19/08/2017
Movie I shot the EPK for last year.
ITS WITH GREAT NEWS WE WOULD LIKE TO INFORM YOU AND THANK-YOU FOR ALL THE GREAT WORK AND SUPPORT - THE NUMBER IS GOING TO TORONTO…..WITHOUT YOUR GREAT WORK IT WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE.
KHALO MATABANE’S ‘THE NUMBER’ TO HAVE WORLD PREMIERE AT THE TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
The latest film from award-winning director, Khalo Matabane, THE NUMBER, has been selected for the 42nd Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) where it will have its World Premiere, it was announced today. The Festival is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually and is acknowledged as the second most high profile, after the Cannes Film Festival.
Khalo Matabane is widely recognised as one of South African leading directors and is known for films such as State of Violence, Conversations on a Sunday Afternoon and Nelson Mandela: The Myth and Me.
Produced by Born Free Media and Videovision Entertainment, THE NUMBER features an impressive lineup of South African talent which includes Mothusi Magano in the lead as Magadien, Warren Masemola, Sibusiso Msimang, Presley Chwenegyagae, Lemogang Tsipa, Kevin Smith, and Deon Lotz. The internationally acclaimed Terry Pheto and Hakeem Kae-Kazim make guest appearances.
“It is a huge honour to have THE NUMBER selected by one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world,” said Matabane. “The film has been a work of passion for me and it is very rewarding to have the world premiere in Toronto,” added Matabane.
Producer, Carolyn Carew said, “We worked tirelessly over the last four years to bring this story to screen and it is a great honour to be selected to screen in the Contemporary World Cinema section of TIFF with 49 films from around the world, only two of which are from Africa.”
Executive Producer, Anant Singh commented, “The selection of THE NUMBER by TIFF recognizes Khalo as one of South Africa’s essential directors. We are delighted to have had the opportunity to work with him and we believe that he is one of the most talented directors in the country and has crafted an amazing film. We at Videovision Entertainment are proud to have supported the production in our home province of KwaZulu-Natal and THE NUMBER marks the eleventh film we have shot in the province.”
The film is inspired by Jonny Steinberg's award-winning non-fiction novel, The Number, with its big screen adaptation by Paul Ian Johnson revealing the origins of the fearsome numbers gangs that operate in prisons throughout South Africa.
THE NUMBER is the extraordinary tale of the nigh-impossible redemption of high-ranking Magadien, a Magistrate of the 28’s, one of the notorious Numbers prison gangs. It charts his journey as a man who finds his humanity – from being a hardened prisoner, loyal to his gang, to him turning his back on them and the criminal way of life; to choosing his family and building a relationship with his son.
THE NUMBER will be released in South Africa by Videovision Entertainment later this year.
‘THE NUMBER’ is a Born Free Media presentation in association with Videovision Entertainment, Distant Horizon, The KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission of South Africa, The National Film and Video Foundation of South Africa, The Department of Trade and Industry of South Africa, World Cinema Fund, Gebrueber Beetz Filmproduktion, Tiktak Productions, Agenc Film Reunion and The Gauteng Film Commission. The film stars Mothusi Magano, Kevin Smith, Lemogang Tsipa, Warren Masemola, Deon Lotz, Presley Chweneyagae and Charlton George. It is Edited by Megan Gill, Ronelle Loots and Nick Costaras with Music by Philip Miller, Production Design by Willie Botha and Costume Design by Ruy Filipe. Casting Directors are Moonyeenn Lee and Khalo Matabane and the Director of Photography Dewald Aukema. It is Executive Produced by Anant Singh, Robert Naidoo, Sanjeev Singh, Tsholo Mashile and Produced by Carolyn Carew and Khalo Matabane. ‘THE NUMBER’ is based on the novel by Jonny Steinberg with the screenplay by Paul Ian Johnson and is directed by Khalo Matabane.
