THE TEEN COMEDY
The end of high school is a dramatic time in everybody's life, leaving people gripped with neurosis or interesting self-reflection for years. That is why the high school movie has always been a popular, drama-filled genre. It highlights emotions and events that are common to us all.
The teen movie, by definition, consists of various coming of age comedy situations and dramatic scenes, portraying teenagers as characters who are ready to take on societal issues and problems.
In the main, teen movie high school friends deal with the pressures of teenage sexuality. In Poena is Koning, the premise is simple: two school boys make a pact to lose their virginity by the end of matric. This type of topic has been explored many times in teen film classics such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Porky's, Revenge of the Nerds, and of course American Pie. These films have all the generic teen elements: sexual conflict, quest for sex, the need to belong, parental clashes, evil headmasters and so on.
The teen genre has a historical connection with Hollywood dating back to the early 1950s, but the genre really took off in the 1980s with movies featuring the "brat pack," actors such as Anthony Michael Hall, Alley Sheedy, Molly Ringwold, Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez, Andrew McCarthy, and a host of others. Classic films of the time include Pretty In Pink, Weird Science, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and possibly the prize teen gem, The Breakfast Club.
With Poena is Koning, the director/producer team of brothers Willie and Pieter Esterhuizen have brought their own brand of local comedy to the genre. Their hilarious investigation into the antics of Poena and Vaatjie, set against the urban backdrop of Johannesburg, is sure to create a whole new generation of local teen film fans.

