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MOVIE HIGHLIGHT

New local movie The Umbrella Men loads on eVOD on Tuesday 14 June, set in the world of the Cape Minstrels. A ragtag bunch of musicians rob a bank during the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival in an effort to save their nightclub. Stars include Jaques de Silva, Keenan Arrison, Abduragman Adams, June Van Merch, Kagiso Lediga, Shamilla Miller, Rob van Vuuren and Joey Rasdien. >>

TVSA Team
13 Jun 2022 18:16

A teaser:

The synopsis:

When musician Jerome Adams (Jacques de Silva) flies into Cape Town for his estranged father’s funeral, he finds his dad has bequeathed him his beloved Goema Club as well as the care of The Umbrella Men minstrel troupe.

Unfortunately, the Club comes with a huge overdraft, due in two weeks for repayment to the bank on penalty of repossession, in a shady deal engineered by Tariq Cupido (Abduragman Adams), a long-time family rival.

Jerome decides to rob the bank itself under cover of the annual carnival parade when thousands of troupes will invade the streets - and while Tariq’s troupe, The Maulers, compete against Jerome’s Umbrella Men.

As Jerome reconnects with friends and community, he learns about himself and why he must stay in this special place.

And this from the director John Barker...

The Umbrella Men is my fifth feature film. I have been trying to make this film for over 14 years.

I first saw the minstrels perform when I was 7 years old. I have wanted to make a film about this beautiful community based in the Bo-Kaap and the beautiful multi-cultural community of D6 for many years.

This is a film about a marginalized community who have survived and yet managed to thrive in a politically divided country for almost 400 years.

The Cape Malay community is so rich in music, language and identity that to not tell a story about their story would be to fail as a South African filmmaker.