Afda Durban lecturer, film director, producer and Afda Master of Arts (MA) graduate, Richard Green's master's degree outcome horror film, Tokoloshe The Calling, has been officially selected to screen at the Durban International Film Festival this year.
Tokoloshe The Calling, co-written and produced by Afda Durban head of Business Innovation and Technology School, Arish Sirkissoon and Richard was shot in Durban, South Africa. The film's diverse cast includes Afda alumni Shezi Sibongiseni and Angela Balkovic, Afda Durban Registra Lloyd O'Connor and Head of Live Performance School Roel Twijnstra.
The film, renamed Tokoloshe: An African Curse for the American market, was recently released on VOD in the USA. The feature is currently moving to a bigger distributor in the states and should be available in the coming months to larger networks.
The feature has also been picked up by Video Vision Entertainment, who will represent the product in Africa.
Based on the legend of the Tokoloshe, an urban myth that has terrified Africa in a similar way Americans fear the Boogeyman, the Tokoloshe is a sinister creature that haunts people's dreams and possesses them to commit evil acts.
The film's synopsis states that a novelist, pressured to write a new bestseller, travels with his family to an abandoned hotel in South Africa, unaware that it's haunted by a demon known as the Tokoloshe. When the writer becomes possessed and begins terrorising his family, a young woman experiencing supernatural visions linked to the hotel sets out to help the family and defeat the Tokoloshe.
Richard and Arish are enjoying great local and international recognition with the film. It seems the world has a fascination with horror films coming out of South Africa. When asked what they thought their winning formula was, they both agreed that it was presenting and defending "unique narratives that promote escapism".
Tokoloshe The Calling premiered in South Africa to celebrate the launch of the movie on Prime Video on Valentine's Day 2020. The movie received such high praise that a bigger distributor has picked it up.
A massive shout out to all the Afda Durban staff, alumni and students below that make up the cast and crew onTokoloshe The Calling!
Sibongiseni Shezi - Lead Actress
Lloyd Grant O' Connor - Lead Actor
Angela Balkovic - Lead Actress
Sir Roelof Twijnstra - Actor
Ndabenhle Christopher Tabo - Actor
Rio Notra - Actress
Director - Richard Green
Producers - Richard Green and Arish Sirkissoon
Writers - Richard Green and Arish Sirkissoon
Executive Producer - Arish Sirkissoon
Editor: Arish Sirkissoon
Sound design- Arish Sirkissoon
Cinematographer - Damien Tomaselli
Line Producer - LX Seth PTY LTD
Doll Design - Genie Lagrange
Associate Producer - Resham Bansee- Joshua Symons
Assistant to LX Seth and Richard Green - Edwin Chetty
1st Assistant Camera - Alice Mdluli-Katya Stacey Jonson and Nick Bartlett
2nd Assistant Camera - Alice Mdluli and Katya Stacey Johnson
Still Photographer - Alice Mdluli and Katya Stacey Johnson
Gaffer - Alice Mdluli and Stacey Johnson
DITT- Jason Coetzee
Sound- Simon Jones - Edwin Chetty -Brandon Dengler
Grading- Damien Tomaselli , Alice Mdluli and Katya Stacey Johnson
