Screen Africa

New Angus Buchan film starts shooting

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 10:53

SCREEN AFRICA EXCLUSIVE: Linda Krige writes… Principal photography commences this week in Greytown, KwaZulu-Natal, on a new feature film about evangelist and former Zambian farmer, Angus Buchan, and three true stories of people affected by his ministry.
Buchan’s life was first depicted on the big screen in Regardt van den Bergh's 2006 film Faith Like Potatoes. Frank Rautenback played Buchan in the film.
At a press conference held at OR Tambo on 11 April, details of the new film, Ordinary People, were revealed. It stars Buchan as himself with Anrich Herbst, known for roles in Orkney Snork Nie, Egoli and Villa Rosa, as the younger Buchan.
The film is written and directed by F.C Hamman and produced by F.C Hamman Films International and Spotlight Entertainment  The supporting cast includes Anton Dekker, Jaco Muller, Lucky Koza, Robin Smith, Norman Anstey, and Hannes Muller.
Hamman stated at the press conference that he felt as if the film chose him, and not the other way around.
A preview of the film shows Herbst as Buchan in 1979 preaching to an empty field of maize, with Buchan as himself years later preaching to over 300,000 men at a Mighty Men Conference held on the same spot, his farm near Greytown.
Despite the Christian theme and message, Buchan insisted that the story of Ordinary People was not only for the church or the Christian community. “The film must touch the nation, not a select group, but the whole nation,” said Buchan. “The gist of the whole thing is that God has no favourites.”
Ordinary People will be shot on location in Limpopo, Greytown and Johannesburg over the next eight weeks, and will be distributed in South Africa by Indigenous Film Distribution. The film is scheduled for release in April 2012.
For more on Ordinary People read the May issue of Screen Africa.