Rave reviews abroad for Ellen Pakkies
SA Film receives rave reviews at Rotterdam film festival, writes Alyssia Birjalal
ONE OF South Africa’s most controversial murder cases – turned movie – has been receiving rave reviews from critics for its authenticity to the storyline. Directed by Daryne Joshua, Ellen, Die
Storie Van Ellen Pakkies, which recently screened at the Rotterdam International Festival, is based on Ellen Pakkies, the Lavender Hill mother who killed her abusive tik-addicted son Adam in 2007.
The film stars Jill Levenberg as Ellen and Jarrid Geduld as her son, Abie Pakkies.
The film was selected from over 16 000 entrants to appear at the top tier film festival and will be released in South Africa later this year.
“Getting selected to screen was amazing. It is very difficult to get into festivals so we were very fortunate. We had three screenings of which two were public. The feedback we received from the audience was amazing. At the end of the film, each person is given a scorecard to rate out of 5 and our movie received 4.33 stars,” said executive producer Paulo Areal.
The movie was placed 21st out of a list of 179 movies that played at the festival and was just two places behind The
Shape of Water, which recently won an Oscar for Best Picture last week.
The movie has also been offered to screen at other festivals during the year.
Areal said the reason for her wanting to make this movie was because she was intrigued.
“I hadn’t heard of the story and when I was told about it, I was absolutely intrigued. I wanted to meet aunty Ellen. And when I did she was a sensitive yet strong, quiet, resilient person.
“And as I spoke to her she said something very profound… ‘I don’t say a lot, I was always told to keep my mouth shut. My tears were my words’. After hearing this there was no way I was not making this movie,” she said.
While the story talks of drugs, violence and rape, Areal said the story is not centred around that.
“It’s a story about how the system failed a woman, how a community failed a woman. It’s about a woman who was pushed to no return. It tells of a woman’s battle, but the same woman can still walk in the community with her head held high,” she said.
Keeping to the authenticity of the story, the movie was shot in Lavender Hill over five weeks.
“When we told the police, they said that we were insane. It’s one of the most violent neighbourhoods in the world. But what we found when we got there is that even the people who had nothing were still willing to share with us. Even the drug lords in the area told us ‘this might be bad for business, but you need to tell aunty Ellen’s story’,” she said.
The movie is shot in the same house and room that the murder took place in. Other places included Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison.
Asked if Pakkies was happy with the movie, Areal said she was not happy, but grateful.
“We told Ellen’s story in a way she was happy with. We watched the movie with Ellen after it was complete, and it was probably the longest two hours of my life. I couldn’t help but think about what was going through Ellen’s mind at the time. After the movie ended she turned to us and said, ‘thank you for being so respectful of me and Abie’, because despite what happened, she still loves Abie and thinks he was a great kid,” she said.
Areal said South Africans need to watch this movie because it reveals a lot about what most people are unaware of.
“There is a whole world that the majority of South Africa is unaware of.
“I am so humbled Ellen allowed us to tell her story. I’m also proud that the team and I did justice to the story by staying true to it.”