Christopher-lee dos Santos | |
|---|---|
 Dos Santos on the set of Last Broken Darkness | |
| Born | 2 April 1984 |
| Occupation | Film Director |
| Years active | 2009–present |
Christopher-Lee dos Santos is a South African film director and screenwriter perhaps best known for the 2013 independent film Angel of the Skies.
Dos Santos graduated in Honours from the African Film and Drama Academy (AFDA) in South Africa in 2008, majoring in directing and screenwriting and minoring in psychology and sociology. During his school years, dos Santos wrote and directed over 10 short films, and during his third year of studies, completely independent of his film school, he wrote and co-directed a 50+ minute short feature, Brothers in Arms, which aired on MNET in 2006. He also had early work as a set decorator on Neill Blomkamp's unfinished Halo (series), and in working on visual effects for such short films as In a Place Without Love. [1]
Dos Santos was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1984. He is the brother of director Robert dos Santos.
In 2007, for his graduation student film, Dos Santos wrote and directed At Thy Call, an award-winning short film about ethnic tension and military discipline in the South African Defence Force. The student film was produced for R40 000 ($2400) and screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008, [2] [3] as well as screening at Cape Winelands Film Festival, Durban International Film Festival and Coal Stove Festival, where it won best Visual effects, Best Cinematography and best short film. [4] Fidel Namisi went on to write "The grand finale was at Thy Call, by Chris Dos Santos (DS Films). Having screened another film of Chris's at Off the Shelf last year (the Coal Stove Award-winning Ortega Prospekt), At thy Call was a study in the development of the personal style of Chris as a filmmaker. If there is one word that could be used to describe Chris, it would have to be gutsy. Why else would a kid from AFDA make a historical war epic that explores racial tensions between Afrikaners and Englishmen during the border wars of the 1980s? [5] Dos Santos has also directed various music videos in South Africa, including "Guinness" by the Sunday Punchers [6] and "Turning in My Sleep" by Prime Circle. [7] He has directed two international feature films, namely Angel of the Skies and Last. Broken. Darkness.
Dos Santos got his first short feature film (56 minutes) debut at the age of 22 when his independent film Brothers in Arms: 1978, was aired on the national broadcasting network M-Net in South Africa in 2006. Dos Santos wrote, co produced and directed the film with Dino Pappas, [8] a long time friend and collaborator. Dos Santos was still in film school at the time of its completion. The film went on to win awards at the Apollo film festival and KKNK (Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees) festival in Western Cape that same year. [9] [10] [11]
In 2011, at the age of 26, dos Santos directed Angel of the Skies, his first full-length independent feature film, which he also wrote. Angel of the Skies follows the story of South African Air Force pilot, Earl Kirk, played by Nicholas van der Bijl, who volunteers to fly for the British Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He and his diverse commonwealth bomber crew find themselves behind enemy lines when their stricken aircraft crash lands in Nazi occupied Europe. Hunted down by SS soldiers, led by Stutze (David James , District 9 ), their attempt to return home is challenged, and a story emerges to reveal the heart of friendship in the face of death. [12]
The film was produced by Andrew MacDonald, and executive produced by Diony Kempen and dos Santos. The film was a joint co-production between Welela Studios and DS Films Entertainment, the latter being dos Santos' own production house. The cast included fellow AFDA film students Nic Van Der Bijl, Jason Glanville, Brad Backhouse, Andre Frauenstein, Ryan Dittman, Nic Rasenti and introduced Australian actress Lillie Claire and fellow Australian Adam Boys. dos Santos cast David James as the film's antagonist. The film was shot entirely in Gauteng, South Africa in 19 days, on Canon 7D HDSLR cameras with a budget of $30,000. The film took dos Santos four years to complete from when he first started writing in 2009 till completion in 2013. Due to the small budget, and being inspired by Robert Rodriguez' book, A Rebel Without a Crew, dos Santos taught himself 3d animation and visual effects during 2009 and 2010, thus enabling him to create the visual effects for the film himself. [12] Filming of Angel of the Skies took place in August 2011 and was shot on locations such as the South African Air Force Museum, Air Force Base Swartkop and Cullinan area. [13] [14]
Angel of the Skies was picked up by Kaleidoscope Film Distribution in the United Kingdom in March 2013. The film was then shown at the Marché du Film at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival with Kaleidoscope acting as the films worldwide sales agent. Together, the film was successful in securing distribution in 27 international territories, a first for dos Santos. These territories include United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada, Brazil, Italy, Korea, Japan, Germany, Australia and most of Europe. The film never secured a release in South Africa, dos Santos' home territory.
