Africa Film WebMeeting


Message from: Steve Smith (african-cinema-conference@XC.Org)
About: Zulu On My Stoep

Thu, 21 Mar 1996 13:41:38 -0500


Originally from: SteveSmith@XC.Org (Steve Smith)
Originally dated: Thu, 21 Mar 1996 13:41:38 -0500

Does anyone know who has the theatrical rights to the South African film "A
Zulu On My Stoep" ? I met recently with the head of the 20th Century Fox
theaters in Nairobi and he asked if I knew how he could get that film to
show.
=========
FYI. The theatrical market has improved markedly in Kenya. Fox Theaters
were showing "Apollo 13" when I was there. They have been able to
renegotiate a deal with UIP in London and are again getting Hollywood
pictures. Audiences are coming back to theaters, and they are even thinking

maybe of opening a new theater.

When I first met Anil Kapila (head of Fox and a great fellow) a couple years

ago, he told of the Kenyan theatrical industry dying as they couldn't get
good films and the theaters were not being well maintained and audience
levels dropping - a classic negative spiral. Most of it was due to
irregularities being carried out by the parastatal Kenya Film Corporation.
I know the KFC well, as they swindled us out of any payment for "Neria"
theatrical showings - after two years we were lucky to get the beat up 35mm
print back and about $300 - enough to pay our lawyer. After the first month

of showings they owed us $1,000, but it never came. Anyhow, KFC is in
liquidation now.

Fox is open to playing African product, but it is hard to find product that
their audiences will like. They have shown "Neria" (albeit it was second
hand after KFC had it for 2 years), "JIT" a comedy that did fair, and "More
Time" that did really well.



You may post a follow-up message or a new message. To send a reply directly to the author, you may click on the email address above.

If you would like to submit a message using your own mail program, send it to: africa-film@mit.edu

If you are following up this article, please include the following line at the beginning of your message:
In-Reply-To: 199603211841.NAA02131@dag.XC.Org