‘Catching Feelings’ set to capture audiences
KAGISO LEDIGA is no stranger to our screens, big or small. Besides being a pioneer when it comes to creating comedy TV – think here of the Pure Monate Show, The Bantu Hour – this time he’s had a different kind of adventure, being in the director’s chair, writing the screenplay as well as playing the lead.
The film in question is Catching Feelings, and stars Pearl Thusi, veteran actor and film-maker Akin Omotoso, Precious Makgaretsa, Andrew Buckland and Kate Liquorish.
What makes this film a tad more special is the fact that it is also being produced by the company that was co-founded by Lediga and his two business partners, the late John Volmink and Isaac Mogajane.
This is Diprente’s second film, with the first being Blitz Patrollie, which received a rather lukewarm reception from local critics and a warm reception by audiences.
Of all the things he knew when he began the process of creating Catching Feelings, which he admits wasn’t a whole lot, Lediga says knew he wanted to direct the film.
“I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to be the lead. I knew that I wanted to direct this film, and I also knew I wanted to act as the lead, but I didn’t know if I could do both,” he said.
Looking internationally, to pull off such a feat would place Lediga in the company of some very big names like Woody Allen, Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones and Diane Keaton, to name a few, but Lediga felt that that would be pushing it somewhat.
“The idea would have then been to say (to potential funders) ‘yes, I want your money, I want to direct the thing and I want to play in it’.
“That would have got me certain responses. I had to also say who I wanted to be in the film with me. I had to do a lot of research if I wanted my thoughts to become a reality as well.
“I bumped into names like Mel Gibson and Clint Eastwood on the internet, and I thought ‘I will cross that bridge when I get to it’,” he added.
After the people in his immediate circle were convinced that this could be done, it gave Lediga a little more confidence to pursue his goal.
The next mountain? Casting people he wanted to act with.
Here, a mixture of kismet and happenstance would prove to be the deciding factors in who ended up with what role.
Precious Makgaretsa, who plays Lazola, a supporting role in the film, was initially meant to play the leading lady, Lediga said. But her acting and the intensity she brought to the role made her a little more suitable for another role.
The friendship between Loyiso Gola and Thusi would be what ultimately led her to auditioning for the role she ends up playing of Samkelo, Lediga’s on-screen partner, which immediately increased the film’s commercial viability, because Thusi is a giant on the local entertainment scene.
She won over the cast and crew with her being the consummate professional.
With Omotoso, Lediga said the film-maker had expressed interest in the film from the beginning, and when the moment presented itself, he took it.
Finding Buckland for the role of Heiner was also interesting. “I studied under Andrew at UCT in drama and stuff, and it was like, wow! I used to think of him that way.
“I did think to myself that it was a bit of a long shot. But I was looking for a specific combination: you had to be of a certain age, but still be attractive, in order to pull off this character.”
Lediga said he had some of the toughest critics to help him select this character – he also mentioned he was in no short supply of quality actors.
“I saw a lot of good actors, but then I had to take their images back to the ladies of the office, and they would say ‘eh-ehh’ if they found that the man was not the right kind of attractive,” he said.
When he saw Buckland in a play at the Market Theatre, he saw a brilliant performance and the rest was history.
What’s beautiful about the film is that it is also a home to some of the finest young men and women in the arts at the moment.
We have the musical prowess of Bokani Dyer delivering a trendy score/sound composition for the film, award-winning film-maker Zandi Tisani trying her hand in front of the camera for the first time, and other comedians making an appearance in the film such as Ebenhaezer Dibakwane, Celeste Ntuli, Gola and Ntosh Madlingozi.
For Lediga, the film is a continuation of the work he began with PMS – where everything was thought through – and there was a need to curate a product that was authentic and entertaining.
Everything from the locations to the manner in which the individual characters speak is carefully crafted. It’s beautiful to witness South African film take over and do the absolute most.
Lediga is brutally honest about his fears around the film, the successes and the stumbling blocks.
The film discusses race and privilege in an honest way, and gives sex the treatment of it simply being a natural, albeit complicated, part of life.
As for Kagiso, from here on, it’s onwards and upwards.
“I am currently working on a film that I believe is very South African, because it’s written mostly in SePitori (a dialect of Sesotho and Sepedi spoken by black Pretoria natives).
“I am sure that when you guys see it, you’ll love it,” he exclaimed.
And if Catching Feelings is anything to go by, we certainly hope so.