Since the release of Angel of the Skies in 2013, dos Santos has been praised for his ability to make his projects look more expensive than they cost to produce.[ citation needed ] In an interview for Tonight's magazine IOL, dos Santos was asked by having achieved so much with a low budget, what advice he'd give aspiring film-makers. His response was “Don’t give up. Stick to your guns. People will say you can’t do it, but don’t listen to them. In fact, people told me I wouldn’t do it. I stuck through it and I believed in it, it took me four years and it does pay off. The film got international distribution. So it’s great that it’s playing worldwide.” [15]
Angel of the Skies was released in Germany on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD (video on demand) on 19 November 2013 under the title "Wings of Honour" [16] as well as being released in the United Kingdom on similar platforms on 4 November 2013 under the title "Battle for the Skies". The film was released under its proper title, Angel of the Skies, in the USA on 31 December 2013 through distributor eOne [17] through DVD, Blu-ray, and various online platforms such as iTunes, Microsoft Store, and Netflix in Canada.
In March 2014, dos Santos began writing his 2nd feature film, titled Last Broken Darkness. [18] Principal photography started a year later on May 6, 2015, for a period of 27 shooting days. The film was shot entirely in Johannesburg South Africa, and stars Sean Cameron Michael, Brandon Auret, Brendan Murray and introduces newcomer Suraya Rose Santos. [19]
Last Broken Darkness first played to a public audience in February 2017 at the Boston Sci-Fi film festival, the oldest and longest running genre film festival of its kind, which screens over 100 genre films during the 10-day festival. The film was well received, winning two awards, namely best performance for Sean Cameron Michael and best screenplay for dos Santos. [20]
In late 2017, at the SASC (South African Society of Cinematographers) awards dinner, the very prestigious Visible Spectrum award for best cinematography in a feature film, the highest accolade given by the SASC, was awarded to cinematographer William Collinson, for his exemplary work on Last Broken Darkness. [21] [22] [20] Collinson worked extremely close with dos Santos during both pre production and production of the film, helping create the beautiful dystopian post apocalyptic world that dos Santos wanted his story to take place in.
| Year | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Brothers in Arms – 1978 | Short feature |
| 2006 | Ortega Prospekt | Student short Film |
| 2008 | At Thy Call | Student Short Film |
| 2011 | Angel of the Skies | 1st feature film |
| 2015 | Last Broken Darkness | 2nd feature film |
| Year | Band | Song title | Record label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Changing Face | Forgiveness | Sting Music [23] |
| 2010 | Evolver One | The World's Gone Crazy | David Gresham Records |
| 2010 | Evolver One | Stand | David Gresham Records |
| 2010 | Evolver One | Criminal | David Gresham Records |
| 2010 | Prime Circle | Turning in My Sleep | EMI |
| 2011 | Saving Silence | Somehow | David Gresham Records |
| 2011 | Splinter Town | Calling You | Independent |
| 2011 | Juje | My Need | Black Diamond Group |
| 2012 | Colombia's Finest | Gypsy Wand | Independent |
| 2012 | Sunday Punchers | Guinness | Independent |
| 2013 | LOSTLY | If Not You, Who? | Discovery World Label |
| 2013 | Lady Zee – EDIT | Can't Sing My Song | |
| 2014 | The Duchess | Right Beside Me | Independent |
| 2014 | The Duchess | Raising the Roof promo | Independent |
| 2014 | LOSTLY | No Direction Home | Discovery World Label |
| 2015 | Marno Van der Merwe | Huil Vir My | Eikonik Records |
| 2015 | Marno Van der Merwe | O my Liefde | Eikonik Records |
Hugh Hudson is an English film director. He was among a generation of British directors who would begin their career making documentaries and television commercials before going on to have success in films. He directed the 1981 Academy Award and BAFTA Award Best Picture Chariots of Fire, a film ranked 19th in the British Film Institute's list of Top 100 British films. He continued to direct commercials while making films, which included the British Airways face advertisement from 1989 made in collaboration with London-based advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi.
