Indie Durban film for Durban International Film Festival

All the filmmakers involved in the process were full time students under the age of 23 when film was shot in early 2007. Now, a year later, the dream of the premiere is finally being realised.

“It is hard to believe that we are finally reaching this moment, the eve of the premiere,” comments Stephen de Villiers, the writer/producer/director of Three Cigarettes. According to de Villiers, post-production on the film was put on hold and was only finished now, mid-2008, due to the interruption and production of his short film Commando, which is currently screening on M-Net.

Commando was produced as one of the M-Net EDiT short film projects in 2007 and stars Jacobus van Heerden (also appearing in Three Cigarettes), with a special guest appearance by well-known actor Ian Roberts. It was recently honored by receiving the “Best cinematography” prize at the M-Net EDiT awards, and was also selected into competition at the prestigious Sehesuchte Student awards in Berlin (the largest student film festival in Europe). Commando is also screening at the DIFF.

‘Enormous challenges'

“Three Cigarettes has always been a narrative very close to my heart, and shooting it was a major turning point in my career,” states de Villiers. “The challenges we faced were enormous. With film in general, you can never have enough time and money, and these constraints are magnified in the ‘no-budget' world. The film was shot in the sweltering February Durban heat over a very tight eight days.”

The narrative of the film presents three aesthetically distinct, but ultimately interconnected stories. It tells the tales of Angela, a soon-to-be married young bride, Bong'kosi, an unemployed cripple and Jennifer, a recently single and pregnant young woman. All three characters face major dilemmas and must make important decisions as their stories are inexorably woven together. The narratives are presented and framed using the unique bracketing device of the length of time it takes each character to smoke a cigarette.

One of the strengths of film is its performances. “There's a common rule emphasising the importance of casting, and I'm very happy with the final cast we managed to assemble. Nearly all of the actors had little to no screen experience, coming from strong theatrical backgrounds. But I feel they all really handled the transition to a screen mode of performance,” explains de Villiers.

Local Durban actors

The film stars local Durban actors Sasha de Merigny, Bhoyi Ngema and Genevieve Akal in leading roles. In strong supporting roles are the Durban-based comedy duo Liam Magner and Jacobus van Heerden, of Tokoloshi Come and Go fame.

“One of the elements that was both exciting and challenging about making the film was the seeming disparity of the three stories. It was crucial to view the film holistically, as a multi-faceted, but ultimately coherent story. However, the nuances of the individual characters and their relative conflicts allowed for an exciting exploration of stylistic cinematic convention” explains de Villiers. “In some ways it felt like we were shooting three different films, each with a unique look and feel. To achieve this, we really sought out locations in the greater Durban area that offered the variety of canvases, which would support the thematic and narrative elements of the story.”

With a locked running time of 40 minutes, the film shows itself to be an extremely ambitious undertaking. “I think people will be drawn in by the variety present in the film. In some ways it offers something for everyone. From the intimate, delicate story of the young bride waking up to her life calling, to the edgy, hard hitting, almost noiresque action of the older black man's tale. Also present is the powerful drama of the young pregnant woman's confrontation with isolation. I think the film speaks to a very contemporary South African cultural climate and context.

“However, transcending that, I have really aimed to give the narrative a universal appeal. I do believe these characters have an archetypal quality, with very real, basic human conflicts to overcome, which would allow this tale to be told in any part of the world, in any social strata”.

Festival circuit

At this stage the filmmakers are aiming to release the film to the festival circuit, starting with Durban at the end of July. From there they hope to be accepted to a few of the big names, such as Toronto and Berlin. “We would love to secure distribution,” says Farai Gwaze, the co-producer of the film. “However, we will first see how well the film performs in the festival circuit, both at home and internationally.

“In some ways Three Cigarettes has served as a valuable model for us and we hope that the wider independent, young filmmaking community will gain from it as well. We have proven what can be achieved on nothing more than a shoestring and (sometimes) crazy determination. We believe that Durban has the performance talent needed to make quality, authentic and entertaining films.”

The acting CEO of the Durban Film Office, Toni Monty, has fully supported the project, saying: “It is truly heartwarming to see such incredible talent emerging in Durban. The Durban film office is so impressed with the tenacity displayed by Stephen de Villiers and his team in bringing this film to the big screen and we congratulate them on their achievement.”

According to co-producer, Gwaze, what now remains to be seen is how audiences will respond to that most important cinematic ingredient - the story.

Three Cigarettes is scheduled to screen at the Kwa-Suka theatre in Durban, on Thursday 24 July at 6pm, where the filmmaking team will be present to introduce the film and conduct a post-screening question and answer session.

The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) takes place 23 July - 3 August. For more information on Three Cigarettes, go to www.threecigarettes.co.za.