Forbidden Love and Drone Warfare.
FREE STATE This heartbreaking romance is set in 1979 and tells the story of a forbidden love affair between Jeanette – a white Afrikaans girl – and Ravi – an Indian man. The film is written and directed by multi-award winning filmmaker, and graduate of The Writing Studio, Sallas de Jager. “The film explores the predicament of a parent and child relationship within three families when they are confronted by the ripple effect of the forbidden love affair between Ravi and Jeanette. The parents are confronted by the need of a parent for your child to find true happiness versus the need for your child to uphold the way of life taught to him/her from childhood in order to fit into a community as an adult. The ruthless punishment for breaking society’s rules is something that every parent wants to protect his/her child against…The possibility of true happiness of which love is the foundation, will always outweigh the sanctions of society, governments and religion – therefore making one person’s love towards another the most powerful human experience. Not even the tragic nature of forbidden love is enough to stop good people from risking everything just for a taste of something that is bigger than them.”It features great performances from Nicola Breytenbach and Andrew Govender as the starcrossed lovers, with great support from Deon Lotz (Roepman, Skoonheid) and Rolanda Marais (Wolwedans in die Skemer, Ballade vir ’n Enkeling). Read an interview with Sallas de Jager
EYE IN THE SKY Drone warfare on the big screen was launched by The Good Kill last year and now gathers intensity with Eye In The Sky, a British thriller set in the shadowy world of remotely piloted drone warfare. It is helmed by South African director Gavin Hood from an original screenplay by Guy Hibbert. In Eye In The Sky London-based military intelligence officer Colonel Katherine Powell (Academy Award winner Helen Mirren) is remotely commanding a top secret drone operation to capture a group of dangerous terrorists from their safe-house in Nairobi, Kenya. The mission suddenly escalates from a “capture” to a “kill” operation as Powell realizes that the terrorists are about to embark on a deadly suicide mission. From his base in Nevada, American drone pilot Steve Watts (Breaking Bad star and Emmy Award winner Aaron Paul) is poised to destroy the safe-house when a nine year old girl enters the kill zone just outside the walls of the house. With unforeseen collateral damage now entering the equation, the impossible decision of when to strike gets passed up the “kill chain” of politicians and lawyers as the seconds tick down. Watch an interview with Gavin Hood / Read more about the film