Local director is over the moon
SONNEGLANS – 'Leading Lady' director says that putting smiles on people's faces and earning money make the task of directing a film worthwhile.
Henk Pretorius said he was blown away by the success of Leading Lady, which showed in cinemas from 28 November.
Pretorius, a Sonneglans resident, is the director and co-writer for the local bilingual romantic comedy.
The film earned R1.37 million at the box office over its opening weekend in South Africa.
It pushed the Leading Lady to the third place of the most popular films during the week, and making it more successful than the hugely popular romantic comedy Semi-Soet.
“Making money at the box office is one thing, but doing it by putting smiles on people’s faces makes the mammoth task of creating a film worthwhile,” he said.
He added that the movie was better than he first imagined.
Robindale resident Tina Kruger co-wrote the story and acted in a minor role. “It [the movie] was so much more than my expectations,” she said.
Pretorius and producer Llewelynn Greeff said they believe that the success of Leading Lady is due to all South Africans embracing and enjoying the film. They added that their goal was to make a film for all South Africans, where everyone can laugh with and at each other, and that this goal might have just been achieved. The film made its première at Cedar Square, Fourways, on 13 November (see previous article).
