Director Darrell James Roodt and producer Anant Singh teamed up at the early part of their careers to make some of the most significant anti-apartheid films made in South Africa, including "Place of Weeping," "Sarafina!" and "Cry, the Beloved Country." While Singh has been able to produce some films about the post-apartheid years, Roodt has mainly directed action movies. "I've been making a lot of American genre films for the last few years," says Roodt. "And realizing all the time that's not really where my heart is. My heart is with South Africa--in fact, more than ever before. And we should be telling our own stories."

"Darrell and I began together making films that emotionally engage their audience to reflect on the atrocities and problems of the apartheid system," says Singh. "And Darrell came up with the idea of trying to take a similar approach to the AIDS pandemic in South Africa."

"I was haunted by the images of suffering and I felt that I needed to make a film about this," says Roodt. "At the same time, I want to avoid any kind of messaging. I just wanted to tell a very simple story, and make it completely open-ended. I wanted to put it out there and let it be a talking point."

Roodt began work by doing an extended period of research in a number of Zulu villages. "I spent quite a long time, mostly just talking, listening and watching," says Roodt. He wondered, "If someone's suffering from AIDS, who's got recourse to nothing, in the middle of nowhere--how does she deal with that? And rise above it? Not just beat her chest and say 'Woe is me!'"

There were many things that surprised the director as he was fashioning his script. "Like the two teachers," says Roodt. "I picked those two teachers up in my car. They had literally been walking for two years! Trying to find a place to teach. I said, 'Come on, you must be joking!' Because you'd think, 'Maybe two weeks or perhaps two months…but two years?

The film's title came from a Zulu naming custom. "There's a tradition among Zulu people to give their children names like 'First Born' or 'Confidence' or 'Tomorrow,'" says Roodt. "And I thought that 'Yesterday' had beautiful melancholic reverberations. It had such resonance that your parents would give you this and you would live your entire life with it."

After completing the script, Roodt sent it Anant Singh. "Anant understands the kinds of films I want to make more than anyone I know. I've done my best work with him and hope to do more in the future." Singh received the script on a Friday and on Saturday he called Roodt to say, "Let's make this film."

"For me, its strength of emotion and simplicity was the most appealing aspect," says Singh. "The other very important part of it was that we could use this film to try and make a difference with the people of the world relating to AIDS in South Africa."

"Also, Darrell has tremendous energy and a great visual sense," says Singh. "I think he is one of South Africa's best directors." (YESTERDAY is their ninth film together.)

Roodt was determined to make YESTERDAY in the Zulu language--the first time a major feature film had been done completely in the language and intended for international release. (There have been some smaller films made previously for local consumption.) "It was essential to make it in Zulu as that's where the truth is," says Roodt. "And also, I thought that if I could make a film that succeeds in the outside world as an art movie with subtitles, then it could have a trickle-down effect into South Africa, and more people would go see it."

During the audition process on the film, the director was still asked to try one take in Zulu and one in English, in the hopes that two versions of the film could be created. "It was like chalk and cheese," says Roodt. "We just found that it was so much more powerful and realistic in Zulu that we decided to dump English," says Singh.

Roodt set his sights on one actress for the title role, Leleti Khumalo, who he had first worked with as the lead in his film version of the musical "Sarafina!" and in "Cry, the Beloved Country." "I first saw her when she was eighteen," says Roodt. "She was wonderful, so full of life and vigour, and with such utter commitment to what she was doing. And when I was writing this, I thought, 'I've got to use her, because it's almost like a journey has come full circle. The kid has now become the mother, who's now become the victim. Apartheid is gone, but AIDS is right in its wake.'"

FILMING YESTERDAY
For the four-week shoot in October 2003, the production worked and lived on location in Zululand in central eastern South Africa. Rimmed by the Drakensberg Mountains, it features some of the most staggeringly beautiful landscapes in South Africa. Among the films that have shot there are "Zulu" and Roodt's "Cry, the Beloved Country." "When you drive through South Africa, you're in awe of the landscape," says Roodt. "As a filmmaker, I'd rather spend the money bringing the crew on location than to use it on crane shots, steadicams, and so on. There's no point in trying to compete with Hollywood, it's better to embrace the qualities that we have. What I try to do--without drawing attention to it--is to craft a really beautiful shot and a beautiful moment. At the same time, we don't want it to be bland, so we put a great deal of effort into achieving the effects that we get. But I do like simple things."

