The South African-Canadian co-production, Proteus sparked a furious debate on Moviezone when writer and co-director Jack Lewis questioned why the film is not being distributed locally although it has been brought for distribution in Canada, the USA,Greece, Thailand, France, Germany, Italy.

"This makes Proteus one of the most distributed local movies in recent times - outside South Africa," said Lewis. "By most critical accounts it is a well made, different, original and interesting movie. It has Afrikaans content - which usually appeals to a movie going segment. Why should it not be seen? Ster Kinekor's attitude towards Proteus is frankly homophobic."

proteus
Based on a true story, Proteus is set in South Africa in the eighteenth century. A young Khoi herder, Claas Blank, is arrested and imprisoned for attempting to retrieve cattle taken by white colonizers. Unjustly convicted of theft, he is sentenced to hard labour on Robben Island, Cape Town's penal colony. There, Claas crosses paths with two other men: a Dutch sailor and fellow inmate named Rijkhaart Jacobsz; and Virgil Niven, the Scottish botanist who runs the prison garden. Virgil enlists Claas's help in cultivating the Protea species for the European market with the hope it will become as popular as the tulip. At the same time, despite the vast cultural taboos and mutual prejudices involved, Claas begins a tentative affair with Rijkhaart. But Virgil accidentally witnesses their liaison, setting in motion a course of events that brings tragic consequences for all.

a word from the local producers
Following the statement made by Jack Lewis, the South African producers of Big World Cinema, Steven Markovitz and Platon Trakoshis stated that "Big World Cinema do not associate ourselves in any way with Jack Lewis's comment on homophobia. We believe this comment is unfounded."

The historical drama produced by local company, Big World Cinema and Canadian Pluck Inc, and directed by John Greyson and Jack Lewis, enjoyed a successful release in the USA and toured through at least twenty cities in the USA, as well as a six-city tour of Canada, and an European release.

Proteus premiered in South Africa at the Cape Town World Cinema Festival where lead actor, Rouxent Brown, won the Best Actor Award, and was screened at both the Toronto and the Berlin Festivals and has since travelled to over 28 international festivals.

"While Proteus is a provocative film, it seems a shame that a film that has done very well internationally cannot find a home in South Africa," said Steven Markovitz and Platon Trakoshis. "We know that while this film might not have mass audience we are confident that it has a significant niche audience in South Africa. It is important that South Africans see this film which reinterprets our history and culture."

a word from local filmmakers
"If it did well on the local festival circuit, wouldn't that normally be some sort of indication that maybe, just maybe it might do well on the commercial or art circuit?", questioned local filmmaker Andrea Altgayer.

"I assume that they feel that the subject matter is not interesting enough - as if we don't have a gay population that just might be interested in seeing it!," said Altgayer. "A whole section of our population is forced to wait for the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival to watch films that reflect their realities. Why? Because they don't conform to the social norm of heterosexuality. So as far as the powers that be are concerned, they don't exist, regardless of the fact that there are probably more gay people in South Africa than they would like to think. Sounds a bit like the apartheid regime, that only served the interests of a privileged minority."

"I also think that they have failed to consider that since it is based on a true story, maybe, just maybe people will be interested, because it deals with a part of our history that has not been dealt with before," said Altgayer.

"Maybe the lack of distribution for Proteus actually doesn't have that much to do with the distributors as it does with the Film and Publications board." said Altgayer. "As I understand it, every film needs their approval before it gets distributed here, so maybe it just didn't make the grade in terms of their "morals and ethics".

"Unless it is really, really obscene, like a video clip that I saw, that someone had downloaded from the internet of an American soldier beheading a Russian terrorist with a butchers' knife, which I doubt it is, then I really do not see why the Film and Publications board has not given permission for the film to be distributed here, if that is the case."

