Vaselinetjie a box office hit
Vaselinetjie, the film based on Anoeschka von Meck's award-winning youth novel, released on 22 September in theatres countrywide, is already a box-office hit, earning more than R1-million. The Afrikaans drama has been seen by over 23 000 people to date. Besides winning the award for 'Best Film' at the 2017 kykNET Silwerskerm Festival, this must-see movie has been widely praised by critics.
The story of a girl who is removed from the loving home of her grandparents and placed in an orphanage, has captured the imagination of film critics. The tough orphanage world and the way she falls in love with the fiery Texan Kirby is beautifully captured on film.
Director Corné van Rooyen said, "I am astounded by the impressive viewers' figures.
Places like Paarl and the Garden Route were sold out all weekend. I'm also grateful for the amazing rave reviews by critics."
An elated Von Meck said, “What makes this exceptionally great news is that we are competing with the most successful Afrikaans films so far, but we have 15 fewer theathres! This is an incredible achievement and I feel super blessed.”
Several media outlets have praised Vaselinetjie since its release. It was hailed as "an excellent Afrikaans film" by Leon van Nierop in his article in Rapport.