THE MAKING OF THE FILM
Poena is Koning is the first feature film on high definition digital for director/producer team of brothers Willie and Pieter Esterhuizen.
Director Willie Esterhuizen says he and Pieter set out to make a youthful, local, urban comedy for those in the 16 to 25 age group. "We saw how well American Pie did in this country and all over the world," he says. "Our goal was to make a movie in that same genre for young Afrikaners. We're hoping the film will appeal to adolescent South Africans across the board but essentially, it's a comedy aimed at an ethnic minority."
Poena is the archetypal average teenager - he comes from a dysfunctional family; he's not a nerd, but he's not a good rugby player either; he's only too keen to get to know the opposite sex more intimately; and he can't wait to finish school so that he can get on with real life.
Willie claims it made sense to create a vehicle that would showcase the talents of the hugely popular Afrikaans singer and actor Robbie Wessels, whose song Leeuloop has become an instant classic. "Robbie's audience loves him to bits, and his concerts are constantly sold out. Having worked with him before, we wanted to create a character that would introduce him to the big screen."
Poena is Koning is Robbie Wessels' first feature film. Wessels says the transition from the small to the big screen had some challenging moments, but that he thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.
"I've been working with Willie and Pieter for over four years, starting with the sitcom Gauteng-alêng-alêng in which I played Poena, and I'd met Willie even before that. I became involved with Poena is Koning while we were doing some work together on another project, so we all know each other for a while now. I also knew the crew well, so it was like spending time with old friends."
Wessels says the most challenging aspect of his move to film was learning to play the character 'smaller'. "In Gauteng-alêng-alêng, Poena was a much larger character who moved around a lot and took up space. For the purposes of the film, I had to focus more on facial expressions and less on physical comedy. Also, when you do television work, you can shoot a whole three-minute scene in one go - it's different with a feature film, where you often have to do many takes for one scene, and you have to be 'in the moment' every time."
How does he rate working with the Esterhuizens, one of the top comedy teams in the country? "They are both so relaxed," says Wessels. "They do not get tense about mistakes or moments when actors forget their lines. We really had a lot of fun, and I think that comes across in the film itself."
Wessels says the funniest moment for him on set was when he had to ride a bicycle down a street close to Zoo Lake in Johannesburg, wearing nothing but a plastic sack. "I got quite a few strange looks from people," he says.
Commenting on the phenomenal success of his song Leeuloop - which has become even more popular since Vodacom pulled its ad featuring the song after complaints from more conservative members of the public - Wessels says he believes South Africans love the song because they are hungry for comedy. "People like Willie have the correct recipe when it comes to entertainment, and I've listened to a lot of advice from him," he adds. "Leeuloop is pretty much based on Poena's character and people love it because it's a bit naughty and it makes them laugh."
Wessels recalls how he began to put Leeuloop together: "I started writing the lyrics and I realised it was risqué, so I thought it would be fun to go along with it, so I included the 'tennisballe krieketballe snoekerballe' bit. "Then I thought it would be good to put some moves to the lyrics so that I don't just stand on stage and sing, and suddenly there was a whole Leeuloop dance."
The video for the song begins with Wessels explaining that there is a guy sitting on a bar stool at a braai somewhere in Parys. The guy is eating his salad and he leans over and asks his wife very nicely if he can do the Leeuloop. He then goes on to explain exactly how the Leeuloop works, along with its own set of moves.
Wessels says he enjoys performing the song, especially at rugby matches, although he does get asked to do it just about everywhere. "It gets a bit much sometimes, but that's what happens when you make people laugh."
Having completed Poena is Koning, Wessels is now working on a new album for which he has already written five songs. "I need about 12 to put an album together, so that is what I'm focusing on. I'm also thinking of going to play overseas for a while. On the acting front, I'm definitely in the market for more another movie role."
Poena is Koning was shot in several parts of Johannesburg over five weeks, following a pre-production period of around two months. Post-production took five months and the film was eventually completed in June 2007. Funding was received from a variety of sources including South African expatriates.
On writing the script, Willie notes that he bounces all his ideas off Pieter, who has the dual roles of producer and editor. He says the most important part of the writing process is to ensure that they both enjoy the outcome.
"This is the best and most honest film I've ever made," says Willie. "The financiers gave us carte blanche to do anything we wanted, and the result is pure entertainment."
Pieter Esterhuizen, who is both producer and editor of the film, says working with brother Willie is easy from an editing perspective. "He shoots for the edit, so what we end up with is what was shot. Willie seldom does second takes unless it's really necessary. Also, the production was script-based so a lot of work was done on it before shooting actually started. Being involved from day one - while not possible for most editors - makes the editing process a breeze because there are no surprises."
One of the advantages of this approach is the saving that is achieved in terms of time. "There is no sitting around for hours waiting for the director to make decisions," says Pieter. "The plan for the film was well laid out so it was just a matter of working according to that."
He is a big fan of linear editing which, he says, has made the editing process simple and quick, compared to having to wind through hours and hours of tape. "The sole hazard here is that there is always scope to dabble with the editing of a film; because this process makes it so easy, you could find yourself editing forever. At some point you have to make the decision to lock the film off."
Pieter says he loved the filmmaking process. "It's a privilege to be able to make a movie," he says. "No matter what anyone says, the level of technical awareness and expertise is better and more intense than it is at television level."
He also says that the process of making the film was a learning curve for both him and Willie. "It's never as easy as you think it's going to be. And with a feature film, there are always many more people involved whose business interests you have to satisfy. It's important to get them on board from the outset."
Pieter notes that he was surprised by the amount of time involved in making a film and getting it onto the big screen. "With television, you make a product, it shows, and then it's gone. A film hangs around for a long time. For our next movie we'll make sure that everyone knows they are in it for the long haul."
Like Willie, Pieter has high hopes for Poena is Koning, his main one being that it does well enough financially to warrant Ster-Kinekor's support for another project aimed at the Afrikaans-speaking market. "I want the film to be successful enough to make it possible for us to do another one."
Poena is Koning pulls no punches, but the Esterhuizens say they are looking forward to audience reaction to the antics of their mischievous young characters.

