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| Image: Via riaadmoosa.com |
Produced by local entrepreneur Ronnie Apteker, the film has been promoted with noticeable business acumen. Not only does it sport a host of local sponsors, many of whom enjoy noticeable exposure in the film, but it has also received considerable (and very positive) media attention, ranging as wide as the February edition of Forbes Magazine Africa. Apteker has been quite public about the urgency for South Africans to support the film by seeing it in the first week (cinemas demand existing box office figures to continue the film's run), but according to social media indicators several cinemas have been sold out over the opening weekend. This bodes well for the film's international future, and the success is certainly well earned.
Material is inspired by the life of Riaad Moosa, who also plays the lead role of Cassim Kaif, the son of an Indian Muslim fabric shop owner in Johannesburg's historic Fordsburg area. In real life Moosa is known and loved for his standup comedy - a passion that evolved while he was qualifying as a medical doctor. The script is fictionalised considerably, but the overlap is clear: how do you follow your dream when it conflicts with the hopes held by your family, community and profession?
The cinematography is arresting, and my heart skipped a beat in every scene that showed pre-dawn Fordsburg in all its naked urban masala beauty. A great deal is said without dialogue in the portrayal of daily routines and cultural rituals. Against these wordless backdrops, the dialogue leaps out with gravity and spicy wit. The universality of the film's themes can give it wide appeal, but it will have special meaning to any South African, any member of a minority culture, any Muslim and especially the country's young Indian Muslims, who have been flocking to the show as long as previews have been running. As to international audiences, I personally foresee a great future for Material, even though much of the local subtext would be dense for an outsider to penetrate, and subtitles would be imperative.
Material is definitely a film to see. During the almost two hours of screening I was riveted and could find little if anything to flaw. I laughed, I cried and I left with a lighter heart. This is good cinema, and I hope to see it succeed in South Africa and beyond.
The cinematography is arresting, and my heart skipped a beat in every scene that showed pre-dawn Fordsburg in all its naked urban masala beauty. A great deal is said without dialogue in the portrayal of daily routines and cultural rituals. Against these wordless backdrops, the dialogue leaps out with gravity and spicy wit. The universality of the film's themes can give it wide appeal, but it will have special meaning to any South African, any member of a minority culture, any Muslim and especially the country's young Indian Muslims, who have been flocking to the show as long as previews have been running. As to international audiences, I personally foresee a great future for Material, even though much of the local subtext would be dense for an outsider to penetrate, and subtitles would be imperative.
Material is definitely a film to see. During the almost two hours of screening I was riveted and could find little if anything to flaw. I laughed, I cried and I left with a lighter heart. This is good cinema, and I hope to see it succeed in South Africa and beyond.
