Film History

What People Say About Us on Twitter

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framegrab from "Gone Crazy"

framegrab from “Gone Crazy”

20 Fast Facts About Us

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Framegrab from "Zero for Zep"

Framegrab from “Zero for Zep”

+ We work out of the Waterfront Film Studios in Cape Town

+ We have the only restoration facility in the Southern Hemisphere

+ We are a label of Gravel Road Entertainment Group in South Africa. See our Google+ pages here and here

+ It takes about 4-6 weeks to restore a film

+ All our films are from the 70’s/80’s in South Africa

+ Lots of films were made during this time because the government created a film subsidy that promoted the production of film. There were two subsidies: one that was geared toward white films being produced for white audiences and there was one for black audiences. The idea behind that was to create entertainment for the majority of the population to keep their minds off of any form of political unrest

+ We acquire distribution rights by tracking down these films and tracking down the owners. We then approach the owners and buy over the rights of the film

+ We identify restoration projects once we scan the films. We make the call then on whether or not there’s a commercial life on the film

+ We are trying to track down the actors from the movies to show you where they are now

+ Our most popular films so far have been “Joe Bullet” and “Trompie”

+ “Joe Bullet” has been coined South Africa’s first Blaxploitation film. It’s based off of the American Blaxploitation film “Shaft,” which was made in 1973. It was banned in South Africa when it came out in 1973. It has its own IMDB page

+ We’ve appeared on CNBC, SABC, DSTV for interviews. See all our videos here

+ We’re on Twitter here and Facebook here

+ We have our very first DVD coming out in stores across South Africa. It’s our restored version of “Trompie”. “Trompie” is so popular it has its own Facebook page here

+ We have just come back from France for the “Lumiere 2014” Film Festival where we showed our restored version of “Joe Bullet”. “Joe Bullet” is so popular it has its own Facebook page here

+ We appeared recently in Variety magazine

+ We’ve just joined Pinterest! Check out our awesome board here

+ We love YouTube. We have a channel here

+ The producer of a number of the films, Tonie van der Merwe, came with us to the Durban International Film Festival this year where he won an award

+ The first time these films were ever seen on TV was during the Mayibuye Film Festival on SABC1 earlier this year

Framegrab from "Fishy Stones" which showed in Johannesburg recently

Framegrab from “Fishy Stones” which showed in Johannesburg recently

Benjamin Thomas Cowley – CEO of Gravel Road Entertainment Group & Founder of Gravel Road African Film Legacy Initiative

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Benjamin Cowley

Photos by: Patrick Ryan

Shot on location at the Waterfront Film Studios, Cape Town

Ben started in TV more than 14 years ago where he was involved in both live and pre-recorded programs at Namibia’s one and only national broadcaster: NBC.  Without giving away his real age…. He was VERY young and earned a salary of R50 per month for his sins.

Fast-forward several years, he found himself in the fantastical world of TV Commercials hoping this industry to be full of excitement, glitz and glamour. Needless to say, this pre-conceived notion couldn’t be further from the truth! Becoming a slave of the ad world for many years, he at least got to play with really expensive toys and very soon learned that there’s no problem in the advertising world that the client’s money can’t solve.

His passion has always been in story telling and creative filmmaking, so it was a no-brainer that when the slightest opportunity to jump ship came ….he took the plunge.

The Legacy Initiative (Retro Afrika Bioscope) is Ben’s baby and it’s his responsibility to nurture it and allow it to grow to its full potential. He works closely with the original filmmakers, film owners and national film, video and sound archives in sourcing/locating all the old films and getting them to Cape Town to restore them and ultimately get them onto a platform where the public can view them.

Ben is balding and proudly accepts it!

Benjamin Cowley, Katlego Maboe and Tonie vd Merwe on the Expresso Show on SABC

Benjamin Cowley, Katlego Maboe and Tonie vd Merwe on the Expresso Show on SABC

CEO of Gravel Road Entertainment Group at the press launch of the Mayibuye Film Festival in Johannesburg

CEO of Gravel Road Entertainment Group at the press launch of the Mayibuye Film Festival in Johannesburg

 

Lennox Mncedisi Gxasheka – Data Lab

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Lennox Mncedisi Gxasheka

Photos by: Patrick Ryan

Shot on location at Waterfront Film Studios, Cape Town

Lennox has been intrigued by film from a young age. When he became a working professional, he jumped at the opportunity to work in the duplication of movies onto video format at the “Six Street Post Production” facility in Johannesburg, now known as “The Refinery“.

