SA film a rising star

Aware of the industry’s potential contribution to economic growth, the government offers rebates which, coupled with a weaker rand, make it cheaper for foreigners to shoot here than established locations like Australia.

Four years after the release of US film director Clint Eastwood’s acclaimed Invictus, which chronicled how Mandela inspired the national rugby team to World Cup victory, the biographical Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom will hit movie screens in November.

The film chronicles Mandela’s decades-long fight against oppressive white minority rule, for which he was jailed for 27 years, and was shot at the Cape Town Film Studios, the first custom-built Hollywood-style film complex of its kind in Africa.

Set in South Africa’s tourism capital, the studio offers easy access to a wide array of locations including sandy beaches and modern cities. Since opening in 2010, it has been the location for high profile movies and TV series which have made hefty profits.

Figures from South Africa’s trade and industry department show that in its first 2-1/2 years of existence, productions that used the studio employed 29 000 people and invested R1.4 billion.

This translated to an economic impact factor of 3, meaning for every rand spent on production, another 3 rand was spent in the economy. “This industry is a key driver to growth because the international films inject enormous amounts of money into the country,” Cape Town Film Studios CEO Nico Dekker said.