Aspiring actors and actresses from Ekurhuleni will feature in a comedy film titled The Cougar Diaries of Liv and Zea.
The film’s premiere screening will be at The Green Bar, Benoni Country Club, on January 20 at 19:00.
Shot in Zanzibar, Dubai and various parts of Benoni and its surrounds, including the Rock Raceway, the Helsdon Arms Pub and CR Swart Dam, the film moves between the years 2024 and 2054 in Cape Town and introduces viewers to the elderly pair of Liv and Zea.
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In their younger years, these two women were desperate for money to fund shopping sprees and a lifestyle they could not afford.
An international spy organisation recruits them to carry out ‘hits’ on people deemed undesirable by the agency.
Their spying adventures take them to some exotic locations.
Liv is a stereotypical blonde who always gets herself into trouble. Zea is a Russian immigrant with an unusual understanding of English who fled her native country to escape a war.
On arrival in SA, she met Liv, and they became best friends.
Living on the edge
The backbone of the comedy is the relationship between Liv and Zea and the constant misunderstandings between the two, who are from very different cultures.
Together, they fumble through the complexities of being hitmen and somehow make it work.
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As old ladies, they decide to tell all to a local journalist.
As the story unfolds, we are taken back to when they were young, dangerous and living close to the edge.
The lead cast includes Joeleen Speirs (Liv), Svetlana Ostrovskaja (Zea), Mapala Matloto (Agent Vera) and Shira Yariv (Agent Monica). The film also features 20 other cast members.
Director Jason Maydew, originally from the UK, moved to SA in 2008.
He is involved with major international and local film and TV productions.
“The film took six months to complete. We shot scenes in three countries, which presented challenges for the cast and crew, but we got through it.
“Directing The Cougar Diaries of Liv and Zea has been one of the highlights of my career. I had so much fun,” said Maydew.
