From the renowned producer and writer Franz Marx comes the  Egoli film, a thrilling story about deep and dark secrets from Niek (David Rees) en Joe's (Darren Kelkens) past.
The story of the  Egoli film continues  several months after  the TV-series ended on a high and surprising note -  Chris Edward (Eckard Rabe) was murdered and Louwna (Bru"milda van Rensburg) was left a widow and -  Joe made a surprise comeback out of the blue after a long absence.
In the film Joe's past is catching up with him, but Nenna (Shaleen Surtie-Richards) who still rules Windsor Manor with an iron fist, keeps a firm eye on the volatile Joe.
Peggy (Leandie du Randt), a sexy strip teaser, is the new girl in Joe's life and tries her best to deal with his outbursts and secret past, but this complicates his relationship with his ex-wife Candy (Michelle Beling).
Niek and Joe now work for the vixen TJ and after an incident the dark secrets, deeper than gold, start to haunt them and Joe faces the biggest test in his life.
Meanwhile Bienkie (Christina Storm) and her husband Koert (Ivan Zimmermann) return from Bela Bela and  Koert's adopted "parents" Duifie (Casper de Vries) and Faan (Andre Stolz) also appear on Nora's doorstep in Brixton.
Niek's feisty wife Sonet (Tiffany Kelly) has to divide her time between motherhood and breakfast runs on her Harley - but she soon realizes that a ghost in Niek's past is haunting him.
The Egoli film is about self-analysis and the impact a dark and murky past has on two characters. But it is also about friendship, reconciliation, forgiveness, love and hope.
Egoli was created by Franz Marx and directed by Bromley Cawood . Christo Compion is the head writer and Burgert M"uller and Pieter Venter executive producers for Brigadiers Franz Marx Films. 
Also starring Bru"milda van Rensburg as Louwna and Kaz McFadden as Nenna's grandson, Alexander.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
Egoli was filmed  in Johannesburg and vicinity. The South African Police collaborated with  the action sequences which were filmed entirely in Johannesburg City Centre and the Wild Hogs Club assisted with the Breakfast Run scenes.
Marx created the story with male viewers in mind but also with the challenge to entertain the regular Egoli viewer. The story of the film is self contained,in other words, moviegoers who didn't watch the series, will still be able to follow the story.
Marx appointed Christo Compion, head writer of the series, as well as Bromley Cawood, director of the series, to keep the continuity of the story and characters intact.
It is a story about real people and the  story plays off against the backdrop of the new South Africa and its challenges. Most of the characters were extracted from the series, but it is a total new, compact  story with lots of drama and action.
The subtitle of the movie is "Afrikaners is Plesierig" which is an ironic subtitle.
Brigadiers Franz Marx Films appointed the expertise of Cornell Boshoff from Carnell Collective to compose the score for the film.

DANIEL DERCKSEN SHARES A FEW THOUGHTS WITH WRITER-PRODUCER FRANZ MARX
After a career of fourty years in the performing arts, during which he acted in numerous capacities in the local industry, Franz Marx has emerged as one of the country's most successful creative producer/writers. His work as a writer, producer and director has earned him several major awards and a string of nominations.  He has participated in 39 feature films, and since switching to television in 1980 has written, produced or directed 13 series as well as seven one-off dramas, two mini-series and a daily tele-serial. Marx made his debut as a TV scriptwriter-director with the prime-time youth series, Skooldae -  a second series was commissioned - a first for South African television. Another successful series Kampus (2 seasons) followed.The  drama series, 'n Lug Vol Helder Wolke was adapted from a literary work, and earned Marx two Artes Award nominations (best writer and best director) and won him the SASWA (SA Scriptwriters Association) award for his screenplay.  A sitcom series, Familiedae was followed by two winner series - Brood Vir My Broer and Mattewis en Meraai - which brought another two Artes nominations. He also created and produced the drama series The Res for SABC. Undoubtedly two of the most successful local productions ever made were Marx's Agter Elke Man, a prime-time series, and the daily tele-serial Egoli - Place of Gold.  Agter Elke Man smashed all known local viewership records and dominated television in Southern Africa for four years, setting the standard against which other local productions have since been measured, and Egoli - Place of Gold was groundbreaking and a first daily drama of its kind. Marx studied the novel format and telenovelas - focusing on structure and requirements of this genre - in Rio de Janeiro at Globus Tv (the biggest producer of telenovelas). He also studied features film writing in Los Angeles. Marx received various awards as the creator of TV-series and productions, including two awards from the SA Academy for Science and Art.

It is so good to watch a film that is Proudly South African and not influenced by foreigners. You must be proud to see your baby on the big screen. Where did Egoli start for you. What inspired the series?
Egoli the series was developed as the first daytime soap for South African television. I used American soap tradition as a mould and adapted it to South African television story telling traditions. It is in other words a hybrid type production between soap and drama series. I tried to use the same story telling tradition in the Movie version "Egoli".