His training included all aspects; working on tape decks and ultimately producing the master copies for various television stations.

When the industry made the transition to digital, Lennox began training on the Final Cut program in order to work in the data lab facility. Using these abilities has been working on the restoration process whereby master copies can now be duplicated onto DVD’s.

Lennox Mncedisi Gxasheka

Jonathon Joubert – Picture Restoration

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Jonathon Joubert

Photos by: Patrick Ryan

Shot on location at Waterfront Film Studios, Cape Town

Jono started his career in post production as an editor working on Final Cut and Avid, before becoming involved as a data lab operator doing digital deliveries, tape play-outs and mastering for feature films.

With a passion and love for film, along with a technical mind-set, film restoration became an obvious choice for Jono. He happily spends countless hours at a time painstakingly painting each and every frame of film. The aim is to bring it as close to its original and perfect form as possible.

This attention to detail might not always be noticed by audiences, but the opportunity to restore a piece of South Africa’s history- and the knowledge that it has been done right- is what brings him satisfaction.

Jonathon Joubert

 

Kyle Stroebel – Colourist

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Kyle Stroebel

Photos by: Patrick Ryan

Shot on location at Waterfront Film Studios, Cape Town

Forged in the fiery cauldrons of a film school far, far away….. Kyle served under some of the greatest mentors Table Mountain’s shadow has ever witnessed. Over the years he has finely tuned his eyes with the help of these Masters’ gifts (and a staple diet of chicken nuggets and protein shakes), into a force to be reckoned with.

Accustomed to darkness, with only the light of his monitors to keep him company, his pale complexion is a testament to his acute attention to detail, colour gradients and ravishingly pale good looks. After emerging from the cut-throat realm of commercials into the light of long-form post-production work, Kyle has numerous international feature film notches on his belt. Many have been screened at the Cannes and Sundance Film Festivals.

Having mastered his craft on the digital platform, he has a refined touch for film restoration and has partnered with his Telecine in a somewhat twisted matrimony.

Rest assured that upon emerging from Kyle’s editing suite you’re guaranteed of leaving with a pretty picture, both on-screen and off.

Kyle Stroebel

 

Isiboshwa

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Isiboshwa South African Films

This 70 minute adventure film was shot in 1989. Produced by Steve Hand and Directed by Tonie vd Merwe, it stars Sizwe Dlamini, Popo Gumede and Hector Mathanda. Catch it on SABC1 this Sunday at 8:30pm as part of the Mayibuye Film Festival!

TAGLINE

While on a camping trip, three teenage brothers go from being the hunted to the hunters in an effort to snare and catch a dangerous thief.

SYNOPSIS

The summer holidays finally arrive, and the three teenage brothers head out into the wilderness for a camping trip together. Their days are spent fishing, swimming and relaxing by their small tent on the banks of the river.

But unbeknownst to the boys, they are being watched. When things start going missing from their camp, and other strange events begin to occur, the three brothers begin to worry, unsure and unaware of who or what is stalking them.

Eventually they manage to discover what is really happening, and together they set out on a path fraught with danger, action and drama in order to bring the culprit to justice.

 DIGITALLY REMASTERED BY:

Gravel Road Entertainment

Reginald Pillay – Film Lab Technician

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Reginald Pillay

Photos by: Patrick Ryan

Shot on location at Waterfront Film Studios, Cape Town

Reginald has been working with film since 1974. With training in printing, sound engineering and negative matching, he soon found his calling when he was accepted to study to become a film timer/colourist. This would include all aspects of film laboratory functions in commercials, television and feature films.

With the transition from film to digital over recent years, Reginald has become a rare commodity when dealing with expertise in film print knowledge. He has brought his extensive experience and love of film to the restoration procedure of these Retro Afrika Bioscope films, where he has been responsible for re-splicing and cleaning these old prints (some of them up to 40 years old) before they are ingested into the digital realm.

Gravel Road Entertainment

Reginald Pillay

Reginald Pillay

Reginald Pillay

Reginald Pillay

Reginald Pillay

Reginald Pillay

Reginald Pillay

Gravel Road Entertainment