Darrell Roodt | |
---|---|
Born | Darrell James Roodt 28 April 1962 |
Nationality | South African |
Citizenship | South African |
Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter, producer [1] |
Years active | 1985–present |
Known for | Sarafina! |
Darrell James Roodt (born in Johannesburg, 28 April 1962) 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. [2] 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 .
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Darrell James Roodt grew up during the height of apartheid-era South Africa. His early films like Place of Weeping strongly condemned apartheid. Roodt was astounded that no one was addressing the conditions of apartheid through the medium of film, thus Place of Weeping is considered to be the first overtly anti-apartheid film made by a South African. Roodt is quoted as saying "I didn’t do it from a leftist, agit-prop point of view, rather, I tried to explore characters caught up in quagmire of those turbulent times. Consequently I was never celebrated (for want of a better word) as a leftist film-maker." [3]
His film Sarafina! was screened out of competition at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival. [4] His 2012 film Little One was selected as the South African entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist. [5]
His 2007 film Meisie won best film at the KKNK film festival in March 2008.
Roodt has won an EIUC Award at the Venice Film Festival (2004) and the Taormina Arte Award at the Taormina International Film Festival (2000) [6]
His film Yesterday (2004) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film as well as the Independent Spirit Awards for Best Foreign Film (2005).
Leleti Khumalo is a South African actress known for her leading role in the movie and stage play Sarafina! and for her roles in other films such as Hotel Rwanda, Yesterday and Invictus, as well as the soap opera Imbewu: The Seed where she plays Nokubonga "MaZulu" Bhengu and on Uzalo as MaNzuza.
Hugh Ramapolo Masekela was a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, singer and composer who was described as "the father of South African jazz". Masekela was known for his jazz compositions and for writing well-known anti-apartheid songs such as "Soweto Blues" and "Bring Him Back Home". He also had a number-one US pop hit in 1968 with his version of "Grazing in the Grass".
Mbongeni Ngema was a South African playwright, lyricist, composer, director, choreographer, and theatre producer, best known for co-writing the 1981 play Woza Albert! and co-writing the 1988 musical Sarafina!. He was known for plays that reflected the spirit of black South Africans under apartheid, and won much praise for his work, but was also the subject of several controversies. He died in a car accident on 27 December 2023.
Events from the year 1962 in South Africa. This year is notable for its internal and international resistance campaigns against the country's Apartheid legislation. Umkhonto we Sizwe, the militant wing of the African National Congress, made its first sabotage attacks in 1961, and Nelson Mandela traveled to Ethiopia to rally support for Umkhonto and justify the attacks. Nelson Mandela was sentenced to jail for 5 years upon returning to South Africa for illegally leaving the country. The international sporting community also showed its displeasure with the government's laws. FIFA suspended South Africa in 1962 for fielding an exclusively-white South African national football team, forcing South African football authorities to add black players to the team. The government, in turn strengthened methods of enforcing Apartheid, and the Robben Island prison was made a political prison in 1962.
Sarafina! is a South African musical by Mbongeni Ngema and Hugh Masekela depicting students involved in the Soweto Riots, in opposition to apartheid. It was also adapted into a 1992 film starring Whoopi Goldberg and Leleti Khumalo. Sarafina! premiered on Broadway on 28 January 1988, at the Cort Theatre, and closed on 2 July 1989, after 597 performances and 11 previews. The musical was conceived and directed by Mbongeni Ngema, who also wrote the book. He wrote the music and lyrics alongside Hugh Masekela. The play was first presented at The Market Theatre, Johannesburg, South Africa, in June 1987. The cast included Leleti Khumalo as Sarafina.
A World Apart is a 1988 anti-apartheid drama film and directed by Chris Menges and starring Barbara Hershey, David Suchet, Jeroen Krabbé, Paul Freeman, Tim Roth, and Jodhi May. Written by Shawn Slovo, it is based on the lives of Slovo's parents, Ruth First and Joe Slovo. The film was a co-production between companies from the UK and Zimbabwe, where it was filmed. It features Hans Zimmer's first non-collaborative film score.
