Felix jazzes his way into hearts

The film, which made its debut in July at the Durban International Film Festival where it won the Audience Award for its portrayal of overcoming the challenges of life, had a national premiere at Montecasino on 29 August.

Here the young stars rubbed shoulders with press, critics, fellow stars and of course the public.

The film tells the story of 13-year-old Felix Xaba who dreams of becoming a saxophonist like his late father, but his mother Lindiwe thinks jazz is the devil’s music.

When Felix leaves his township friends to take up a scholarship at an elite private school, he defies his mother and turns to two aging members of his father’s old band to help him prepare for the school jazz concert.

Felix’s cast includes Oscar-nominee Dame Janet Suzman in her first South African film, South African Film and Television Award winner Linda Sokhulu in her feature debut, and newcomer Hlayani Junior Mabasa, who was cast in the title role from over 500 auditions across the country.

Felix is based on Shirley Johnston’s acclaimed script, which won Sithengi’s 2004 Writer’s Forum Award; was a finalist in the US Specscriptacular Competition; and was a quarter-finalist in both Francis Ford Coppola’s American Zoetrope Screenplay Contest and the Moondance Screenwriting Competition.

SAFTA Lifetime Achievement winner Roberta Durrant directs, while musical director Murray Anderson, who has recorded Gold and Platinum records for the likes of Abdullah Ibrahim, worked closely on the soundtrack with former Standard Bank Young Artists of The Year Mark Fransman and Bokani Dyer, as well as triple 2012 South African Music Awards nominee Lwanda Gogwana.