When South African director John Barker was seven years old, the Johannesburg native experienced Cape Town’s Minstrel Carnival for the first time. The annual celebration, which is rooted in the traditions of slaves dating back to the early years of colonial rule, is a colorful, raucous pageant unique to the Mother City — an event that Barker would later spend 14 years bringing to the big screen.
“The Umbrella Men” finally premiered last fall at the Toronto Film Festival, 16 years after Barker’s 2006 debut, “Bunny Chow,” debuted at the prestigious North American fest. Barker’s fifth feature was the closing film this week at the Joburg Film Festival, which wrapped Feb. 5 in the South African city.
“The Umbrella Men” is set in the Bo-Kaap, a formerly segregated Cape Town neighborhood that’s home to the city’s Cape Malay community, where the hip-hop producer Jerome Adams (Jaques de Silva) has returned...
“The Umbrella Men” finally premiered last fall at the Toronto Film Festival, 16 years after Barker’s 2006 debut, “Bunny Chow,” debuted at the prestigious North American fest. Barker’s fifth feature was the closing film this week at the Joburg Film Festival, which wrapped Feb. 5 in the South African city.
“The Umbrella Men” is set in the Bo-Kaap, a formerly segregated Cape Town neighborhood that’s home to the city’s Cape Malay community, where the hip-hop producer Jerome Adams (Jaques de Silva) has returned...
- 2/6/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Bronté Snell, Rob van Vuuren, Joey Rasdien, Jaques De Silva and Keenan Arrison in The Umbrella Men
One of the most enjoyable heist movies to reach the screen in recent years, Toronto International Film Festival hit The Umbrella Men follows a group of musicians who decide to rob a bank in order to save their beloved nightclub and community hub, covering up the activities, covering up their activities with Capetown’s annual Minstrel Carnival. It’s a wildly entertaining ride, and very much in keeping with the character of the team behind it, director John Barker and lead actors Jaques De Silva, Shamilla Miller, Keenean Arrison and Bronté Snell, all of whom were in high spirits when we got together for an interview, despite a long day packed with promotional work. John kicked off the discussion, talking about how the project began.
“I've made a slice of life film and it did really well,...
One of the most enjoyable heist movies to reach the screen in recent years, Toronto International Film Festival hit The Umbrella Men follows a group of musicians who decide to rob a bank in order to save their beloved nightclub and community hub, covering up the activities, covering up their activities with Capetown’s annual Minstrel Carnival. It’s a wildly entertaining ride, and very much in keeping with the character of the team behind it, director John Barker and lead actors Jaques De Silva, Shamilla Miller, Keenean Arrison and Bronté Snell, all of whom were in high spirits when we got together for an interview, despite a long day packed with promotional work. John kicked off the discussion, talking about how the project began.
“I've made a slice of life film and it did really well,...
- 9/18/2022
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
South African cinema is still catching up to the diversity of the population it represents: a congregation of cultures, languages and religions that got ironed out in the popular imagination by the white supremacist politics of the apartheid era. The country’s significant Cape Muslim, or Cape Malay, population is one demographic that has traditionally received short shrift on screen, a context that makes Amy Jephta’s hearty, fractious family comedy “Barakat” more of a milestone than its relatively modest storytelling might suggest. Following four adult brothers upended by news of their widowed mother’s plans to remarry, the film may skirt cliché in its broad depiction of fragile masculinity versus women’s intuition, but ultimately thrives on its vivid social and linguistic particularities.
The first film by a woman of color ever to be selected as South Africa’s Oscar submission, “Barakat” has played a number of diasporic and African-specific international festivals,...
The first film by a woman of color ever to be selected as South Africa’s Oscar submission, “Barakat” has played a number of diasporic and African-specific international festivals,...
- 12/21/2021
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
More new genre cinema from South Africa, starring black South Africans - this one fitting squarely under the buddy cop comedy category, set in Johannesburg, written by comedian Kagiso Lediga, titled Blitz Patrollie. The film chronicles the adventures of Rummy Augustine (Joey Rasdien) and his partner, Ace Dikolobe (David Kau), two police officers who have had the misfortune of being stationed in an anonymous depot in the Johannesburg Cbd. Rummy is bogged down with trying to start a family, while the overzealous Ace can think of nothing better to do in the morning than head out and kick some criminal ass. Directed by Andrew Wessels, Blitz Patrollie promises...
