Often hailed as the Bible of contemporary feminists and a cause celebre when it appeared in London, "The Story of an African Farm" transformed the shape and course of the late-Victorian novel. From the haunting plains of South Africa's high Karoo, Schreiner boldly addressed her society's greatest fears - the loss of faith, the dissolution of marriage, and women's social and political independence.

The novel's heroine, the fiercely independent Lyndall, is the first example of that much-feared and much-jeered literary phenomenon -- the "New Woman". The novel, often compared to Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, is an intense story of three children living in the African veldt. Wildly controversial at the time of its publication because of its feminist and anti-Christian sentiments, the story remains a touching and often wickedly funny portrayal of life on a late Victorian farm in South Africa. One of the most astonishing, least expected fiction masterpieces of its time, and one which has had an enduring influence; it was and still remains, immensely popular. The book ran into three editions in its first year of publication (and fifteen editions in Schreiner's lifetime) and among Its successive generations of admirers were Eleanor Marx, Vera Britain and Virginia Woolf.

This book is in two parts and was originally published in separate editions. In part two, you could be reading a different novel. The children have grown and so the protagonists changed. But that's a different movie. We've focused on the first section of the book, because the inherent appeal of the children as protagonists, and the unforgettable character of Bonaparte Blenkins, and wickedly observed portrait of Tant Sannie make it intensely commercial.

BONNIE'S LONG JOURNEY TO THE FARM
Writer / producer Bonnie Rodini spent over a decade getting The Story of an African Farm on the go. She wrote the screenplay in 1990 while she was living in NewYork. "I was lucky. I had a chance meeting with the writer and director James Dearden - Dearden wrote the screenplay for Fatal Attraction, directed and scripted Pascali's Island and produced and scripted A Kiss before Dying.

"I became his assistant on a movie called A Kiss before Dying and initially asked him to write the screenplay for African Farm but I was short of a million dollars , so I thought I'd give it a go. He encouraged me, and read the 7 or 8 versions I came up with and gave me loads of notes."

Then she was on her own. It was tough. It took five years to raise 40% of the budget for The Story of an African Farm, but she just couldn't close the deal. She attributes it to the fact that she was too young, and didn't have the track record or expertise to handle deals. That changed when she met the head of a post- production film company who suggested she volunteer for a television station they were running for a month during the World Cup Rugby. She did, and won a NTVA Avanti award. That was the start of a diversified television career.

Some years later she decided to resurrect her project. This time it gained momentum; why, though, was she prepared to invest so much time, energy and effort into a novel written in the 19th century?

"It's a South African classic, a charming, wonderful story which has to be brought to the big screen. The Brits and the Americans have brought their classics to the screen. It's high time we brought ours. It's a wonderful story, and it's got so many different layers. In fact there are 6 or 7 different stories in one book. That made the script very difficult to write, as there was so much material. But I did keep one thing in mind. when I was at school one of my dreams was to play Lyndall. I would have loved to play that role, so she became pivotal in developing themes and plot. And, of course, there's Bonaparte Blenkins! What a wonderful character! He's such a blend of the comical and the sinister, a character that needs the big screen to fully come alive."

"In May 2002 I heard that Richard E Grant was in town making Monsieur N. He's ideal for Bonaparte. In fact, I thought he was born to play the part, so I got a copy of the script to him. He accepted immediately and that started the ball rolling. But he must have had a frustrating year while we finalized everything - it was stop start-stop-start-stop until finally we could bring out the flags, champagne and whistles, and it was all systems go."

"I went on a location hunt 8 years ago to try and get my budget down. We didn't want to do any studio work either - this is the kind of film in which the locations must be real. They're important. With some friends we drove through Cradock and Graaf Reinett because Olive Schreiner grew up in that area. Ironically, none of the farms was ideal. I got in touch with a woman who gave me a list of farms all the way up the N1 to Cape Town. We stopped at all the farms. When I came across a hill and saw Zoutekloof Farm for the first time I got goose pimples because I knew it was absolutely perfect! It had everything we needed and it was abandoned."

When Bonnie decided to renew the project she called up the Laingsburg Town Council. She held her breath. Yes, there it was, still abandoned all these years later. The powers that be were on her side. She had to make the movie.

