking Cinema To Ekasi” OGR screenings at Nangoza Jebe in New Brighton (in partnership with MBDA)
• “Film Against Under-Age Drinking” at Paterson High School (in partnership with Future Leaders - a television show on SABC 1)
• “100 Year Commemoration of the Sinking of the Mendi” at Tramways Building and Art Museum (commissioned by MBDA)
Delivering the magic of African cinema to our local communities