- 4/3/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Written by South African comedian Kagiso Lediga, Blitz Patrollie is a buddy cop comedy set in Johannesburg. The film chronicles the adventures of Rummy Augustine (Joey Rasdien) and his partner, Ace Dikolobe (David Kau), two police officers who have had the misfortune of being stationed in an anonymous depot in the Johannesburg Cbd. Rummy is bogged down with trying to start a family, while the overzealous Ace can think of nothing better to do in the morning than head out and kick some criminal ass. This hilarious comedy offers itself as a portrait of Jozi and its many contradictions. Directed by Andrew Wessels, Blitz Patrollie promises to be a film that will visually...
- 7/19/2012
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Dv8 Films
There is a certain scrappy charm to "Bunny Chow: Know Thyself", the story of three struggling Johannesburg stand-up comics who take a road trip to a gig at an outdoor rock festival and discover that life has a way of delivering sharply executed punch lines of its own.
Shot in no-frills black and white by first-timer John Barker, this slice-of-life picture has a loose, youthful energy recalling early Spike Lee that is entirely fitting for a country that is enjoying a cultural growth spurt.
In its more polite, culinary vernacular, a bunny chow is a hollowed-out hunk of bread filled with a mixture of meat and vegetables that is meant for sharing. It also serves as a handy metaphor for the melting pot of cultures that is contemporary South Africa.
Playing casually autobiographical versions of themselves are David Kibuuka as Dave, a dishwasher who is determined to hit it big as a comic even though he has yet to have a decent set onstage; Kagiso Lediga as Kags, Dave's more established mentor whose womanizing ways are putting an understandable strain on his relationship with the beautiful but insecure Kim Kim Engelbrecht).
Rounding out the trio is Joey Yusuf Rasdien as Joey, a Muslim finding it tricky to reconcile his faith with the various temptations that go with the stand-up territory, much to the irritation of his Chinese girlfriend, Angela (Angela Chow).
Director Barker and his three lead characters all worked the same sketch comedy show ("The Pure Monate Show"), and that previous relationship serves their improvisational approach effectively here though there are the occasional times when those now-you-see-'em-now-you-don't subtitles go AWOL just when some of that hip Johannesburg dialect kicks into overdrive.
There is a certain scrappy charm to "Bunny Chow: Know Thyself", the story of three struggling Johannesburg stand-up comics who take a road trip to a gig at an outdoor rock festival and discover that life has a way of delivering sharply executed punch lines of its own.
Shot in no-frills black and white by first-timer John Barker, this slice-of-life picture has a loose, youthful energy recalling early Spike Lee that is entirely fitting for a country that is enjoying a cultural growth spurt.
In its more polite, culinary vernacular, a bunny chow is a hollowed-out hunk of bread filled with a mixture of meat and vegetables that is meant for sharing. It also serves as a handy metaphor for the melting pot of cultures that is contemporary South Africa.
Playing casually autobiographical versions of themselves are David Kibuuka as Dave, a dishwasher who is determined to hit it big as a comic even though he has yet to have a decent set onstage; Kagiso Lediga as Kags, Dave's more established mentor whose womanizing ways are putting an understandable strain on his relationship with the beautiful but insecure Kim Kim Engelbrecht).
Rounding out the trio is Joey Yusuf Rasdien as Joey, a Muslim finding it tricky to reconcile his faith with the various temptations that go with the stand-up territory, much to the irritation of his Chinese girlfriend, Angela (Angela Chow).
Director Barker and his three lead characters all worked the same sketch comedy show ("The Pure Monate Show"), and that previous relationship serves their improvisational approach effectively here though there are the occasional times when those now-you-see-'em-now-you-don't subtitles go AWOL just when some of that hip Johannesburg dialect kicks into overdrive.
- 11/7/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.