Gripping SA detective series attracts international cast

SELECTED media members got a special introduction to crime author Deon Meyer and some of the actors who bring one of his thrillers to life when they attended a pre-screening of Cape Town.

The six-part mini-series will premiere on DStv’s Universal Channel early next month.

It has been adapted from Meyer’s best-selling 1996 crime thriller Dead Before Dying and was filmed in the Mother City.

Directed by Hungarian-born Peter Ladkani, the series stars Norwegian actor Trond Espen Seim as the hardbitten SAPS detective Mat Joubert, and American actor Boris Kodjoe as his partner, Sanctus “Sanct” Snook.

It follows the story of the two very different detectives, with Cape Town proving to be a character in itself – culturally rich and beautiful, but also fractured, and harbouring dark secrets behind its glamorous façade.

“Cape Town is a crime story. The main character is a white detective who is lost in the new South Africa,” said producer Annette Reeker.

“His wife has been murdered and we can’t be sure whether he was involved in the crime.” The show features 120 actors, 115 of whom are South African.

The other international cast members are Germany’s Axel Milberg, Poland’s Marcin Dorocinski and Russian-born Isolda Dychauk.

South Africans in the cast include Arnold Vosloo, Ian Roberts, MaryAnne Barlow, Colin Moss, David Butler, Johnny Pienaar, Bart Fouche, Andre Jacobs, Alex McGregor, Danny Keogh, AJ van der Merwe, Deon Lotz, Treasure Tshabalala, Susan Danford, Kim Syster, Michelle Scott, Marion Holm, Brendon Daniels, Crystal Donna Roberts and Graham Clarke.

Reeker said that filming began in Cape Town in March last year, and the entire series was shot in just 60 days.

The mini-series opens at the murder scene, with policemen puzzling over the body of Detective Joubert’s wife. They have been trying to get a hold of Detective Joubert, but he isn’t answering his phone.

Cut to Joubert lying in the street, intoxicated.

This raises the question of whether Joubert murdered his wife.

The Cape Town slang used in the film adds humour and local colour to the story.

The premiere begins at 8.50pm on September 7 on DStv’s Universal channel.