Nelson Pereira dos Santos was a Brazilian film director. He directed films such as Vidas Secas, based on the book with the same name by Brazilian writer Graciliano Ramos.
Albert Lamorisse was a French filmmaker, film producer, and writer of award-winning short films which he began making in the late 1940s. He also invented the strategic board game Risk in 1957.
AFDA is a private Higher Education institution that offers courses in film, television, performance, business innovation and technology, radio and podcasting. It has campuses located in Auckland Park, Johannesburg; Observatory, Cape Town; Durban North, Durban and Central, Port Elizabeth. It offers higher certificates, undergraduate degrees and postgraduate degrees. These include the following:
The 55th Cannes Film Festival started on 15 May and ran until 26 May 2002. The Palme d'Or went to the Polish-French-German-British co-produced film The Pianist directed by Roman Polanski.
Jonathan Liebesman is a South African film director and writer.
The 28th Cannes Film Festival was held from 9 to 23 May 1975. The Palme d'Or went to the Chronique des Années de Braise by Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina. In 1975, a new section, "Les Yeux fertiles", which was non-competitive, was introduced. This section, along with sections "L'Air du temps" and "Le Passé composé" of the next two years, were integrated into Un Certain Regard in 1978.
Sean Cameron Michael is a South African actor, writer and singer. A native English speaker, he is also fluent in Afrikaans.
Darrell James Roodt is a South African film director, screenwriter and producer. He is probably most well known for his 1992 film Sarafina! which starred actress Whoopi Goldberg. Also regarded as South Africa's most prolific film director, Roodt has worked with the late Patrick Swayze in Father Hood, James Earl Jones in Cry, the Beloved Country and Ice Cube in Dangerous Ground.
The 10th Cannes Film Festival was held from 2 to 17 May 1957.
The 43rd Cannes Film Festival was held from 10 to 21 May 1990. The Palme d'Or went to Wild at Heart by David Lynch.
The 37th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 23 May 1984. The Palme d'Or went to the Paris, Texas by Wim Wenders.
My Home Is Copacabana is a 1965 Swedish drama film directed by Arne Sucksdorff. It was entered into the 1965 Cannes Film Festival and the 4th Moscow International Film Festival. Sucksdorff won the award for Best Director at the 2nd Guldbagge Awards.
Felix van Groeningen is a Belgian film director and screenwriter. He is known for The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012) and Belgica (2016), with the former being nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards. He made his English-language debut with the biographical drama Beautiful Boy (2018).
Deon Lotz is a South African film, television, and theatre actor. He is perhaps best known internationally for roles in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and Beauty (Skoonheid). He has appeared in both English- and Afrikaans-language productions.
Oliver Hermanus is a South African film director and writer. His films include Shirley Adams (2009), Beauty (Skoonheid) (2011), The Endless River (2015), and Moffie (2019). His film Beauty won the Queer Palm Award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
Jarryd Coetsee is a South African writer and filmmaker. His short film, The Suit won numerous international awards.
Daryne Joshua, is a South African filmmaker. He is best known as the director of critically acclaimed films Noem My Skollie and Ellen: Die storie van Ellen Pakkies. Apart from filmmaking, he is also a philanthropist, editor, animation designer, sound designer, media and communication director.
Jamie D. RamsaySASC is a South African cinematographer. He was nominated for a British Independent Film Award for his work on the film Moffie (2019). He appeared on the 2021 Variety list of 10 Cinematographers to Watch.
Robert dos Santos is a South African-born Portuguese director. Dos Santos initially studied and practiced law before leaving the profession to pursue filmmaking.