SOUTH AFRICA: US star Kevin Spacey attends global premiere of "A Spirit of A Denture" a short film written and directed by Cape Town based writer Alan Shelley

Record ID: 220819

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: US star Kevin Spacey attends global premiere of "A Spirit of A Denture" a short film written and directed by Cape Town based writer Alan Shelley
  • Date: 14th May 2012
  • Summary: JOHANNESBURG; SOUTH AFRICA (MAY 12, 2012) (REUTERS) (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) ACTOR AND DIRECTOR KEVIN SPACEY WALKING ON THE RED CARPET KEVIN SPACEY DOING INTERVIEWS (SOUNDBITE) (English) US ACTOR AND DIRECTOR, KEVIN SPACEY, SAYING: "There's a lot going on in South Africa. I just met a whole bunch of film students who are about to graduate and they are all so excited to get out to the world and start their careers, and I am still look forward to seeing some of their submissions the next time we do it. There's a lot going on here, there's always been a lot going on here but there's a particular moment if you look at what's happening in the Asia Pacific region here some places in Europe there's just a lot going on in the film industry, so its very exciting to be a part of it and to be able to try to nurture and encourage emerging talent." MORE OF KEVIN SPACEY DOING INTERVIEWS KEVIN WALKING WITH DANA BRUNETTI, THE PRESIDENT OF TRIGGER STREET PRODUCTIONS AND WINNER OF THE COMPETITION ALLAN SHELLEY SOUTH AFRICAN WRITER AND FILM DIRECTOR ALAN SHELLEY DOING A TV INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) SOUTH AFRICAN WRITER AND FILM DIRECTOR, ALAN SHELLEY, SAYING: "It wasn't that challenging script it was set on one location, it had a very small cast and that's kind of the things the producers were looking for because we had a very short time to make it so it ticked all those boxes." KEVIN SPACEY AND ALAN SHELLEY POSING FOR PICTURES SOUTH AFRICAN MUSICIAN AND HUMANITARIAN, YVONNE CHAKA CHAKA AND HER HUSBAND POSING FOR PICTURES (SOUNDBITE) (English) MUSICIAN AND HUMANITARIAN, YVONNE CHAKA CHAKA, SAYING" "South Africa has got talent, South Africa has got what it takes and you know what now is the time for us to go higher and higher." SOUTH AFRICAN ACTOR, DIRECTOR AND PLAYWRIGHT JOHN KANI DOING TV INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) English, ACTOR, DIRECTOR AND PLAYWRIGHT JOHN KANI, SAYING: "We on the continent of Africa we need to leverage our entrance in the international platform, we need people like Kevin Spacey, Denzel Washington, we need people like Michael Douglas who I worked with, Val Kilmer -- they are the ones that changed the direction of the ship because they hold the compass because what is our responsibility is once we are there we take over and we do it all the time."
  • Embargoed: 29th May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Reuters ID: LVA5F6GQL320K4VQCXY3LB78PEWD
  • Story Text: Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey attended the global premier of "A Spirit of A Denture", a short film written and directed by Cape Town based writer, Alan Shelley on Saturday (May 12).
    The U.S. actor and director together with Trigger Street Productions launched an international film competition to discover new talent from Russia, USA and South Africa.
    A script from each country was chosen, and Spacey starred in each of the three films, including South Africa's "A Spirit of a Denture," which was given a red-carpet premiere in Newtown , Johannesburg at the weekend.
    "There's a lot going on in South Africa. I just met a whole bunch of film students who about to graduate and they are all so excited to get out to the world and start their careers, and I still look forward to seeing some of their submissions the next time we do it. There's a lot going on here, there's always been a lot going on here but there's a particular moment if you look at what's happening in the Asia Pacific region here, some places in Europe, there's just a lot going on in the film industry, so it's very exciting to be a part of it and to be able to try to nurture and encourage emerging talent." Spacey told Reuters.
    26-year-old Alan Shelly wrote a script about a workaholic dentist who gets a visit from a pirate and beat more than seven hundred entrants to win the competition.
    He said filming the movie wasn't that challenging for him.
    "It wasn't that challenging script it was set on one location, it had a very small cast and that's kind of the things the producers were looking for because we had a very short time to make it so it ticked all those boxes," he said.
    Spacey said he will keep the same countries for the next round of the competition as the film industry in Africa, Asia and Europe is promising.
    "South Africa has got talent, South Africa has got what it takes and you know what now is the time for us to go higher and higher," said South African singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka.
    Shelley flew over to Los Angeles where Spacey helped produce and act in his film, and South African actor and playwright John Kani said actors like Spacey are needed to give the industry a boost.
    "We are on the continent of Africa, we need to leverage our entrance in the international platform we need people like Kevin Spacey, Denzel Washington we need people like Michael Douglas who I worked with, Val Kilmer -- they are the ones who changed the direction of the ship because they hold the compass because what is our responsibility is once we are there we take over and we do it all the time." said John Kani.
    In the coming weeks, Kevin Spacey along with Dana Brunetti, the president of Trigger Street Productions will be be in Moscow and New York to attend the other premieres.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register