"Intonga" is the heart warming story of Siviwe, a young man from Fort Beaufort, and his fight for acceptance when he and his mother move to the city after his father dies. This stick fighter from Fort Beaufort is confronted by a local champion boxer "Knuckles", after his girlfriend Thando shows too much interest in Siviwe. A twist of fate introduces Siviwe to Father Duze who is the local priest and he befriends Siviwe. After too many confrontations with Knuckles, Siviwe decides to take him on at his game, boxing. This is when he meets Bra Sam, a (real life) legendary boxing trainer. The priest, the trainer, a secret mentor, and Siviwe begin preparations for the upcoming amateur boxing tournament. The main theme of the film is the rich culture of boxing that is so prevalent to the Mdantsane area.

Intonga is a simple and beautiful African story full of love, confrontations, stunning scenery and many valuable life lessons that will entertain the whole family. It has nothing to do with politics, religion, violence or other issues.

The Production
Unique to this film are the authenticity of the characters and the exclusive use of Xhosa as language. Two experienced actors, Zolile Sodloyi who acts the priest and Zoleka Helesi who is Siviwe's mother in the story, bring their wealth of experience and acting skills to the production and willingly shared this with the less experienced students. Siviwe is played by Mzukisi Ntantiso who is a delightful young man with great potential and a strong screen presence. The inclusion of character like the real WBF world champion Zolani Tete, legendary Balekile Sam who trained numerous world boxing champions and Mandisi Mkile who is a boxing champion and local hero, lends high credibility to the production. Dudu Bungu, brother of ex-world champion Vuyani Bungu, is the trainer for Knuckles and a real life boxing trainer. Then there are the cameo acting roles of Thando and Siviwe's friend Thomas and some gang members, played by film school students who also actively worked in other departments during the production.
Intonga is a co-production between CanDo Media, Swayani Films and Cape Peninsula University of Technology. The professional film crew was supported by 7 film school students from CPUT in various roles, from assistant director to lighting, wardrobe, continuity and DOP assistant. The writer and director have 23 years of experience in all aspects of film and video production and had the added challenge of not being a Xhosa speaker himself. The film was shot during July on location in Mdantsane and Fort Beaufort surrounds. The selected medium is HD to make the production affordable. No sets where built as authenticity was key, and with careful planning, the stunning natural winter sunlight of the area contributes to the look of the film.
Challenges encountered during the filming were to get our lead actor, who has never been in a boxing ring, trained and boxing fit within a very short period of time. The reverse was to direct professional boxers to act and not use their usual force while in the ring to protect our actor. Then we had to choreograph a real 3 round amateur boxing fight in front of a knowledgeable crowd while we filmed it in real time.
The process of incorporating students/learners together with experienced cast and crew proved to be hugely successful and each of them left the production with more experienced than what they may have gained in the industry over many years.
The music score for Intonga is composed by renowned composer Cedric Samson and performed by top well-know voices and artists. The film is due for release on the big screen early during 2009 and will later be released on DVD.

READ AN INTERVIEW WITH WRITER-DIRECTOR J.J. VAN RENSBURG

PROUDLY SOUTH AFRICAN FILMMAKING

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