Shirley Adams PRESS BOOK www.shirleyadamsmovie.com Shirley Adams Portrait of a mother Length 91 minutes Original Language English and Afrikaans Subtitled Versions English, French Aspect Ratio 1:1.77 Delivery Format HD, Digibeta (Colour, PAL) Sound Stereo Website www.shirleyadamsmovie.com Contents: Credit Block Logline and Synopsis Director’s Vision Production Notes Biographies Director Writers Cast Crew Credits: Cast and Crew Producer Contact: Director of Photography Jamie Ramsay Original Music Score Philip Miller Jeremy Nathan and Michelle Wheatley Editor Garreth Fradgley Production Designer Nick Mostert Costume Designer Maleen Nökel Makeup/Hair Naeema Clayton Sound Design Warrick Sony, Jim Petrak & Ivan Milborrow Dv8 Films Sound Recordist Gita Cerveira Online Editor and Colourist Paul Hanrahan PO Box 308, Parklands, 2121 Line Producer Moroba Nkawe 1st Assistant Director/Production Manager Eva Franzen Johannesburg, South Africa Executive Producer Roland Emmerich Co-Producer Kirstin Winkler Tel: +27-11-880-0191 Written by Oliver Hermanus and Stavros Pamballis Produced by Jeremy Nathan and Michelle Wheatley Email: [email protected] & [email protected] Mobile: +27-83-454-8997 & +27-82-336-6897 Directed by Oliver Hermanus Web: www.dv8.co.za www.shirleyadamsmovie.com Centropolis Entertainment Inc London Film School and Dv8 Films in association with National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) Department of Trade and Industry of South Africa (DTI) present A film by Oliver Hermanus SHIRLEY ADAMS with Denise Newman and Keenan Arrison “I have known this woman for over a decade. I can’t remember when I first gave her this name.” Oliver Hermanus LOGLINE without a trace months ago. Shirley’s life now shooter is one of Donovan’s childhood friends. from his ever-present disability. Shirley is even- The story of a woman who loses her family consists of trying to make ends meet by shop- tually left without an sign of the family she to violence and poverty, but gains her own lifting and relying on the charity of others. Her reaction to the betrayal is so overwhelm- once had. sense of self worth. ing that she chooses not to tell Donovan in When a young, eager occupational thera- fear of further damaging his already unstable Set in Mitchell’s Plain, Cape Town, Shirley Ad- SYNOPSIS pist, Tamsin Ranger, comes into their lives, emotional state. am’s story is symptomatic of the relationship Shirley Adams spends her days caring for Shirley hopes that it might lift her son’s spirits between violence and poverty – the destruc- her disabled son, Donovan - he was shot in and finally put them on path to some form of Determined to make a change in their lives, tion of an entire family is related to one single the back of the neck on his way home from stability. Shirley actively decides to embrace their new incident that cannot be erased or repaired. school one afternoon over a year ago. circumstances, hoping that Donovan will fol- At the same time Shirley receives a phone low her example. Riddled with the socio-political and racial Since then the Adams family has lost all their call one afternoon informing her that Dono- tensions that plague these Cape Flats slums worldly posessions to medical bills. Shirley has vans case is finally going to trial, but the glory But his mental state continues to deteriorate Shirley Adams is the story of one woman’s no money, no job and no husband - he left is short lived when Shirley discovers that the and Tamsin is unsuccessful in distracting him amazing strength and self sacrifice. “Yes - its about race, and crime in post apartheid South Africa, but at its core it is simply the film about a woman, named Shirley Adams.” Oliver Hermanus DIRECTOR’S NOTES by Oliver Hermanus destroyed an entire family. It has taken ten dinary people, told in an ordinary way. it’s the struggle that this character endures years or so to find the right way of telling ‘Social realism’ is not necessarily a movement that I find most interesting as a filmmaker. Shirley Adams is a woman I have known this story – the right method or technique. reserved for cinema, it is a term that I use to for over a decade. I don’t know when I first express how I interperet this woman. I admire I want you to experience life as she does gave her this name, but she has always been That method was portraiture. My hope is that her, I believe her to be a true survivor – a true during this time. I want you to ‘uncomfort- a mother, who’s son was shot while cross- this film allows you to coexist with Shirley, in her heroine. She is a coloured woman from Mitch- ably’ suspend your disbelief and allow ing a field on his way home from school. home, seeing her struggle to give her son Do- ell’s Plain but she is just like any other poor yourself to be introduced to a place and