HARDSHIP, SUFFERING, ENDURANCE – THE BRAVE ACCEPTANCE OF A CHALLENGE – AND THE PRIDE AND GLORY OF A NATION …
Dark Matter Studios (Leading Lady) and Collective Dream Films (Platteland) recently completed the production of the feature film MODDER EN BLOED. The producers would like to announce that the movie will be on cinema screens nationwide as from April 2016. Details around the production and film cast had been shrouded in secrecy for some time, but the silence can now be broken as the first promotional photographs have just been released.
Modder en Bloed relates the story of Willem Morkel (Stian Bam), a Boer warrior and family man, who lost his wife and only child during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902, killed by British soldiers. Willem is incarcerated, with other Boer prisoners-of-war, on the island St. Helena in the Atlantic Ocean. The tyrannical Colonel Swannell (Grant Swanby), a hot-headed Imperialist with a consuming hatred for the Afrikaner, is in charge of the English concentration camp.
Boer prisoners-of-war are subjected to the most brutal violence and degrading treatment. They are constantly humiliated by the British commander and his soldiers in an effort to break them down emotionally, and to physically cripple them. But, despite the untold torture they had to endure and the inhuman suffering they had to bear, their resistance and quest for vengeance, by whatever means, became stronger and stronger by the day. So, when the gauntlet was thrown down, Willem and his fellow prisoners rose to the challenge, eventually leading to sweet revenge in the most important rugby match of their lives.
The film boasts an impressive cast of both South African and British movie personalities. Some of the well-known local stars are Bok van Blerk, Albert Maritz, Michael Richard, Edwin van der Walt, Jacques Bessenger, Altus Theart and Albert Pretorius and Deon Lotz. The British cast includes Charlotte Salt (Beowulf/The Tudors), Patrick Connolly (Inferno/Crushed), Nick Cornwall (Blood Loyal/Retribution) and Josh Myers (The Sweeney / Anti-Social).
View the full cast of movie stars here: www.modderenbloedmovie.com
A Note from the Director – Sean Else:
“Handré Griessel warned me: ‘Sean. The winters in Worcester are really rough; the wind howl around the corners, it’s freezing, and it rains almost constantly.’ But I wouldn’t listen; on the contrary, I felt that such weather would be perfect for an epic, periodic movie taking place on the prisoner-of-war island of St. Helena during the Anglo-Boer War in 1901. And it turned out just like that: the wind, the sand, the rain, the mist, and the cold during the many long, stormy nights lend a truthfulness and reality to the film that money could never have bought …. and it wás rough, véry rough! But it was an experience, which brought an incredible team of people from right across the world, in front and behind the camera, closer together as a group with every project challenge they faced. In addition, Handré, his wife Esther, their parents and children and, indeed, every person in the Worcester community bent over backwards to make the impossible possible. I don’t know where to start to thank everybody for everything they have done to persevere right up to the end, until the last camera shot was taken. I can only say that I take immense pride in the whole team and the movie that we created together and fashioned into reality. I cannot wait to share this story with the whole world” – Sean Else, Director.
Filming took place in the Worcester area and parts of Cape Town
MODDER EN BLOED is presented in association with kykNET Films and the DTI. The movie will be released locally on 1 April 2016 and will be distributed by Ster-Kinekor Entertainment.
Social media platforms:
Twitter: @bloodglorymovie
Instagram: bloodglorymovie
#ModderEnBloedMovie
#OpgeeNooit
