Baxu and the Giants Soars To Netflix

Florian Schott’s Baxu and the Giants is the first Namibian film to soon start showing on the popular streaming service, Netflix.

The 29-minute long film will be available on the streaming service from 30 September 2020.

According to Scott, the Netflix deal came about through one of the Film Festivals Baxu and the Giants took part in. Particularly the RapidLion International Film Festival hosted in March in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Apart from earning the Best Humanitarian Film nomination at the festival, Baxu and the Giants impressed one particular sales agent as well.

“I attended the festival with my wife and Production Coordinator Cherlien Schott and Karl Ehlers, one of our composers. At the festival, I had a meeting with a South African Sales Agent who watched Baxu and the Giants and as we stayed in touch they heard that Netflix was looking for African Shorts and that they were apparently interested in Baxu and the Giants,” Schott says.

Schott says while delivering the film to Netflix’s technical specs took a bit of time, they are “super happy that it all came together and our film will be available on Netflix soon.”

“Of course, it’s a huge honour to be the director of the first Namibian film on Netflix but the congratulations really need to go out to the whole Crew, especially Girley Jazama and Andrew Botelle, and of course our star Camilla Jo-Ann Daries,” Schott says.

A scene from Baxu and the Giants (2019) (Images: baxuandthegiants.com)

Jo-Ann Daries won the Best Female Actress Award for depicting the 10-year old Baxu at the Namibian Theatre and Film Awards 2019. Equally, the film itself is loved by local and international audiences, having received numerous accolades here and overseas.

“I am confident that this is just the first of many Namibian productions on Netflix,” Schott adds. “And a huge opportunity for Namibian filmmakers to showcase their films around the world.”

On 27 August 2020, the first official soundtrack of Baxu and the Giants was released to the public. The beautiful single ‘Sada Di Tama Hâ’ by Lize Ehlers, Cherlien Schott, Karl Ehlers (LOFT) and Imms Nicolau feat. Camilla Jo-Ann Daries comes with an awesome video that was directed by Girley Jazama, who co-wrote the script of Baxu and the Giants. ‘Sada Di Tama Hâ’ directly translates to ‘not ours’ in Khoekhoegowab.

“As we got multiple requests to release the music from the film we’ll do that in the coming days as well,” the director says.

Watch ‘Sada Di Tama Hâ’

#LANDoftheBRAVEfilm Releases Credit Roll Soundtrack- ‘My Ghosts’

Tim Huebschle’s crime thriller #LANDoftheBRAVEfilm starring Elize de Wee is expected to hit the big screen on 10 October. Ahead of the premiere, the film released an original soundtrack titled ‘My Ghosts’ by Vaughn Ahrens & Ixa.

The quirky and captivating credit roll soundtrack features visuals captured by Haiko Boldt with sound engineering by Adam Brandon-Kirby.

Vaughn Ahrens, who won the award for Best Afrikaans at the 2019 Namibian Annual Music Awards said he was lucky enough to be part of the film’s test audience where he had the opportunity to get a good feel of the film for the writing of the lyrics.

“I kind of imagined what I’d like to hear as the credits roll out, and went from there,” Ahrens said, “I think Ixa and I really captured the overall emotion that the movie brings with the lyrics and music. I think we’re busy blending styles here and that’s what’s making this endeavour such an interesting listen.”

According to Ixa, when he received the rough version of the beat for ‘My Ghosts’, he repeatedly watched the trailer before writing his part of the lyrics, adding that on the 21 August they recorded the song in less than two 2 hours.

“My lyrics basically explain how dangerous the streetlife in Namibia is and how difficult it can be to get out of the streets once you have chosen that life,” Ixa said.

‘My Ghosts’, is originally produced for #LANDoftheBRAVEfilm as part of the film score composed by Ginge, who is currently still writing some of the music.