"For whatever reason the local distributors don't like the film and won't release it," says Derek Serra from in INDV. "They can't be forced to do so against their will, so the best option is to seek alternative distribution, maybe through the many independent cinemas like the Labia. 34 South is going that route. Nicola is right when she points out that a 4 print release is a dead-end street. We need to find alternatives to SK."

issues of censorship - the south african film and publications board
"I think you will find that the mandate of the Film and Publications board has changed a little since apartheid days - its directive is to classify films, not censor them. It is extremely rare that a film would be blocked for distribution and this would be in the case of child pornography, bestiality etc.," says Nicola Rauch, Head of Production, Curious Pictures.

"It is extremely offensive (to both the FPB and homosexuals, as well as anyone with a clue!) to suggest that homosexual content would in any way fall into a category that could/should/would be banned just by virtue of its "queerness"," says Rauch. "Morals and ethics? Is this a suggestion that homosexuality is either immoral or unethical? Perhaps a quick perusal of our constitution is in order? The right of sexual preference is entrenched in our constitution and is not regarded, at least by the state (of which the FPB is a part), as either."

"A quick look at the films that ARE distributed would give you a good idea on the positions regarding the depiction of sex on screen, not to mention gratuitous violence etc. Funnily enough, prejudice is one of the categories that is warned against by the FPB! The decision to distribute rests squarely with the distributors and their perception of whether a film will make profit or not. Of course, one would question whether any film can make profit on a 4 print release with practically no marketing spend - the basic package for most local releases (Leon Schuster excepted).Perhaps homosexuality sells better with a French accent?"

a word from the distributors - ster-kinekor distribution (local content)
"In response to the comments I would like to take this opportunity to clarify our position regarding distribution of local films, as well as the case related to Proteus specifically," said Helen Kuun, Marketing & Acquisitions: Ster-Kinekor Distribution (Local Content).

I should clarify that the decision to release a film or not to release a film can never be based on assessment that looks only at whether or not a subject matter would be interesting enough - it would be too vague, interesting enough to whom? And if interesting enough to a specific target audience, what is the size of that market, not just from the 'do they exist' point of view, but also from the 'of course they exist, but how many of these people attend cinemas and are there cinemas in places where these people are to be found?' perspective. Secondly, once you identify the interest group you have to consider that any grouping not only consumes films that reflect their lives.

Every film has a market, as we are well aware, the decision to release or not to release has to be made on the basis of:
a) What is the likely uptake of the story/exploration of the subject matter within its specific target market?
b) Is the specific target audience likely to choose the specific film within the offering of films available at a given time?
c) Is a film on an acceptable standard technically (sound, visual quality on-screen etc.)
d) Does a film entertain - and to what extent? (i.e. what box office is it likely to earn)
e) And if it is not the type of film made for the purpose of entertaining - is the market that is likely to watch films for other reasons big enough to justify release expenses
f) We also look at authenticity, the credibility of a story, the acting, quality of writing, and the creative team at large
g) And finally - will the film sell to television (both pay and free) and what level of DVD/VHS retail/rental is the film likely to achieve?

When you assess the level of attendance that titles (realistic comparisons to PROTEUS) such as Lilies, High Art, Head On and even more recent gay titles such as All Over the Guy achieved it illustrates clearly how difficult it is to get gay audiences into gay films outside of the festival which has become the biggest gay event of the year, in numbers that are sufficient enough to justify a stand-alone release.

Here's the result of the top six films that dealt with issues of identity in terms of class, culture and sexuality at the South African box-office:
1. BROKEN HEARTS CLUB, THE (Earned:  163,237 - Attendance:  8,876)
2. ALL OVER THE GUY (Earned: 116,631 - Attendance:  5,782)
3. HEAD ON  (Earned: 87,134 - Attendance: 5,251)
4. BEEFCAKE (Earned: 73,303 - Attendance: 4,243)
5. LOVE IS THE DEVIL (Earned: 69,807 - Attendance: 4,796)
6. HIGH ART (Earned: 48,526 - Attendance:  3,021)

Compare this to what's happening at the South African box-office

When I say justify a stand-alone release I mean that the box office that the film earns from its attendance need to be substantial enough to cover the print cost and advertising spend on the film. It is impossible to release a film for less than R80 000 more or less, cost of one print will run at around R20-R30k and then you will need to spend around R40k (minimum) to punt it, plus buy trailers. The spend on advertising is not a true indication of the value of a campaign, please remember that. The value of the COSMIC AFRICA campaign exceeded 2.3million and clearly one is not in a position to spend that kind of money.

