Director Tim Huebschle’s feature film, #LANDoftheBRAVEfilm, is set to have its official premiere this Thursday, 10 October at Ster Kinekor Grove Mall, Windhoek.
The film revolves around Meisie Willemse (Elize de Wee), a rugged cop with a dark secret she kept hidden for decades. However, while investigating a series of hateful murders, Willemse encounters a ruthless reporter who exposes dark secrets from her past, which in turn, derail the case, but Willemse is determined to catch the killer, even if she has to break the law.
Here’s some key information on the 95minute crime thriller:
Movie Title
The full title of the movie is #LANDoftheBRAVEfilm. The ‘LAND of the BRAVE’ part is borrowed from the second line of Namibia’s national anthem. It cements the idea that this is foremost a Namibian movie, by Namibians for Namibians. The use of the hashtag and the inclusion of the word “film” is very specific to indicate that this entire project is about more than just a movie.
Casting
Huebschle was adamant on the use of a combination of well-known and unfamiliar faces in the film. The film features Elize de Wee, Armas Shivute, Pieter Greeff, Ralf Boll, Khadijah Mouton, Felicity Celento, Muhindua Kaura, Chantell Uiras, Chridon Panizza, Joalette de Villiers, Janu Craill, Ndinomholo Ndilula, Jarret Loubser, Brumelda Brandt and Rodelio Lewis.
“I identified some actors e.g. Armas as Shivute and Elize as Meisie, but actively scouted for others. Piet Potgieter was synchronous as Pieter connected with me on Facebook just as I was looking for someone to play Piet. We put out an online casting call and that is how we found Chridon as Suiker and Khadijah as Cherry. In young Charmaine’s case, I scouted local productions to look for actors who resemble Elize and came across Chantell. I also wanted a few local celebrities to play bit parts, so am very grateful that Gazza (famous Kwaito artist) and Jarret Loubser (from Radio Wave) were game. Anyone outside the German-speaking community in Namibia may not know that Ralf Boll, who plays Dr Schneider, is a household name from the NBC German Radio service,” says Heubscle.
Budget
The film is produced with a tight budget of N$3 million which required extreme lean project management. About half of this amount was a grant from the Namibia Film Commission, while the remainder was sourced through private contributions, some crowdfunding, and using Collective Production’s own resources, including in-kind support from various avenues which allowed for the completion of the film.
Production
The film is produced by Collective Productions, co-owned by Huebschle, who is the writer & director of #LANDoftheBRAVEfilm, and David Benade, who is the film’s Producer. The film was primarily shot in and around Windhoek, with some scenes at Spreetshoogte and in the small harbour town of Lüderitz. The Lüderitz interior scenes were filmed on a custom-built set in Windhoek. Principle photography was from 3 July to 10 August 2018 with a total of 28 shooting days over the 5 week period with a short production break in between. The decision to shoot during winter was a deliberate, creative consideration. The land is dead during winter and that bleakness reflects what is happening in the story. On a practical level, this meant the production team braved extremely cold early mornings and evenings, particularly on two-night shoots.
Script Translation & Language
In order for #LANDoftheBRAVEfilm to be a truly Namibian film, it had to be in a language Namibians speak, a particular brand of street-Afrikaans which is unique to Namibia. The script was originally written in English, but Heubscle entrusted the actors to translate their own lines. The entire film – Afrikaans, English and vernacular dialogue – is subtitled in English.
Music
#LANDoftheBRAVEfilm composer Ginge Anvik produced a score including
music samples from the Nama, Himba, Ovambo and San people of Namibia. Collective Productions involved the Directorate of National Heritage and Culture Programmes for guidance and support during the selection process of traditional musicians. During November 2016 Ginge and director Tim Huebschle travelled 3313 km in 8 days through southern and northern Namibia as part of the #LANDoftheBRAVEfilm soundtrack road trip. The entire music production fee was covered by TONO, the Norwegian Collection Society and Performing Rights Organization, and the Komponistenes Verderlagsfond, the Norwegian Composers’ Remuneration Fund. These contributions were secured by Anvik.
Original Song
#LANDoftheBRAVEfilm’s soundtrack includes an exciting original song to feature over the credit roll. Afrikaans rapper Ike Adonis, better known as Ixa, and Namibia Annual Music Awards 2019 winner for best Afrikaans, Vaughn Ahrens, collaborated to produce the original song, ‘My Ghosts’. The song’s lyrics are inspired by the film’s tagline “facing the ghosts of your past is like trying to catch a serial killer who won’t be caught”. Ahrens’ indie-rock style, combined with Ixa’s rap, provides a fresh Namibian sound. The song is a mixture of Afrikaans and English hip hop with a folk feel to it. ‘My Ghosts’ was publicly released on 9 September 2019 for airplay on local radio stations in the run-up to the film’s premiere on 10 October. An accompanying music video consisting of footage of the artists in the studio during recording, interspersed with scenes from the film, was also published on social media the same day at 9:09 am.
#LANDoftheBRAVEfilm will premiere on 10 October and show until 20 October at Sker Kinekor cinemas in Windhoek. Tickets are available at Ster Kinekor, Pick n Pay and Webtickets. Early Bird: N$50 • Door: N$60 • Half price Tuesday: N$30.
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