The Devil’s Lair continues on a winning streak

WorldView-supported The Devil’s Lair continues on its winning streak after recently winning the Best World Cinema Award at the New Zealand International Documentary Edge Film Festival.

The Devil's LairThe film, directed by Riaan Hendricks and produced by Neil Brandt, follows Braaim, a gang leader torn between securing the future of his young family while guiding his men through a deadly drug turf war. The film is set in a world where conflicting forces are struggling to regulate the illicit drug supply market among the working class communities of the Cape Flats in Cape Town, an area infamous for one of the highest murder rates in the world.

Despite its uncompromising themes, the film has struck a chord with audiences and has been doing well on the international festival circuit. Since its world premiere at Hot Docs last year and its South African premieres at Encounters, over the last few months the film has screened in all four corners of the world; including South Korea, China, Finland, Russia, Nigeria, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, Poland, Spain, Brazil and Mexico.

The film also received a special mention at the 24th Festival Cinema Africano Asia Latin Americana in Milan earlier in May, where the jury said: “For the great strength of the context and the power of the story, told by the director like a real insider, and first and foremost through the people involved, and for the capacity to start from a character study to succeed in describing contemporary South African society.”

The Devil’s Lair also won the Special Jury Award at the Luxor International Film Festival held in Egypt and Best Documentary Feature at the South African Film & Television Awards in Sandton in March. Further awards in 2014 include Best Editing at the Baftas, Best Feature Documentary at the Screen Excellence Awards in Durban and Best South African Documentary at the Jozi Film Festival in April.

The film’s first African broadcast on Fox International will be happening this month, and the film had its North American premiere on TVO Canada in May as well.

The film was directed by Riaan Hendricks of A Season of Film, and produced by Neil Brandt of Fireworx Media, with the support and financial assistance of The IDFA Bertha Fund, The National Film and Video Foundation, Sabido Productions,  The Open Society Foundation, WorldView and The Hot Docs Blue Ice Fund.

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