Films and Movies Made in Africa:- More Films Made in Africa – Lord of War (2005, South Africa):- Lord of War is the story of Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage), the infamous arms dealer who made his fortune selling weapons in some of the world’s deadliest war zones, to some of history’s most notorious dictators. On shooting in Africa, Cage commented: “It’s a beautiful country, the way the light falls here in Africa, you can see animals, the amount of things you can do. It’s a high adrenalin experience being in Africa.”
Jared Leto plays the role of Vitaly, Yuri’s younger brother, who struggles to get into the underworld of arms dealing and, instead, turns to cocaine. “That’s one of the unique things about South Africa,” remarked Leto, when asked about his time in the country. “It can double for so much of the world. The topography; it’s such a bizarre place in a beautiful way. It’s been a pleasure to shoot here.” Always under threat from rival arms dealers and Interpol agent, Jack Valentine (Ethan Hawke), Orlov pretends to play the perfect father and husband to Ava (Bridget Moynahan), who thinks he’s a businessman.
The movie was filmed in the USA (for nine days), then ten weeks in Cape Town, wrapping up with three days in the Czech Republic. Lower Main Road in Cape Town’s suburb, Woodstock, was completely transposed into a war-torn street scene in Monrovia.
The Last King of Scotland (Uganda, 2006)
This movie combines both fact and fiction in an action-packed historical film about Uganda and its most powerfully terrorizing leader, the infamous Idi Amin. Played by Forest Whitaker, this incredible story of a young Ugandan, who climbed from nothing to a position of considerable power as Uganda’s president in 1971, soon turns into a tale of corruption, fear and frightening cruelty. Told from the perspective of Dr Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), a young doctor from Scotland who is hired as Amin’s personal physician, we are led through the story. From Amin’s initial charismatic, enthusiastic rule of the new democracy through to his spiral into unspeakable atrocities played out on the Ugandan people.
After several meetings with the Uganda Authorities a movie filmed on location in many of the places where these moments in history really took place, like Entebbe Airport, where the hostage crisis occurred in 1971. Obviously, shooting in Africa, especially in a country where films are seldom made, was a major challenge. When asked about the experience, Andrea Calderwood, producer, said: “The thing that truly saved us in Uganda is that everybody in the cast and crew embraced the huge challenges of shooting there, and embraced working with people who haven’t done films before, and did so with incredible energy and good humor.”
District 9 (South Africa, 2009)
Director, Neill Blomkamp shot this allegorical Science Fiction feature film exclusively in Johannesburg. It’s the story of an alien species who find themselves stranded on earth, leaderless. In a tale that partly mimics the apartheid years, the audience sees the aliens living in squalor, and being treated like third class citizens. They’re a brutal species but, as is the case with any good movie, by the end of it, it’s hard not to sympathize with them.
Shot with an almost completely South African crew, Blomkamp said the thing he found hardest to deal with was the environment in which they shot much of the film – Chiawelo, an impoverished area of Soweto. He was, however, taken by the warmth of its people, despite their circumstances. Nominated for four Oscars, amongst many other awards, the film took the box office by storm when it was released after a fantastic viral marketing-centered promotional period.
Mad Max: Fury Road (Namibia, released 2015)
Over 35 years after the first Mad Max film, Mad Max: Fury Road, the fourth in the series, was released in 2015. The first three Mad Max movies, starring Mel Gibson, were shot (and set) in Australia, but this one required a dystopian, barren landscape needed for Mad Max and the shoot moved to Namibia. Directed, produced and co-written by George Miller, the mastermind behind the Mad Max franchise, the film stars Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron and is an action-packed trail through the vast and beautiful apocalyptic desert landscape.
Cry Freedom (Zimbabwe, 1987)
The story of political activist, Steve Biko, is set in South Africa. Shot in the late 80’s, at the height of Apartheid, it was not possible to shoot it in the country so it was, instead, shot in neighboring Zimbabwe. Denzel Washington plays Biko, supported by Kevin Kline, in the role of his friend, journalist Donald Woods. The film follows the story of Biko, as chronicled in Woods’ two books on the political activist. Biko died aged 30, under suspicious circumstances in prison. This movie reflects an inside look at the history of South Africa, and the atrocities of the Apartheid regime and was nominated for an Oscar award. It showcases the cinematography of the country of Zimbabwe.
Invictus (South Africa, 2009)
Morgan Freeman plays Nelson Mandela in the telling of the triumphant story behind South Africa’s winning of the 1996 Rugby World Cup. It was shot on location – many of them the actual locations where the events happened – in Cape Town, Pretoria, Johannesburg and on Robben Island, using predominantly South African cast and crew.
Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), the captain of the Springbok rugby team, becomes friends with the president as they aim to unite the country through sport. Shooting the scene where the team visited the cell where Nelson Mandela spent so many years on Robben Island made a huge impression on the cast and crew, leaving them silent in contemplation, just as it did all those years’ ago, on the Springbok team.
Directed by Clint Eastwood, he chose to film the story, a real-life portrayal of Madiba’s ability to unite a once-fractured country, entirely in South Africa, to retain the authenticity of this heart-warming and
triumphant tale. Shooting in Africa, as always, brings its own challenges. At one point a scene was being shot in a forest near Cape Town, and the scene had to be delayed slightly, while the baboons in the trees cleared off. They stayed nearby though, a primate audience chattering in the trees!
Blood Diamond (South Africa/Mozambique, 2006)
Set in Sierra Leone in 1999, Blood Diamond is the story of a mercenary from South Africa (Leonardo DiCaprio) and a Mende fisherman (Djimon Hounsou). While the civil war rages in Sierra Leone, the two, despite coming from vastly different backgrounds, join forces to try and recover a rare pink diamond. The film highlights the trade of blood diamonds – those mined in war zones and used to bankroll conflict in Africa and profit both diamond companies and warlords. Working conditions of miners are horrific and the film shows the atrocities of both this industry and the violence of the civil war in Sierra Leone.
Due to the poor infrastructure in Sierra Lone itself, the film was shot on locations in Cape Town, Port Edward (on the KwaZulu Natal coast) and Mozambique. Sierra Leone is a tropical country, so the tropical conditions of KwaZulu Natal and Mozambique could be dressed relatively easily to look authentic.
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