The Harvesters (film)

Last updated

The Harvesters
The Harvesters.png
Film poster
Directed by Etienne Kallos
Written byEtienne Kallos
Produced bySophie Erbs
Michael Auret
Thembisa Cochrane
Etienne Kallos
Giorgos Karnavas
Mariusz Wlodarski
Annette Fausboll
Julien Favre
Jean-Alexandre Luciani
StarringMorné Visser
Juliana Venter
Brent Vermeulen
Alex van Dyk
Erika Wessels
CinematographyMichal Englert
Edited byMuriel Breton
Music byEvgueni Galperine
Distributed byPyramide International
Release date
  • 14 May 2018 (2018-05-14)(Cannes)
Running time
102 minutes
CountrySouth Africa
LanguageAfrikaans

The Harvesters (Afrikaans : Die Stropers) is a 2018 internationally co-produced drama film written and directed by Etienne Kallos. Set in rural South Africa, the film follows the coming of age of Janno, a shy 15-year-old farm boy who must contend with the arrival of a sudden new addition to the family and the desires this awakens within him.

Contents

The setting and storyline were inspired by Kallos' travels around the remote Eastern Free State region of the country and his encounters with farm families there. The film is a psychological drama that explores themes of belonging, sexual identity and masculinity. [1] [2]

The film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. [3] [4]

Plot

South Africa, Free State region, isolated stronghold of the Afrikaans white ethnic minority culture. In this conservative farming territory obsessed with strength and masculinity, Janno (Brent Vermeulen) is different, secretive, emotionally frail. One day his mother (Juliana Venter), fiercely religious, brings home Pieter (Alex van Dyk), a hardened street orphan she wants to save, and asks Janno to makes this stranger into his brother. The two boys start a fight for power, heritage and parental love. [5]

Cast

Production

The film's script grew out of Kallos' desire to explore adolescence through the lens of the first generation to be born outside of the apartheid system since its end in 1995. He used award money from the Golden Lion he won at the Venice Film Festival for his short Firstborn (2009) to help fund research trips to the Eastern Free State. [6]

Kallos told The Writing Studio, “the experience of fracture is important to me as a storyteller, to love and hate in the same breath, to belong and be a stranger at the same time: You grow up oblivious and then, suddenly, as a teenager, you realise that you don’t really belong in your family, in your community, in your culture.” [6]

The two lead actors, Brent Vermeulen and Alex van Dyk, were cast locally, with Vermuelen not being cast for the lead role until two weeks before production began. [6]

The film was shot in the Free State with an international crew hailing from South Africa, Greece, Poland and France. [7]

The soundtrack was composed by French composers Evgueni and Sasha Galperine, and won a Cannes Soundtrack Award. [7]

Reception

The Harvesters won the Rome Film Festival's Jury Prize for Best First Film. [7] [8] At its Cannes premiere, the film received a standing ovation from the audience. [2]

In a favourable review, the Hollywood Reporter described it as "yet another incisive exploration of one of the numerous and complex facets of masculinity in South African culture." [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afrikaans</span> West Germanic language

Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It evolved from the Dutch vernacular of South Holland spoken by the predominantly Dutch settlers and enslaved population of the Dutch Cape Colony, where it gradually began to develop distinguishing characteristics in the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

<i>Egoli: Place of Gold</i> South African TV series or programme

Egoli: Place of Gold was a bilingual South African soap opera which first aired on M-Net on 6 April 1992. South African television's first daily soap opera, on 3 December 1999 Egoli became the first South African television programme in any genre to reach 2,000 episodes. As of 3 August 2007, 4,000 episodes had aired. Egoli: Place of Gold aired its final episode on 31 March 2010, after 18 years of acting from South African and international actors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hoërskool Waterkloof</span> Public & boarding school in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

