Director: Craig Freimond
Writer(s): Craig Freimond, Riaad Moosa
Actors: Zakeeya Patel, Vincent Ebrahim, Schalk Bezuidenhout, Carishma Basday, Rajesh Gopie
Synopsis: New Material is the much-anticipated return of Cassim trying to figure out family, love, kids and comedy.
With The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival will be returning once again from 26th – 29th May, I got an opportunity to ask Co-Writer/Director Craig Freimond a few questions about the film ‘New Material’ which has been selected to play at the festival on Saturday 28th May at 9 pm.
Q. What can we expect from the film?
A. A heart-warming film with much comedy and some serious themes.
Q. How did the idea for the film come about?
A. The film is kind of a sequel to a film we made about eight years ago called Material, currently on Netflix, about a Muslim stand up comedian. We never planned on doing a sequel but because Riaad (the star of the film) is a Muslim stand-up comedian, his life was presenting constant Material and we started working on a follow up film.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. because there was an existing film, we wanted it to have elements of the first film but also to have a more contemporary feel to it.
Q. Were there any elements of the original script which were adapted during filming?
A. I always like to be fairly loose with script, I like the text to fit the actors and so we do a fair amount of improvising off text. Also, when you work with comedians they love to improvise, sometimes to the point where you want to say JUST SAY THE LINES. I’m joking I love to improvise; it makes the dialogue feel very fresh. SO yes, a lot of the original script was adapted.
Q. What were your favourite moments whilst making the Film?
A. Working with Joey, Riaad and Schalk, some of South Africa’s top comedians, watching how they work together was special. I also love reuniting with Vincent Ebrahim, who I love working with as an actor.
Q. Did you experience any issues whilst making the film?
A. Making films is an issue from start to finish!
Q. What do you hope people will take away from the film
A. Maybe get an insight into some of the complexities of Muslim people working in the entertainment industry, and some glimpses of the removals that happened to Indian people in Johannesburg but mostly have a laugh and maybe a few tears.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are working on?
A. I am always working on about fine new films, seriously, you have to have 4-5 projects out there all the time. I am hoping my next project is going to be a political comedy called Weekend Special.
Q. If someone is looking to direct their first film, what advice would you give them?
A. Making a film is a massive undertaking so make sure it has real meaning to you.
The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival runs from 26th – 29th You can find out more about the end and purchase tickets on the website here: https://www.southendfilmfestival.com/
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