Olive Schreiner suffered from asthma, so the dry Karoo climate was ideal for her. In fact, her writing became synonymous with the area. She saw beauty in the aridity, wonderful nuances of light and shade in what others saw as relentless heat and sun.

Zoutekloof Farm is 16 kilometers off the road between Matjiesfontein and Laingsburg, in the Little Karoo. Matjiesfonetin, of course, has a special resonance. This picturesque village - there is a Victorian hotel, quaint shops, dusty streets - is where Schreiner settled on her return to South Africa from England for several years before she met and married Samuel Cronwright. It was here too that she began her series of articles on South Africa, met prominent men and women, among them Cecil John Rhodes, and made lasting friendships.

Zoutekloof farm, meaning a salt gully or ravine, was built in the 1800s. The place was abandoned and administered by the Laingsburg Town Council. This meant a lot of work for production designer, Birrie le Roux, and her team. They had to rebuild walls and thatch the roof, keeping the building styles and techniques of the time in mind. They also had to take out a false ceiling that hid the wooden beams under which the occupants at the time lived.

Any sign of life in the 21st century had to be eradicated. This meant rebuilding kraal walls and putting up fencing. The biggest task was the removal of 25 power and Telkom lines. Once the house had been restored and the surrounding area made to look suitably 19th century, redecoration on the farmhouse and outer buildings began. Appropriate antique furnishings and fittings had to be found, and this is where local families really rose to the occasion. There were many precious family heirlooms on set, generously lent to the production by neighbouring farmers and museums in the area.

The animals - the chickens and ostriches - had to be imported, but they soon made themselves at home. But in a strange way the area still keeps offering up its past amid the technical hustle and bustle of moviemaking.

I wanted David Lister to direct this film because, firstly I felt it was very important that the director was South African. Secondly, the director had to be good with children, as they're an Important part of the film. He's not temperamental - nothing can put kids off like hissy fits on sets, or directors throwing their weight around. David is kind. He's gentle and established an immediate rapport with the children. Luke even forgave him for the beating he had to take! The novel, like the film, is a universal story and it can be enjoyed on so many levels. Both film and book highlight an aspect of our culture and history in a humorous and humanistic way. David has a wonderful vision when it comes to filming the book, and this gives him the opportunity to show his talent. It's going to be among his most important films.

The film, too, I hope will create a strong interest in the wonderful writing of Olive Schreiner. And, 'besides that, it's good family viewing and entertainment. At the end I want audiences drying their tears and whooping for joy!"

OLIVE SCHREINER
Olive Schreiner was the first white South African novelist of consequence, achieved international fame with The Story of an African Farm. She was also an outspoken advocate of feminism, socialism and pacifism and a critic of European imperialism. Her published works include social and political treatises, allegorical tales and short stories, as well as the (once) famous feminist credo Women and Labor.

On 24 March 1855, Olive Emilie Albertina was born the ninth of twelve children to Gottlob and Rebecca Schreiner at Wittenbergen, Basutoland (now Lesotho). Her German father and English mother, both missionaries in South Africa, provided a household grounded in a strict Calvinist tradition. Despite this rigid structure, however, Schreiner's upbringing was tumultuous, one of upheaval and trauma, mainly because of her father's constant attempts at 'striking it rich'. Gottlob Schreiner's failures in mission work as well as a number of businesses prompted chronic financial insecurity, catalysing the family's disarray, eventual disunion and, significantly, Schreiner's separation from her parents. Schreiner's evangelical upbringing resulted in nightmares of hellfire. Coupled with the devastating death of a beloved younger sister and her developing philosophical convictions, Schreiner had a crisis of faith which, at the age of 13, leads her to reject the family's religion. The break caused an insuperable rift between Schreiner and her mother. The conflict between her convictions and beliefs was also a major factor in the onset of severe depression, which badgered Schreiner throughout her life. Olive Schreiner was self-educated, rapidly devouring books like John Stuart Mill, and the naturalist Charles Darwin as they came into reach.