ROBBIE WESSELS
A Free State farm boy, Robbie Wessels completed high school in 1998 and went on to study drama at Technikon Pretoria, now known as Tshwane University of Technology. Shortly thereafter, he landed a part as Anton in the Radiosondergrense radio drama Blinkwater. Roles as Poena in the sitcom Gauteng-alêng-alêng, Burger in Hart van Staal and smaller roles in 7de Laan and Isidingo followed.
In 2005 Wessels received a Huisgenoot Tempo award as favourite newcomer, and in 2006 his Leeuloop was voted most popular song.  It's the same Leeuloop which featured in the recent Vodacom advert, and it has put him solidly on the road to fame in the South African music scene.
For the past two years he has toured South Africa and attracted thousands of fans with his unique singing style.  His latest CD, Halley se Komeet, has already achieved platinum status and headed the charts as the number one Afrikaans CD for several weeks.
His music varies from light-hearted humour to deeply sentimental, serious songs. It is this combination that has earned him a large audience from all walks of life.  His performances are also characterised by the combination of raw energy in his lighter music and soulful renditions of more serious songs that he performs in his raspy voice.
Wessels is down to earth and modest about his current success.  He enjoys socialising with his fans after shows, but is in essence a rather shy and quiet person who values time out with his family and friends.
Singing and acting are his two great loves. He performs because he believes that he can make a difference in people's lives by making them laugh and forget about their problems for a while.

WILLIE ESTERHUIZEN
Willie Esterhuizen is a successful writer, comedian and director who is best known for the popular Orkney Snork Nie series and films, as well as Lipstick Dipstick, and Oh Shucks I'm Gatvol, all of which were hits at the local box-office.
Over the past 22 years, in collaboration with his brother Pieter, Esterhuizen has written, produced and directed over 150 hours of broadcast television. In addition he has also written, produced and directed over 200 hours of corporate training films. 
He has won most of the television writing, producing and acting awards on offer in South Africa.
Esterhuizen began his career as a stage actor with the Cape Performing Arts Council, and then went on to appear in over 70 television productions and 12 feature films.
He joined the SABC in 1980 as a television director of the weekly programmes Uit & Tuis and Verslag.
In 1982 he started Westel Video & Film Productions with his brother Pieter, and has since written, directed and produced many educational programmes for television, winning the Gencor Award for Vergaderings and several awards for the North Sotho and Xhosa programmes How to be successful in your job.
The pair wrote, directed and produced 53 episodes of Orkney Snork Nie, which won a Star Tonight Award for Best Comedy and Best Script, the Viewers Award for Best TV Comedy, and received five Arts nominations. It was judged the number one television show in terms of ratings and ad earnings.
They also wrote directed and produced five annual seasons (65 episodes) of Vetkoekpaleis, which garnered them Avanti Awards for Best Comedy, Best Comedy Actor, Best Comedy Script, and Best Comedy Director.
Next on the cards was the popular Gautêng-alêng-alêng, where the Esterhuizen brothers came to know Robbie Wessels.

PIETER ESTERHUIZEN
Pieter Esterhuizen completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Pretoria, majoring in psychology and personnel management.
He has, over the past 22 years, co-produced, directed and edited over 150 hours of broadcast television, working with his brother Willie. In addition he has also co-produced over 200 hours of corporate training films. He produced a documentary on Ernie Els in 1994, as well as numerous other golf inserts. He won an Avanti award for Best Comedy Director in 2000.
In 1982 he started Westel Video & Film Productions with his brother Willie, and has since produced many educational programmes for television, winning several awards along the way.
The pair wrote, directed and produced 53 episodes of Orkney Snork Nie, which won a start Tonight Award for Best Comedy and Best Script, the Viewers Award for Best TV Comedy, and received five Artes nominations. It was judged the number one television show in terms of ratings and ad earnings.
They also wrote directed and produced five yearly seasons (65 episodes) of Vetkoekpaleis, which garnered them Avanti Awards for Best Comedy, Best Comedy Actor, Best Comedy Script, and Best Comedy Director.
Next on the cards was the popular Gautêng-alêng-alêng, where the Esterhuizen brothers came to know Robbie Wessels.

READ AN INTERVIEW WITH WILLIE ESTERHUIZEN

READ MORE ABOUT VAATJIE SIEN SY GAT

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