The dramatic aspect of the series and now the film is evident. Does this stem from your background in theatre?
Theater tradition, and especially the importance of analytical imperatives when working with plays for theater, influenced me greatly. Theater is the mother discipline of all storytelling genres after all.

Egoli has been a very important aspect in your life. Tell me about this?
All productions are of equal importance.

Do you have any favourite character in Egoli?
I wish I could tell you. But, do you want more than 7500 actors who appeared during the 18 year run of the series to hate me forever?

What excites you about being a filmmaker and producer in South Africa?
The punishment that comes part and parcel of the job. A sort of perversion I suffer from.

Where did it all start for you, that moment that you knew you were going to be a filmmaker?
I appeared as an actor (1960) in productions for the old South-African Filmboard. And I knew, the first day on set, film storytelling is what I want to do.

Your views on the film industry in South Africa?
The film industry at present, it seems, is experiencing a long overdue new lease on life.

Why do you think the TV series was such a success?
I always know why something didn't work, and never why it did work. I wish somebody could tell me.

What do you hope fans will get from watching the film?
Entertainment. If audiences are entertained, I've done my job. Entertainment of course implies total emotional involvement of the audience. Be it comedy, drama or tragedy. Egoli, with the ironic subtitle "Afrikaners is plesierig", is a drama.

What is next for you?
I'm working on my next movie called Susanna van Biljon which is a romantic drama with Karen Zoid, David Rees and Marie du Toit in the leads. Hold thumbs, it's not an easy one.

DANIEL DERCKSEN SHARES A FEW THOUGHTS WITH WRITER CHRISTO COMPION
Christo Compion grew up on a farm in the Kalahari and studied drama at the University of Cape Town. He worked as a stage actor for the next twenty years. Since 1999 he has been a scriptwriter for the tele-drama Egoli - Place of Gold  and he was head writer during the last year of the series. He was also head writer for the new Franz Marx Film Susanna van Biljon se Storie (to be released in October) and is currently busy to develop two more scripts with Franz Marx.

Egoli has been an important part of your life. Tell me about it.
Egoli the series changed my career from stage actor to script writer. One could say I got lost one day while strolling or wandering or drifting from acting and then, on my way, accidentally bumped into writing… and in the process forgot to go back - chose not to go back.

Tell me about writing Egoli: was it a difficult film to write?
Writing "Egoli - Afrikaners is Plesierig" was a very tough process. On the one hand we were "stuck" with certain well-known characters while on the other hand we wanted to tell a "new story" - a movie - not a final episode to the series.

It must have been a difficult decision  to decide what to include and what not?
We lifted characters we needed from the series, to tell our script story. And that was the most difficult part. We wanted to make loyal series viewers feel at home while not distancing moviegoers who have never watched the series and at the same time engage and confront both groups with something fresh.

Did you follow a specific process in writing the script?
Lots and lots of writing and re-writing, draft after draft after draft.

Why do you think the TV series was such a success?
I guess Egoli - Place of Gold, the first ever South African daily, kept going for close to 18 years because of quality content, well told stories, and high production values.

What do you hope fans will get from watching the film?
Closure. 97 engaging minutes in a movie theatre.

Looking at the ending of the film, it seems as if there will be a sequel?
I think not. Egoli was a bit like an old elephant bull which had to be culled - in the most humane way… Franz Marx Films is already in post-production with a new Afrikaans film.

Any advice for scriptwriters in South Africa who want to break into the industry?
Be informed. Observe. And read. Read newspapers, fiction, non-fiction. And write. And write again. And again. And rewrite - again and again.

Any comments you would like to share?
Never be precious or too protective about your own writing. Share your stories. Talk to other writers - work together.

DANIEL DERCKSEN SHARES A FEW THOUGHTS WITH DIRECTOR BROMLEY CAWOOD
Bromley Cawood worked at PACOFS as an actor, designer, technical  advisor from 1970 - 1977. He won the Piers Nicholson Award in 1975. He worked in the UK as Company Manager on the West End production of Ipi Tombi from 1978 till 1979 for Ray Cooney Productions. On his return to South Africa he worked on various television productions for the SABC and private film companies as director. He directed 11 drama series for the SABC and was nominated four times for an Artes Award and twice for the Star Tonight! Award. He directed five feature films and 1200 episodes of Egoli Place of Gold. He also directed several theatre productions and was examinator for the ADK.  He was also guest lecturer at Wits Television Shool. Besides directing the film Egoli, he also directed the Franz Marx Film Susanna van Biljon se Storie, to be released in October this year.

It has been a long journey for you since I met you during the filming of Skating on thin Uys?
It certainly has been a long and exciting journey. I have been fortunate to direct a variety of Television series before I joined Egoli as one of the directors 17 years ago.

Egoli has been an important part of your life. Tell me about it.
Egoli, the series was my bread and butter for 17 years, it was my job     and a very challenging and exciting part of my life.

