'A Wesley South African Christmas' gears up for star-studded Mzansi premiere

The highly anticipated third instalment of the hit BET movie A Wesley South African Christmas will make its Mzansi premiere on Thursday night at the Avalon Cinecentre in Durban.

Originally set in the US, the film is directed by Patricia Cuffie-Jones and follows the Wesley family’s festive adventures to Durban. When Todd Wesley’s international business deal with the Dlamini family encounters obstacles, he ends up needing to stay in South Africa over the holidays to finalise the merger. His family comes over from America to join him in Durban, bringing forth a mix of traditions and lively dynamics in a heart-warming holiday season unlike any other.

More than 470 South Africans worked on the film, which was created and produced by OCTET Productions with the assistance of South African co-executive producer Mqondisi Ngubane with US co-executive producers Tarek “Terk” Stevens and Chazitear. Local co-producers included Azania Muendane and Collen Katsande.

Actors include South African stars Jesse Suntele, Ayanda Bandla, Naymaps Maphalala, Baby Cele, Bheke Moeko, Bohang Moeko, Dineo Langa and Trevor Gumbi — with US stars including Dorien Wilson, Jasmine Guy and TC Carson.

Executive producers Chuck and Bree West of OCTET looked to honour the rich diversity and achievements of African-American and South African cultures.

“It was critical that our story reflected an authentic KwaZulu-Natal storyline and we find a way to connect the diaspora through storytelling,” said Bree to TimesLIVE. “Since the KZN Film Office worked with Locations Africa to bring us to that region of the country we were excited to work with the province and honour it in our story.

“The highlights were working with more than 470 South Africans, from the Midlands to Ulundi, where we filmed with the Zulu royal family. Another highlight was collaborating, at every stage, with our South African colleagues, who became family,” she added.

“Locations Africa brought us to Durban to show us the beautiful landscape and the amazing people of KZN,” said Chuck. “During the tour we travelled with Azania [Muendane] and Bree was immediately inspired. In the van during the ride from the Midlands, Bree began writing the third instalment — and South Africa was the only option for us.”

Muendane, founder and CEO of Locations Africa, who was the local co-producer on the film, expressed excitement before the premiere. “We had three great location managers on board and day two of the [location scout] tour coincided with the Durban International Film Festival.

“Bree asked me in the minibus, ‘So, what’s a common Zulu South African surname?’ I said, ‘Dlamini’? She wrote it down. ‘What’s a typical Zulu boy’s name?’ Themba. She was rewriting a script meant [originally] for the Caribbean to be shot in South Africa, and that’s how the film came about.

“Realising that having to bring together two cultures can be overwhelming,” added Muendane. “Especially in such a short time, because the film had to be shot in 12 days. But in that complexity of having an African-American team and a black South African team, there was a willingness of coming together and wanting to collaborate and learn from each other.” 

Stevens flew to Durban from the US to attend Thursday night's premiere. “I met Azania [Muendane] in 2014, 10 years ago, when I brought [actor] Morris [Chestnut] to South Africa and the Royal Bafokeng nation where he played a modern African king in the film we were shooting at the time called Asylum Down.

“Uzanenkosi Mahlangu [Intersexions] was involved in the film and said to us, ‘the story you’re trying to tell is kind of parallel to someone in South Africa with a similar story’. We were originally going to shoot the film in Ghana but decided South Africa was a much better fit.”

Stevens fell in love with South Africa. “I wanted to be able to work with a mainly black production company, black producers, actors and company heads to give more opportunities to black South Africans as well as give the country and Durban Tourism the visibility it deserves, as well as continue to produce and form the bridge between African-Americans and South Africans in the African diaspora.”

A Wesley South African Christmas will be broadcast on BET (DStv Channel 129) on December 21 at 8pm.