SA hit selected for 12 overseas film festivals

The enchanting South African film Meerkat Maantuig (marketed in English as Meerkat Moonship), which opens at cinemas around South Africa today, has already been accepted for screening at 12 international film festivals. The film’s writer and director, Hanneke Schutte used the youth novella Blinde Sambok, by well-known South African writer Riana Scheepers, as a point of departure and transformed it into a cinematic story set in the wonderful woods of Magoebaskloof. The film tells the story a 13-year-old girl who believes in her family’s generational curse and is convinced she is next in line to die a premature death. Finally, she is able to overcome her fears and escape from this story, which has defined her reality. The film stars young actress Anchen du Plessis in the lead role.

Anchen, who also impressed in Vaselinetjie last year, is joined by well-known South African actors Themba Ntuli, Pierre van Pletzen and Rika Sennet, among others. The first screening of Meerkat Maantuig (the film is in Afrikaans with English subtitles) took place at the annual Silwerskerm Fees in Camps Bay, Cape Town, last year, where it was nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Production Design and Best Director. Its cinematographer, Willie Nel, walked away with the prize for Best Cinematography. The film has been officially selected by 12 prestigious international film festivals, among them the Austin Film Festival, Oxford Film Festival, Sedona Film Festival in Arizona, The Kids First Film Festival (world’s biggest) in the US, the Omaha Film Festival in Nebraska, Calcutta International Cult Film Festival and GUKIFF International Kids Film Festival in Seoul, Korea. Meerkat Maantuig opens at Baywest today.