Dov Fedler on pretending to be a movie director

04 August 2020 - 13:43 By nb-uitgewers/publishers
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Dov Fedler's memoir is a funny and moving portrait of his life as filmmaker.
Dov Fedler's memoir is a funny and moving portrait of his life as filmmaker.
Image: Supplied

“The movie I should be making is the making of this movie. This is the stuff comedy is made of.”

Beloved political cartoonist Dov Fedler had the opportunity in the 1980s to make a lifelong dream come true: direct a movie. Not that he had a clue how to, but he wasn’t about to let that stop him.

A laugh-­out-loud story of pitfalls follows, one with a largely imaginary but very serious language barrier, suspicions about criminal activity (including one with a Mexican stand­-off), and Fedler having no idea the apartheid government is subsidising the film, Timer Joe 3.

This memoir dives into pop culture past and present, and provides tales of real people who manage to be larger than life.

It also gives a funny, moving portrait of Fedler and his family vying to dictate what he can do with his life as a good Jewish son.

About the author

Fedler is a much-love South African cartoonist who has been drawing and painting for more than 50 years. He has contributed political cartoons to The Star, Financial Mail, Cape Times, The Mercury, Pretoria News and Saturday Star, among others. He has written two other books, Out of Line and If You Can Write, You Can Draw. He lives in Johannesburg.


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