FILM AND
PHOTOGRAPHY

IMAGES IN STRUGGLE

On November 17 and 19 at 13h10 the Tatham Art Gallery in Pietermaritzburg will show Images in Struggle: South African Photographers Speak which documents the work of South Africa's leading photo-journalists. Photographers interviewed include Omar Badsha, Santu Mofokeng, Rashid Lombard, Paul Weinberg and Cedric Nunn.

NEW DIRECTIONS

New Directions is an M-Net initiative to find and develop first-time writers and directors. The latest season will be launched on November 2 at 22h00.

An Old Wife's Tale, a comedy starring James Borthwick, Jeremiah Ndlovu and Elize Cawood, is directed by Dumisani Phakathi. Hendrik wants a second wife, and why not? His foreman has more than one, and the constitution says all men are equal. Now if only his wife would agree!

Cry Me A Baby, starring Nakedi Ribane and Sechaba Morojele and directed by Tasmin McCarthy, is a drama about a nursing sister's search for the perfect father to conceive the baby she so desperately wants.

A few days before Christmas, an old sergeant comes to terms with a changing South Africa. As seen through the eyes of a child, this is Salvation with Ryno Hattingh and Henrietta Gryffenberg.

Wilson Ntshona stars in the drama The Storekeeper. A law-abiding rural (African) man takes the law into his own hands, with tragic results.

M-NET SPECIALS

Starting on November 26 at 20h00 is A Dance to the Music of Time, a portrait of England spanning nearly a century with Sir John Gielgud, Miranda Richardson, Edward Fox, Alan Bennett and Zoe Wannamaker.

On November 17 at 20h00, M-Net screens Andrew Lloyd Webber's 50th birthday concert filmed at London's Royal Albert Hall with Michael Ball, Sarah Brightman, Antonio Banderas, Boyzone, Glenn Close, Elaine Paige, Kiri Te Kanawa and Julian Lloyd Webber (due to perform in the Durban City Hall on November 11).

November 19 at 20h00 sees the premiere of a television version of Cats, one of Lloyd Webber's most successful musi-cals, with Elaine Page recreating the role of Grizabella, John Mills playing Gus and Ken Page as Old Deuteronomy.

LONG WALK FILM

The coveted film rights of President Nelson Mandela's best selling auto-biography Long Walk to Freedom have been granted to producer Anant Singh. The criteria for the bid outlines that a project of this nature be brought to the screen by an accomplished South African filmmaker with established links to distribute the film worldwide.

"The esteemed story of the world's most loved and respected statesman will be a mammoth task," admits Anant Singh. "This film, like the book, is very special and we are honoured to receive the President's approval and support to pro-duce an epic motion picture of his life story." Negotiations began last year when the book was launched in South Africa.

Local casting agent Peter Gardner of Troubadour Productions has been among the many searching for the right person to play Nelson Mandela as well as for actors for the many supporting roles.

FREEDOM

The film, like the book, will cover the president's youth, his freedom fighting years, the Rivonia trial and his 27 years of incarceration on Robben Island. It will incorporate his uniqueness, strength, generosity and humanity as a statesman.

Principal photography on this production is scheduled to start sometime next year. Anant Singh assures that no aspect of the film is to be compromised.

"Anant Singh is a producer I respect very much. It is our duty to primarily support our own artists and, given the resources and backing, he will produce work of the highest standards and excellence," commented President Nelson Mandela.

Long Walk to Freedom is to be directed by Indian film-maker Shekhar Kapur

whose controversial film Bandit Queen garnered international acclaim. His recent movie, Elizabeth stars Oscar winners Geoffrey Rush, Sir John Gielgud and Sir Richard Attenborough.

LIBRARY LUNCH HOURS

The Durban Municipal Library offers free lunch-hour films every Tuesday at 13h00 in the Museum Theatre on the first floor of the City Hall (entrance in Smith Street).

Nov 3: The Gondoliers - Part 1 of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta recorded live at the Sydney Opera House.

Nov 10: The Gondoliers (Part 2)

Nov 17: Evita (Part 1) - the film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical with Madonna, Antonio Banderas and Jonathan Pryce.

M-NET PREMIERES IN NOVEMBER

Debbie Reynolds stars in "Mother"

Among the many good movies offered by M-Net this month is Mother, a comedy which sees Debbie Reynolds starring with Albert Brooks and Rob Morrow in a bittersweet look at family relationships.

Comedy drama rates high on the list this month. There's the Oscar-winning Terms of Endearment with Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Danny de Vito, Jeff Daniels and John Lithgow.

Set in Johannesburg after the first democratic elections, Jump the Gun stars Babe Cele and Lionel Newton and follows the tangled lives of working class people struggling to find their place in the "new" South Africa.

That Thing You Do stars Tom Hanks and Liv Tyler, with Tom Hanks making his directorial debut in this film about a '60s group of one-hit wonders.

For those who prefer romance, While You Were Sleeping starring Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman is about a girl who meets her Mr Right while waiting for her Prince Charming to wake up out of a coma.

Time is running out for two friends who made a pact to jump off the

Brooklyn Bridge if they had not found true love by the time they turned 30 in

If Lucy Fell, a romantic tale starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Eric Schaeffer and Elle MacPherson.

Whoopi Goldberg, Dianne Wiest and Eli Wallach can be guaranteed to raise laughs in The Associate about a brilliant financial analyst who devises an ingenious, risky scheme to get to the top of the corporate ladder.

Drama movies there are a-plenty.

The Grotesque with Alan Bates and Theresa Russell looks at an eccentric English aristocrat and his wife whose lives are turned upside down by the arrival of two sinister servants.

Destiny (Arabic with English subtitles), from the award-winning Egyptian director Youssef Chahine, is an allego-rical attack on modern religious sects which encourage intolerance.

The factual drama Michael Collins stars Liam Neeson, Aidan Quinn, Alan Rickman and Julia Roberts. It's the story of an extraordinary man whose bravery and unswerving dedication to his people changed the history of Ireland and turned him into a legend.

Kate Winslet and Christopher Eccleston star in Jude which is based on Thomas Hardy's classic tragedy about a man trapped by social conventions and the spirited woman who aids his downfall.

THRILLER

Genevieve Bujold and Nancy Beatty star in the thriller Dead Innocent. A mother returns home to her apartment to find her maid murdered and her daughter gone. Then a voice starts telling her to kill herself.

Also featured on M-Net will be the movie sequel The Evening Star with Juliette Lewis and Miranda Richardson joining the cast.