Audiences clamour for home-brewed films

Local is doing lekker business at the box office, where South Africans are lapping up films made in Mzansi.

The National Film and Video Foundation's South African box-office report for the first half of 2016 showed a 55% growth in box-office revenue, with rom-coms Vir Altyd, Happiness is a Four-Letter Word and Mrs Right Guy emerging as the top three grossing films.

According to Screen Africa, Vir Altyd broke local records in its opening weekend last year, earning R4.7-million. Happiness is a Four-Letter Word achieved R2.3-million.

In the first half of 2016, 13 local films were released with total box-office takings of R43.9-million.

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Nicolette Scheepers, Ster-Kinekor's chief of content and programming, said: "Local audiences love watching films that tell stories they can relate to. They want films that provide a few hours of pure entertainment or escapism."

Scheepers said research showed that local audiences wanted local films to reflect South African stories, cultures and heritage.

Ster-Kinekor released 17 local films in 2015 and 21 last year.

This year's lineup includes varied titles such as Kalushi, Beyond the River, Die Rebellie van Lafras Verwey and Keeping Up With the Kandasamys.

She said Afrikaans titles performed well, with a strong and loyal audience.

Some recent films that have done particularly well at the local box office include Pad na Jou Hart, Ballade vir 'n Enkeling, Mooirivier, Vir Altyd, Vir die Voëls, Noem my Skollie, Dis Koue Kos and Skat.

Nitesh Matai, managing executive at Nu Metro, cited phenomenal growth in locally produced films.

He said Keeping Up With the Kandasamys, a rom-com that was shot in Chatsworth in Durban, had had sold-out shows since its release earlier this month.

"While it is an Indian story, it has great crossover potential. People can relate to the story. The market says it does not have to be a story about real life, farm murders and the struggle. Movies like Happiness is a Four-Letter Word get a lot of traction because people want escapism they can relate to," said Matai.

One of every four local films made more than R3-million in gross box-office income, said Johan Drotskie, Times Media Films business manager of local content and TV sales. "There are more films being made locally - not all are necessarily box-office hits but good-quality films that appeal to niche markets."

block_quotes_start They want entertainment for the whole family that must be accessible and provide a level of escapism. They want quality films block_quotes_end

Award-winning producer Helena Spring said: "We have an audience made of different languages, cultural approaches and economic levels. All those elements are a challenge to filmmakers."

Producer Danie Bester said it was an attraction for an audience to see their own culture, and stories to which they could relate.

"The Afrikaans market is relatively small and conservative and wants films that don't have much swearing, and no nudity.

"They want entertainment for the whole family that must be accessible and provide a level of escapism. They want quality films."