It was through such reading that Schreiner developed her progressive outlook on life - she rejected the accepted stereotypical gender roles and espoused an equality of shared labor between men and women

When her father lost his position in 1867, Schreiner moved with her elder brother Theo, elder sister, Ettie, and younger brother William, to Cradock. After studying at Theo's school in Cradock for three years, Schreiner began working as a governess, an occupation she pursued for eleven years. As a child, she exhibited her precocity, challenging her parents' deep religious devotion and the family's deep religious roots. Such precocity again surfaced during her tenure as a governess, as she studied the works of a wide array of prominent Victorian intellectuals, wrote a considerable number of her own short stories, and began to develop her own social ideas---ideas that would eventually brand her as a Victorian revolutionist. Although this was not the norm in Victorian society, Afrikaner women were often expected to work, and were allowed to own property.

By 1872 Schreiner was working informally as a governess to a family in Dordrecht. It was here that she met Julius Gau, a Swiss Businessman, and experienced her first brief love affair- an experience with a "stranger" that she later used in The Story of an African Farm. It was during those eight years, she began her writing career with a semi-autobiographical novel about her life in South Africa.

Declaring herself a "free thinker", a viewpoint considered alien to the society in which she lived, Schreiner ended the relationship and relocated to the South African diamond fields, to once again live with Theo and Ettie (who had moved in the meantime).

In 1874 Schreiner started working full time as a governess - she wrote during her free time. For the next seven years she worked for five different wealthy Afrikaner families in the Cape Colony.

Eventually, with the help of her friend Mary Brown (an active British liberal feminist); she set sail for England in 1881 to fulfill her dreams of training as a nurse and getting her novels published. Unfortunately, the asthma she had developed during her time on the diamond fields became chronic in England and was too debilitating for her to enter medical training.

Chapman and Hall's acceptance of the semi-autobiographical novel "Story of an African Farm" in 1883 was a landmark in Schreiner's career as a novelist and later, as a social activist. It was published under a pseudonym, Ralph Irons, because of a contemporary prejudice against women authors. The book won international recognition as the first realistic description of life in South Africa, but there was also significant controversy over its strong, progressive views about marriage and religion.

Olive Schreiner was able to reveal her true identity as the book's author in the second edition, published in 1891. The book was acclaimed as an important statement of feminism and was very influential for radical women of the time. The novel's immediate success, which persisted throughout her lifetime, provided her acceptance among a group of revolutionary and, at the time, infamous thinkers. Thereafter, Schreiner began to associate with a distinguished group of intellectuals, not only exposing herself to England's literary and intellectual elite, but also introducing and expounding her own social ideas as well.

Following the critical acclaim for her book, Schreiner was quickly absorbed into the company of several prominent young socialists including Eleanor Marx, W. E. Gladstone, George Bernard Shaw, and Edward Carpenter. In 1884 Schreiner met and had a brief affair with Havelock Ellis, the distinguished "sexologist". Although the affair was quite short, Schreiner and Havelock Ellis maintained a life-long friendship and an extensive correspondence.

A romantic relationship with the poet/novelist Amy Levy ended in tragedy in 1889 when Levy killed herself, shortly after the two shared a three-day holiday at the seaside. The Pall Mall Gazette carried a defamatory report that the two had shared a suicide pact, but that only the younger, Levy, was able to carry it out.

In 1894 she returned to South Africa, married Samuel Cronwright and gave birth to an infant girl that died within a day. A tragedy that emerges prominently in her later fiction. She is often seen as one of the earliest feminist writers, in the manner of a Virginia Wolf, as she immersed herself in the South African and imperial politics of the day, writing and campaigning actively against colonialism, the oppression of women. Schreiner's intellectual role escalated to that of an outspoken, oftentimes revolutionary political leader.

Her political and literary work included tracts opposing Cecil Rhodes' colonialist activities in Africa as well as England's involvement in the Anglo-Boer War. Her political activism in the twentieth century included further polemical writing, her participation in women's suffrage groups, and a stalwart pacifistic stance against the outbreak of World War 1. Possessed of a sharp intelligence and an indefatigable determination, Schreiner was a prolific essay writer, constantly engaging in heated polemics on behalf of the many causes she adopted. The themes of women's labour and emancipation, pacifism, racism, imperialism and the tragedy of the loss of a child are major themes in her writing. She died in 1920.