Cry, the Beloved Country is a 1995 South African-American drama film directed by Darrell Roodt, based on the novel Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. It stars James Earl Jones and Richard Harris.
Voices of Sarafina! is a 1988 American documentary film about the anti-apartheid musical stage play Sarafina! directed by Nigel Noble. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival.
Nigel Noble is an English sound mixer, film director and producer. He won an Academy Award in 1982 for Close Harmony in the category of Best Documentary Short Subject. Seven years later his film Voices of Sarafina! was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival.
Friends is a 1993 South African drama film directed by Elaine Proctor. It was entered into the 1993 Cannes Film Festival, where it won an award for Caméra d'Or Special Distinction. The film is set during apartheid in Johannesburg and follows three friends who each represent a different faction of South African society.
Linda Mvusi is an actress and architect. Mvusi took an award for best actress at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival for her role in the film A World Apart which was directed by Chris Menges. Mvusi was the first South African to get a best Actress award at Cannes. Mvusi also shared in an award for excellence for her architecture on the Apartheid Museum.
Sarafina! is a 1992 musical drama film based on Mbongeni Ngema's 1987 musical of the same name. The film was directed by Darrell Roodt and written by Ngema and William Nicholson, and stars Leleti Khumalo, Miriam Makeba, John Kani, Ngema, and Whoopi Goldberg; Khumalo reprises her role from the stage performance.
Beauty is a 2011 South African film co-written and directed by Oliver Hermanus. It premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. The film was selected as the South African entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist.
Winnie Mandela is a 2011 South African-Canadian historical drama film starring Jennifer Hudson and Terrence Howard as Winnie and Nelson Mandela. Based on Anne Marie du Preez Bezrob's biography Winnie Mandela: A Life, the film is directed by Darrell Roodt and co-stars Wendy Crewson, Elias Koteas and Justin Strydom. Image Entertainment released the film in theaters on September 6, 2013. It received generally negative reviews.
Little One is a 2012 South African drama film directed by Darrell Roodt. The film was selected as the South African entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist.
Oliver Hermanus is a South African film director and writer. He is known for his films Shirley Adams (2009), Beauty (Skoonheid) (2011), The Endless River (2015), Moffie (2019), and Living (2022). Beauty won the Queer Palm Award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
Jump the Gun is a 1996 South African film directed by Les Blair for Channel Four Films. The film follows six diverse, working class individuals as they try and establish themselves in the newly democratic South Africa. Les Blair's quintessentially British Kitchen sink realism is applied to a South African context. The film stars Baby Cele, Lionel Newton, and Michele Burgers amongst others. Characters were built from the ground up with South African actors by using improvisation.
The Lullaby is a 2017 South African horror film directed by Darrell Roodt and co-produced by Samuel Frauenstein and Andre Frauenstein Snr. The film stars Reine Swart with Thandi Puren, Brandon Auret, Deànré Reiners, and Dorothy Ann Gould in supporting roles. The film tells the story of 19-year-old mom, Chloe van Heerden, who struggled to dealing with her super critical mother, Ruby, where she finally ends in a paranoia that sends Chloe into a dark depression. This is the first purely South African film production to release theatrically in the USA. Rotten Tomatoes ranked the film as the 17th Best Horror Movie for 2018.
Place of Weeping, is a 1986 South African drama film directed by Darrell Roodt and produced by Anant Singh for Place of Weeping Productions. The film stars James Whyle, Gcina Mhlophe and Charles Comyn in the lead roles whereas Norman Coombes, Michelle du Toit, Kerneels Coertzen and Patrick Shai made supportive roles. The film describes in detail about the multicultural groups in South Africa and how South Africa collapsed by the works of South Africans and the strife in South Africa's oppressive regime.
Mutodi Neshehe, was a South African actor and model. He is best known for the roles in the television serials and soap operas such as Muvhango, Generations the legacy, Jacob's Cross, Skwizas and Broken Vows.