novan some kind of reason to keep on fight- disenfranchised mother of the world. She is a time that is riddled with hypocrisy and I had heard of such a story at the supper ing the demons that have poisoned his life. desperate. hardship. But out of which should come table one night at home. My sister, retelling a message about survival and strength. an experience she was having as an oc- It is only through the education that I Her story is meant to be simple and unsen- cupational therapy student, working with have subsequently received in filmmak- timental. As much as she fights against the Yes – its about race, and crime in post apart- a disabled youth and his family. She was ing, that I came to discover the filmmak- extinction of everything she has worked heid South Africa, but at its core it is simply the shocked at how this one single event had. ers and the films that tell the stories of or for her entire life, she cannot stop it, and film about a woman, named Shirley Adams. “I want you to experience life as she does during this time.” BIOGRAPHIES commissioned to adapt the Graphic Novel, His latest theatre production, Dalliances, trav- TAMSIN RANGER Emily Childs Quebrada for Filmmaker SRL (Italy) and his latest elled to Dublin Theatre Festival. Others thea- DIRECTOR AND CO-WRITER Oliver Hermanus feature project, Saving Abeo has been selected tre productions include; The boy who fell from Emily graduated from the University of Cape to the final round of the Channel 4, 4Talent/SWF the roof, The Bacchae, King Lear and his own Town (2007) with a Theatre and Performance 25 year old Oliver, is a Cape Town native who 2009 Pitch In Time competition. award winning play, A Birds Eye View per- Degree. She won the Ruth Pfeffer Award for started his professional career as a press pho- formed at festivals around South Africa. acting and a Fleur du Cap Award as Best Stu- tographer covering events such as the Glas- CAST dent for her final year’s work. tonbury Music Festival and the G-8 Summit. Keenan has made guest appearances in lo- SHIRLEY ADAMS Denise Newman cal TV shows like Madame and Eve and Inter- Emily has been actively involved in theatre He has a BA in Film Media and Visual Stud- rogation Room. His first big television role was and television from a young age and has ies from the University of Cape Town, during Denise Newman is a one of South Africa’s fore- in the action drama Divers Down. He is also worked for numerous local and international which time he was awarded a scholarship to most actresses, dominating the South African a regular feature on Etv’s Shooting Stars, in channels including National Geographic. attend the University of California. performance scene for decades. She has been which he plays the lead. Last year Emily produced and starred in Gone seen in a slew of plays, working with Pieter Dirk- Dottie - a one–woman show. Emily is currently In 2006 acclaimed Hollywood film director Ro- Uys and Athol Fugard, touring nationally and KARIEMA SAMSODIEN Theresa C Sedras a professional actor, M.C, voice artist and land Emmerich (Independence Day) offered globally. Denise has also been part of the lo- founder of new and upcoming production him a private scholarship to complete an MA cal television hits Erfsondes, Generations, Zero Theresa C Sedras has worked in theatre, film, company - Child’s Play Productions. in practical filmmaking at the London Film Tolerance, 7de Laan, and Isidingo among oth- radio and television over the past two dec- School. Oliver has also shot many short films ers. She has starred in five feature films, including ades. PHILDA JACOBS Lee-Ann van Rooi and documentaries. Forgiveness. Denise has won numerous awards and nominations for her work in theatre, televi- She has been the lead in several stage pro- Lee-Ann van Rooi has been working in the CO-WRITER Stavros Pamballis sion and the cinema. ductions, including Medea, and acted in with entertainment industry for nearly 18 years. She renowned theatre artists such as Pieter Dirk Uys has acted in seven TV-series, and the feature Stavros Pamballis received his BFA in Film Pro- DONOVAN ADAMS Keenan Arrison and Peter Snyders. On television she has per- films Interrogation Room, This Life, Fishy Fes- duction from New York University in 2002. He formed in Once upon a Krismis and D.O.T.S. huns, Cape of Good Hope and White Lioness. then returned to his home country, Cyprus, Keenan Arrison (28) is a young vibrant and en- In theatre she has performed in plays such where he spent three years writing and direct- ergetic actor, singer and performer, who gradu- She is a qualified voice artist, and performed as Shirley Goodness & Mercy, Equus, Twelfth ing commercials before moving to London, ated with a BA (Drama, 2005) from the AFDA film on radio, in both English and Afrikaans.