So for argument's sake - lets say PROTEUS cost R80k to release and earns better box office than LILIES did at the time or than ALL OVER THE GUY did last year. Around R130k gross (remember 60% of that is held by the exhibitors, no matter where you play it - an  independently owned site, a NuMetro or Ster-Kinekor site) so the portion that comes back to producer/distributor of R130k will be around R52k.

Say as distributor we take no fee for doing the work and only apply the R52k to recouping advertising and print cost, we are still in a hole of R28k - with a film that will be a very hard sell to TV as I am certain we can all see.

To give you an idea of what films do on DVD - Almodovar's ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER sold less than 200 units and BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB sold just over 600 units locally. That would indicate that PROTEUS would do more or less the same.

Nicola Roach will be able to vouch for this, she was part of that venture.

Bottom line of DVD income on these titles then becomes, its not big money. It is an illusion to think these sales are massive, AMERICAN PIE does not even sell 5000 units and youngsters lap up this type of film.

I cannot make a business case that makes sense for this film, and that has always been our position. As much passion and enthusiasm it takes for a film to be made, films function in bands. If you make a film that will fit into a specific place in the market you are going to earn what those types of films earn. What it cost you to make the film unfortunately does not indicate what it is likely to earn at the box office, genre is the best indication of where films fit into the scope of films released. And, each film is its own business - it has to earn its own production and release expenses back from its own box office gross, TV sales and DVD sales. It cannot earn money from another film. This is where it becomes difficult, because you can make a wide audience appeal film for R10mil or a niche audience appeal film for R10mil, that is a creative choice...

Lastly, South Africa as a territory when you compare it with other international territories is a similar environment attendance-wise to The Phillipines and Iceland. When you compare the top 200 annually you will notice great overlap in titles that on occasion work nowhere else in the world, but do fair business in these three territories. Our market and the profile/summary of cinema attendances in SA has very little in common with developed territories such as Germany, France and Italy for instance where the cinema going base is up to ten times as large as ours. So a niche film in France can make sense to a distributor much more easily than the same niche film in The Phillipines or SA.

As much as we are supportive of local content we have to bear in mind that we are a shareholder business that should be making decisions that make business sense. Whether or not I like the film personally is not what it is about, it is ultimately only about admissions at a cinema, sales in retail and the price that a broadcaster is prepared to pay for the rights to screen a film.

I also do not think we should be undercutting the value and profile films get from the Gay Festival, there are valid reasons for why the majority of films that play festivals do not release as stand-alone theatricals, and vice versa. All films do not fit well onto all platforms; the business is too competitive for that.

The last conversation Jack and I had about PROTEUS concluded that he would be looking into some donor funding to cover this gap that exists and based on that we would make a decision as to what the best route will be. We have not discussed it since but I am certain that we will in the future.

But, anyone that has further comments or queries should place them - I will address them.

a final word from abroad
Carolyn Projansky, Producer/Director/Writer of Five Stars Films in the United Statesmade a valuable comment when she questioned why Proteus is seen as a "gay film?" "It sounds to me like a very powerful story and I am looking forward to seeing in the United States (where I'm now located).  And I am not gay!," says Projansky. "Don't gay people go to see films about straights? Don't women see films about men? And vice versa? If we only saw films about ourselves we would be bored to tears. Doesn't make marketing sense to me. It's a shame."

CONTACT DETAILS:
To subscribe to moviezone contact:  moviezone-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Jack Lewis: idoljack@iafrica.com
Big World Cinema: Steven Markovitz steven@bigworld.co.za
Helen Kuun (Ster-Kinekor):   helenk@sterkinekor.com
Carolyn Projansky:   cprojansky@aol.com
Derek Serra: Central Castings:  centrald@gem.co.za
Andrea Altgayer: altgayer@iafrica.com
Proteus website:   www.proteusthemovie.info
South African Gay and Lesbian Film Festival website:  www.oia.co.za