SA film selected for top US film festival

Cape Town - How to Steal 2 Million, South African director Charlie Vundla’s debut feature film, has been selected for this year’s Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the US.

This year's festival will run from September 22 to 29 in Austin, Texas.

"Fantastic Fest is a hugely popular film festival so this is excellent news for everyone involved in the movie," says Jeremy Nathan, producer of How to Steal 2 Million.

Wonderful accolade

"The festival specialises in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, and action movies from all around the world. The organisers aim to choose only the best international films, so their selection is a wonderful accolade for How to Steal 2 Million, and especially for Charlie Vundla as this is his first feature film."

The film tells the story of Jack (Menzi Ngubane), who has spent five long years in jail after being arrested for robbery. His partner in crime and best friend Twala (Rapulana Seiphemo) never got caught and Jack never talked. When he is released, Jack decides to go straight. He wants to start a construction business, but after being rejected for a loan he must find another way to get money. An opportunity presents itself when Twala suggests they rob a home where the take is worth R2 million.

The film also stars Terry Pheto, Hlubi Mboya and John Kani. According to Helen Kuun, CEO of Indigenous Film Distribution, How to Steal 2 Million performed 15% better than Jerusalema did on its opening weekend.

"This is most encouraging. The film’s attendances were also 7% higher at Ster Kinekor cinemas this past Tuesday than on opening Friday. That means word-of-mouth is working and that audiences are responding well. It’s great to see that South African films are becoming increasingly popular."