63rd Cannes: The Bang Bang Club, the movie - where art doesn't imitate life

CANNES, FRANCE: The Bang Bang Club debuted at the Cannes Film Market last week. The overseas response so far has been positive, although if you were a journo in Joburg in the '80s, you'll be forgiven for wondering if your memory's playing tricks on you.

By Nadia Neophytou

24 May 2010

This time last year the cast members of The Bang Bang Club jetted into Cannes, after having just having wrapped up shooting the movie in South Africa. "This is a far cry from Soweto," Ryan Phillippe, who plays Greg Marinovich, had commented.

Indeed it was, but, it seemed, a necessary part of "Hollywoodising" the story about the pack of four photographers who rose to fame during the last few years of apartheid. Get to Cannes, get the press buzzing, and get the world awaiting its release.

Well, those world release dates for the movie, a co-production between South Africa and Canada, are still being worked out and finalised. That's the main reason for the film being here and making its debut at the Cannes Film Market earlier this week.

Continue reading the full story on www.thedailymaverick.co.za.

About the author

Nadia Neophytou is an Eyewitness News (EWN - [[www.ewn.co.za]]) reporterwho sometimes writes for [[www.thedailymaverick.co.za]]. Follow her on Twitter at @NadiaNeophytou and read her blog at [[www.missntertainment.blogspot.com]].