The official trailer for the thriller ‘Land of the Brave’ was screened at Maerua Mall’s Ster Kinekor in Windhoek on Thursday, and some of the cast and crew were present to celebrate the completion of the feature film.
Starring Elize de Wee, Armas Shivute Armas and Pieter Greeff, director and writer of ‘Land of the Brave,’ Tim Huebschle said although the original script was in English, to give the film a sense of authenticity, some of the dialogue was translated into Afrikaans.
“Afrikaans is my third language. It was difficult at first to portray the scenes properly in English, but when the cast came together and we had our table reads, they were able to successfully translate their lines,” Huebschle recalls.
The film traces the journey of tough female cop, Meisie Willemse who hides a dodgy past which haunts her as she takes on one of the biggest cases of her career. A serial killer is on the loose and as Willemse gets closer to catching the killer, a ruthless reporter exposes the deep, dark secrets from her past which threaten to destroy the investigation and ultimately her life.
Heubschle said the script was in production for over a decade, a time when many Namibians will remember the eerily similiar case of the notorious B1 Butcher.
“I have to stress that it is not entirely based upon that case as it is still considered an open case by the authorities,” he said.
Huebschle elaborated on his motivation to cast a strong female lead in the film.
“As we all know that our country has an issue with gender-based violence and that was a basis for the protagonist to stand up against a male antagonist.”
Producer David Benade said they are still in an ongoing process with regards to the film’s budget, as they still require more support before the film is launched.
“Our current projection for final budget is N$3 million, but so far to cover the necessary it stands at just over N$1,5 million. Part of the financial contribution came from the Namibia Film Commission and other contributors were thanked at the trailer screening,” said Benade.
The film is expected to be released on 10 October and producers plan to screen it across the country before considering festivals further afield.