Tell me about directing Egoli: was it a difficult film to direct?
It was challenging as one had to  direct for the big screen which is completely different from directing a soap opera on three cameras in a studio for television. The cinematography has to be planned and applied cinematically for the big screen, otherwise one would end up with a film which looked like an episode planned and executed for television. The actors have to be directed for the big screen as everything is enlarged by ten times, even the wink of an eye in a close up on the big screen can be very powerful. I had a great crew and wonderful actors to work with which made it  possible to complete filming in 14 days.

Was the film shot on 35mm?
We shot on HD.

Did you have any influences when making the film?
I worked with a very good script by Franz Marx and Christo Compion and the style of the film was dictated by that. It is as far as I am concerned an organic process, dictated by the content and the story which you have to tell.

Why do you think the TV series was such a success?
Franz Marx populated the series with an interesting variety of characters, from the ultra wealthy Edwards clan, executives and secretaries working In offices to the ordinary Naude family in Brixton which made it possible for a wide spectrum of viewers who could identify with one or more of  the characters.       

Your views on the film industry in South Africa versus the TV industry?
The film industry in this country seems to be vibrant and developing with every new South African film which is produced and completed, no  matter how big or how small. Films in Afrikaans are being produced again and I find that very exciting.

What is next for you?
I am in post production, editing another Afrikaans film "Sussana van Biljon," starring Marie du Toit, Karen Zoid, David Rees and Shaleen Surtie  Richards. Written by Franz Marx and Christo Compion.

DANIEL DERCKSEN SHARES A FEW THOUGHTS WITH DARREN KELFKENS
DARREN KELFKENS made his mark as actor in various films, television productions, theatre plays and also as a director. He became a household name in the series Egoli - Place of Gold as the complex Joe. He played the leading role in the film Daytrip and cameo appearances in From Dusk Till Dawn II and Kalahari Harry. Supporting roles in television include Unsung Heroes (SABC3), Rhythm City (e.tv), the Adventures of Sinbad I & 2 and he presented RCI Escapes. Theatre roles include die lead in Henry Mylne's production My Night With Reg and in the Afrikaans version My Aand Met Arne. Leading roles in stage productions include A Streetcar Named Desire, West Side Story, The Angel, the Bicycle and The Chinaman's Finger, Skeletons, Deathtrap, Misconceptions, The Pajama Game, They Never Noticed a Thing and There is a Girl in my Soup.
He also directed more than 100 episodes of Egoli- Place of Gold from 2005 till 2009 and is currently one of the directors of the M-Net series Binneland - Sub Judice.

When I last saw you, was in Cape Town when you blew audiences away in My Night With Reg… the character of Joe must be magic for you as an actor?    
He has been good to me!  You may not know that he is based on 'Stanley Kowalski'  another character I played on stage very early in my career,  in 'A Streetcar named Desire'.  I was a huge fan of Tennesee Williams' plays and of Brando's portrayal of 'Stanley' so it was dream to play the character on stage.  Joe subsequently evolved from those experiences and created a wonderful sense of career continuity for me as an actor. 

Why do you think Joe has been such a favourite with viewers?
He takes life by the scruff of the neck and lives in the now - a quality we would all like to possess.  He is brutally honest emotionally.  He also represents the good and the bad in all of us - and - as tough as he is, unlike many men, he's not afraid to cry, so there is a vulnerability about him that allows audiences to find empathy with the character

How difficult is it to make Joe so real?
Wow - if say 'not difficult' I sound arrogant and if I say 'very difficult' I sound arrogant.  Lets just say that I approach every character the same way.  Find the vulnerability, find the dream, strengths/weaknesses and find the humour the 'glint in the eye' - which to me is that little something that makes us smile (albeit cynically) in the face of all existence crumbling around us.  When I see a good actor give a mediocre performance its more often than not that the actor is playing the role 'too seriously' - I mean look how much humour Anthony Hopkins injected into Hannibal Lector!!

Has Joe influenced your life? Tell me about it?
No, not at all sweetness - now stop yakking and pass me a beer!!

Why do you think the TV series was such a success?
It was the first 'home-brewed' soap and it gave South Africans a look into their own world with all the familiarity of 'hoesit' and 'boerewors'.  Lets face it we see enough American and British stuff and a lot of it is good - but hey, its lekker to look into our own mirror occasionally and see ourselves!

What do you hope fans will get from watching the film?
Their moneys worth!  I hope they walk out thinking - wow that didn't feel like a good South African movie it just felt like a good movie.

Egoli is a powerful film about love and friendship: how do you regard it?
I am honestly incapable of separating myself from the product at this stage.  I was intensely involved in certain areas of the production and not at all involved in others so its difficult to be objective - suffice to say that, on a personal level, I am proud of my contribution and of what we achieved collectively.

What is next for you?
I am still directing for television - and have another Tennessee Williams 'Suddenly Last Summer' in the distant pipeline - and  in the meantime I am waiting for Steven Spielberg to call -  aren't we all?

Interviews: Copyright © 2010 Daniel Dercksen/ The Writing Studio


PROUDLY SOUTH AFRICAN FILMMAKING

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