iNumber Number set to rock SA cinemas

Presley Chweneyagae of Tsotsi fame returns to the South African big screen on Thursday when crime thriller iNumber Number, the fourth film by award-winning director Donovan Marsh, opens in cinemas nationwide.

Chweneyage stars opposite lead S’dumo Mtshali in an action-packed story about a pair of cops battling corrupt colleagues as well as a gang of armoured-car thieves.

Sello “Shoes” Moshoeshoe (Chweneyage) and Chili (Mtshali) have been partners in the police force for eight years. After they make a risky arrest, their corrupt superior refuses to give them the reward they are due. Enraged, Chili sets about infiltrating a gang of armoured car thieves.

“A must-see for action fans, the film has all the tension, double-crossing, gunfire and explosions that a heist film should have, as well some great humour and outstanding cinematography,” says producer Harriet Gavshon. “It provides an excellent platform for Presley’s performance as Chili’s somewhat reluctant sidekick who is also trying to raise a family.”

Chweneyage is a young man with a big talent. He has performed in numerous theatre productions and in 2005 landed the lead role in Gavin Hood’s film adaptation of Athol Fugard’s Tsotsi, which went on to win the Oscar for best foreign film in 2006, as well as the best actor award for Chweneyage at the 2006 Bangkok Film Festival.

Chweneyage co-wrote the stage play Relativity (with Paul Grootboom) which scooped a Herald Angel Award at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival. He has since starred in the feature films More Than Just a Game (2007), Africa United (2010) and the potent drama State of Violence (2010), about a South African corporate leader whose past as a violent revolutionary comes back to threaten him.

Hlubi Moya, best known for her role as the HIV-positive Nandipha Sithole in South African television soapie Isidingo, takes on the role of Shoes’ long-suffering wife Gugu. Moya made her film debut in the 2006 short film Shogun Khumalo Is Dying! and later starred in How to Steal 2 Million (2011).

“Hlubi and Presley give great performances in what is a hard-core, roller-coaster of a film,” says Helen Kuun, chief executive of Indigenous Film Distribution, which is distributing iNumber Number in South Africa. “It’s a film packed with performances that focus on character development, and it’s amazing to watch how they contribute to the rising tension that leads to the inevitable conclusion.”

iNumber Number is Donovan Marsh’s fourth film after Dollars and White Pipes, Spud and Spud 2: The Madness Continues.

The film had its world premiere at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival. Los Angeles-based production and distribution company Wrekin Hill Entertainment has acquired the North American rights to the film and is looking toward a US nationwide theatrical release in the spring of 2014. In addition, Universal Pictures optioned the remake rights to the film at the end of last year.

iNumber Number was produced by Marsh and Quizzical Pictures’ Harriet Gavshon, JP Potgieter and Mariki van der Walt, and executive produced by Nim Geva and Owen Kessel.

By: SAinfo reporter

Source: www.southafrica.info