New drama is screen glue
CAPTIVATING: ENOUGH INTRIGUE AND ROMANCE TO LAST FOR WEEKS ON END
Land question explored in fascinating way
TThula’s Vine features some of SA’s premier acting talent, including Renate Stuurman as Thula.
hula’s Vine captures themes that can be understood and related to by any South African.
Thula’s Vine is a fresh and unique 13-part drama series that will join the SABC 3 line-up from tomorrow at 7.30pm.
The story explores Thula’s “journey” from a successful urban celebrity who encounters a fall from grace, and then returns to her roots to discover a passion for her birthright, a farm.
Thula is a charming, wellknown radio personality who is living life in Johannesburg.
She is caught having a secret affair with a highly regarded, married politician and flees to her rural farm home to escape the escalating media scandal.
We learn that the owner of the farm, a white man, was her father, who had an affair with a local black woman, who then became pregnant with Thula.
After many years of being away from home, Thula is now forced to face her estranged relationships with her older white sister, her activist black brother and her biological black mother.
To make matters worse, she learns that her older sister is planning on selling the family farm, where she grew up, and her older brother is fighting the sale, claiming that the land belongs to the black community. A bitter battle ensues between the farm owners and labourers, and Thula is put in a difficult position of having to choose one side of her family over the other.
“It explores the current theme of land ownership and rights in a compelling and intriguing manner,” Coalstove’s executive creative director, Scott Smith, said. He added that “the vineyard in Thula’s Vine is a contested space, in some ways it is allegorical of South Africa in 2017. The previously dispossessed and disadvantaged negotiate ownership with people who legally have a claim.”
He says the drama series illustrates how land is important in binding families from one generation to the next.
“The production also explores themes that can be understood and related to by any South African, such as sibling rivalry, parents and children struggling to understand each other, and family feuds that last generations.
There’s more than enough intrigue, romance, betrayal and mystery to keep audiences glued to their screens week after week!” said the series’ head writer, Busisiwe Ntintili.
The production is a showcase of South African talent, both on and off the screen. It features some of South Africa’s premier acting talent, including the lead actress Renate Stuurman as Thula.
Joining her are Sivan Raphaely, Wandile Molebatsi, Connie Chume, Nandi Nyembe, Martin Le Maitre, Mary-Anne Barlow, Emmanuel Castis, Bontle Modiselle and Yule Masiteng.
The production likewise features a sterling crew which includes South African talent such as Mmabatho Montsho, Que Ntuli and Sello Letsatsi as directors, Tiyane Nyembe and Gaopie Kabe as directors of photography and Megan Firth as line producer. – Citizen reporter