"What I was trying to do was to show this harsh reality in this extraordinarily beautiful surroundings," says Roodt. "I think that makes it even more heartbreaking."

While Roodt isn't fluent in Zulu, he found that he barely needed to make use of his translators. "You don't even need to fully speak the language to understand the truth that was happening. I knew when a take was not working. Or when there was a stumble or there wasn't the right flow. It was very interesting. The actors loved acting in Zulu--there was such pride involved. And for me, it was a very beautiful experience to call action and watch these people speaking in their language in this unusual environment. Because of the actors, it actually was a very easy film to make."

One notable aspect about Zulu culture is how upbeat people can be amid a very harsh reality. "Even during the apartheid years, African culture has this natural kind of buoyancy," says Roodt. "A joy of life. Even in the most dire, difficult circumstances, people just rise above it. It's quite amazing."

"I think that the strength of the character of Yesterday is about hope and her undaunting spirit," says Singh. "Her being able to give and to motivate herself to live."

"And that's what is so remarkable about Yesterday," says Roodt. "You could see her story as a tragic one. But if you've got her character, her absolute strength of will--you can push through the most terrible things."

DARRELL JAMES ROODT: WRITER - DIRECTOR
After being turned down for Drama School at the University of the Witwatersrand, Roodt secured financing and the commitment of local actors and technicians to produce South Africa's first anti-apartheid feature film, "Place of Weeping" (1986). Produced by Anant Singh, the film premiered in New York to wide critical acclaim and was endorsed by the "Arts Against Apartheid" committee as a courageous indictment of the racial policies of the time.

Roodt's next two films, "City of Blood" and "A Tenth of a Second" were followed by "The Stick," an anti-war film set and subsequently banned in South Africa for two years. The Stick enjoyed a successful run on the international festival circuit and opened the 1988 Montreal Film Festival. When finally released in South Africa it was nominated for six awards in the 1989 M-net Film Awards, including Best Film.

Roodt next directed the human drama "Jobman," nominated in six categories in the annual M-net Film Awards, followed by the action thriller "To The Death."

"Sarafina!" (1992), based on Mbongeni Ngema's award-winning Broadway stage hit, and starring Whoopi Goldberg, Leleti Khumalo and Miriam Makeba, introduced Roodt to a wider international audience. Screened in Official Selection at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, the film was released in the U.S. by Disney, who commissioned him to direct the comedy "Father Hood," starring Patrick Swayze and Halle Berry.

Roodt next adapted Alan Paton's classic novel "Cry, The Beloved Country" (1995) to the screen, with an illustrious cast that included James Earl Jones, Richard Harris and Charles Dutton. The script was adapted by Oscar nominee Ronald Harwood and scored by five-time Oscar-winner John Barry.

Roodt's subsequent films include "Dangerous Ground" (1997), with Ice Cube and Elizabeth Hurley; the thriller "Second Skin" (2000), with Natasha Henstridge and Peter Fonda, "Queens Messenger II" (2001), "Pavement" (2002), with Robert Patrick and Lauren Holly, "Sumuru" (2003) and upcoming, "Dracula 3000," with Casper Van Dien and Coolio.

ANANT SINGH: PRODUCER
ANANT SINGH (producer) is South Africa's pre-eminent film producer, having produced fifty-eight films since 1984. He is responsible for many of the greatest anti-apartheid films ever made in South Africa, including "Place Of Weeping," "Sarafina!" and "Cry, the Beloved Country." Nelson Mandela called him "a producer I respect very much…a man of tremendous ability" when he granted him the film rights to his autobiography, "Long Walk To Freedom." Singh is set to film "Long Walk to Freedom" next year with Morgan Freeman as Mandela and director Shekhar Kapur ("Elizabeth," "The Four Feathers").

Born and raised in Durban, South Africa, Singh began his film career at age 18 when he left his studies at the University of Durban-Westville to purchase a 16mm movie rental store. From there, he moved into video distribution, forming Videovision Enterprises (now Videovision Entertainment). He moved into film production in 1984 with Darrell Roodt's acclaimed "Place of Weeping," the first anti-apartheid film to be made entirely in South Africa.

Visit the website: www.yesterdaythemovie.co.za.