Hoërskool Waterkloof is a public Afrikaans medium co-educational high school situated in the eastern suburbs of Pretoria in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is one of the most expensive Afrikaans medium schools, the fee per child amounting to R 32,400 per annum. It has received the award for academic school of the year from the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) in 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. In 2018, it received the award for best academic school in Gauteng province, the ninth time since 2009. It claims a 100% matric pass rate for 30 consecutive years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African literature</span> Literature of South Africa

South African literature is the literature of South Africa, which has 11 national languages: Afrikaans, English, Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, Pedi, Tswana, Venda, Swazi, Tsonga and Ndebele.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Cameron Michael</span> South African actor (born 1969)

Sean Cameron Michael is a South African actor, writer and singer. A native English speaker, he is also fluent in Afrikaans.

<i>Sarafina!</i> (film) 1992 American film

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.

<i>Beauty</i> (2011 film) 2011 film

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maks van Dyk</span> South African rugby union player

Nicolaas Johannes John "Maks" van Dyk is a South African professional rugby union player for Houston Sabercats. His regular position is prop.

Khwezi Jongamazizi Mona is a South African rugby union player for Griquas in the Currie Cup and in the Rugby Challenge. His regular position is prop.

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. 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.

Carolus Johannes Reinecke was the rector of the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, situated in Potchefstroom, South Africa.

David Millin was a South African film director, cinematographer and film producer. He has produced various Afrikaans and English films about his career. He has been a member of the American Society of Cinematographers since 1972, the first member from South Africa belonging to the organization. In 1994 he was honored by M-Net for his lifetime contribution to the industry and in 1997 he was also honored by SASC / Kodak for his contribution. He was famous for his spectacular depictions, large war scenes and his dry sense of humor.

The Silwerskerm Film Festival, usually called the Silwerskerm Fees, is a film festival held annually in Camps Bay, South Africa. The festival has been held every August since 2010 and is one of the only Afrikaans film festivals in the world.

<i>Moffie</i> 2019 South African LGBT drama war film

Moffie is a 2019 biographical war romantic drama film co-written and directed by Oliver Hermanus. Based on the autobiographical novel of the same name by André Carl van der Merwe, the film depicts mandatory conscription into the notorious South African Defence Force (SADF) during apartheid through the eyes of a young closeted character Nicholas van der Swart as he attempts to hide his attraction to another gay recruit in a hostile environment. The title derives from a homophobic slur in South Africa used to police masculinity.

Marcel van Heerden is a South African actor and director. He is best known for his roles in the popular films The Flyer, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and White Wedding.

Crystal-Donna Roberts is a South African actress, presenter, and writer. She is best known for her roles in the films The Endless River (2015) and Krotoa (2017).

Brent Vermeulen is a South African actor. His films include The Harvesters (2018), Griekwastad (2019), and Glasshouse (2021). On television, he is known for his roles in Alles Malan (2019–) and Spoorloos: Steynhof (2021).

Etienne Kallos is a South African filmmaker best known for directing the 2018 film The Harvesters.

References

  1. 1 2 "'The Harvesters' ('Die Stropers'): Film Review | Cannes 2018". The Hollywood Reporter. 16 May 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Die Stropers is the latest South African gay themed film heading to cinemas". MambaOnline - Gay South Africa online. 26 February 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  3. ↑ "The 2018 Official Selection". Cannes. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  4. ↑ "Cannes Lineup Includes New Films From Spike Lee, Jean-Luc Godard". Variety. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  5. ↑ The Harvesters , retrieved 9 July 2019
  6. 1 2 3 Dercksen, Daniel (10 March 2019). "Writer-director Etienne Kallos talks about Die Stropers (The Harvesters)". The Writing Studio. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  7. 1 2 3 Ellaya, Chanelle (30 April 2019). "Behind the scenes of Die Stropers (The Harvesters)". Screen Africa. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  8. ↑ "The Audience Award at Rome Film Fest goes to The Vice of Hope". Cineuropa - the best of european cinema. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.