Skeem

Skeem is a 2011 South African movie that was written and directed by Tim Greene.[1] It premiered on 16 October 2011 at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, where it won the Audience's Choice Award,[2][3] and opened to local theaters in South Africa later that same month.[4]

Skeem
Film poster
Directed byTim Greene
Written byTim Greene
Produced byTim Greene
StarringWandile Molebatsi

Kurt Schoonraad

Lilani Prinston
Release date
  • 2011 (2011)
Running time
111 Minutes
CountrySouth Africa
LanguageEnglish
BudgetR 1.2 Million
Box office$71, 505

Of the film, Greene has stated that he wanted to create a film that South Africans could watch that they could be proud of and "doesn't beat them up, lash them and make them feel like watching South African films is like penance".[4] The title track for the film, "Oons behoort mos saam", was sung by Jack Parow and EJ von Lyrik.[5]

Synopsis

The film centers on two friends who discover a cardboard cash filled with a million dollars after their car breaks down. They decide to stay at a nearby resort, where the staff and other guests quickly discover that the pair has a large amount of money, causing everyone to create plans to steal the cash.

Cast
  • Wandile Molebatsi as Vista
  • Kurt Schoonraad as Richie Rich
  • Lilani Prinsen as Jana
  • Grant Swanby as Drikus
  • Michelle Scott as Lizette
  • Kenneth Nkosi as Lucas
  • Rapulana Seiphemo as Nyoka

John & John

In 2017 Ghanain journalists reached out to Greene to check the claim by Ghanaian film maker Kofi Asamoah that he had received permission to adapt the movie. His 2017 film John & John was a wholesale, unauthorized remake of Skeem, and no such permission had been granted.[6][7] No legal action was taken, as Greene's lawyers informed him that the cost of pursuing an intellectual property case against Asamoah in time and money would not make it worthwhile.[8] Asamoah claimed in public that he had received permission to adapt the movie.[9] although in private he agreed to purchase the remake rights, but never followed through.

Reception

The Mail & Guardian reviewed the film alongside another South African film releasing around the same time, Khalo Matabane’s A State of Violence, stating that the two portray very different portrayals of the country and that "Skeem seems to take place in a South Africa where race is of no particular relevance, a South Africa in which all such social divisions have disappeared in the scrabble for personal gain."[10]

Awards

References
  1. "Director's Chat". Tim Greene. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  2. "SA film Skeem scoops international award". The Sowetan. 24 October 2011.
  3. "Local Director, Tim Greene, to Compete with World's Best..." SPL!NG. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  4. Smith, Theresa (29 October 2011). "Tim Greene schemes 'Skeem' won't be like a penance for SA audiences". Saturday Star.
  5. Lewis, Megan (1 December 2016). Performing Whitely in the Postcolony: Afrikaners in South African Theatrical and Public Life. University of Iowa Press. pp. 583–584. ISBN 9781609384487.
  6. Langa, Phumlani S. (25 June 2017). "Dude hijacked my film!". Channel 24. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  7. "'John & John' Becomes Ghana's First Successful Film Adaptation—Beating Box Office Records (VIDEO)". Peace FM Online. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  8. Doku, Francis. "Face Off: Kofi Asamoah and Tim Greene". Graphic Online. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  9. DONKOH, EBENEZER (22 June 2017). "Kofi Asamoah Must Live With The Fact That He Took Credit For My Work - Tim Greene". NYDJ Live. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  10. "A history of violence". Mail & Guardian. 28 October 2011.
  11. "Local film 'Skeem' beats big names to take major prize". The Star. Retrieved 16 January 2019.


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