Where The Road Runs Out tells the story of Professor George Menza who, from an illustrious scientific career in the lecture halls of Europe, suddenly finds himself back in the jungles of Africa when an old friend unexpectedly passes away. Inheriting a field station in the mosquito-infested jungle, George soon learns that challenges come in all sizes when a local orphan boy, Jimmy, shows up at his doorstep. When an old friend with a secret suddenly arrives, they discover that life often leads you astray, where the road runs out.
Directed by South African-born Rudolf Buitendach who has an impressive award winning body of films,
Where The Road Runs Out was the winner of
Best Feature and the
U-T San Diego Award at the
San Diego Film Festival in 2014, and also walked away with awards for
Best Director and
Best Actor at the Sunscreen Film Festival (USA) earlier this year. Other USA screenings included
AFI Silver,
Heartland and
Pan African FilmFest.
Filmed in Bioko (Equatorial Guinea), KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) and Rotterdam (The Netherlands),
Where The Road Runs Out stars
Cesar award-winning actor Isaach De Bankolé (James Bond film
Casino Royale; hit television series
24 opposite Kiefer Sutherland), and Saturn-nominated American actress Juliet Landau (Tim Burton’s
Ed Wood; opposite Whoopi Goldberg in
Theodore Rex; six seasons of the cult classic TV series’
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and
Angel).
De Bankolé was discovered on the streets of Paris while studying to be an airline pilot. He has a degree in Acting from Cours Simon and Master in Mathematics from the Universite de Paris. Landau in turn was a professional ballerina and is the daughter of legendary Martin Landau and Barbara Bain. She studied acting extensively with the late Susan Peretz and is a member of the actor’s studio.
Another lead actor for the film includes Cape Town-born and raised Hollywood actor Stelio Savante (New York trained
SAG Nominee and
American Movie Award winner). Savante has received outstanding critical reviews for his role in the new AMC Series
The Making of the Mob, and in the South African film
A Million Colours, which won two
SAFTAs. He has over 35 Broadway credits and has significant roles in over 15 US distributed and award winning Indies. He will next be seen in Peter Greenaway’s
Golden Bear nominated
Eisenstein In Guanajuato, which premiered at Berlin in 2015 and is being released theatrically worldwide.
South African child actor Sizo Motsoko (
Vehicle 19 with Paul Walker; SABC1 sitcom
My Perfect Family) also stars in
Where The Road Runs Out as one of the main cast members.
Says
Where The Road Runs Out director Rudolf Buitendach: “We’re incredibly excited to see South African audiences’ reaction to this feature film that was shot in part in KwaZulu-Natal, and features a number of cast members with South African roots.”
“In the films I’ve done, art has somehow ended up imitating life and with
Where The Road Runs Out, a film about friendship conquering hardship, finding allies in a place that seemed like a threat at first after conquering one’s own preconceptions, proved that the power of love, camaraderie and friendship can triumph anywhere.”
Where The Road Runs Out will be screened at the
Durban International Film Festival on Sunday, 19 July at 18:15 and on Sunday, 26 July at 20:15. Tickets are available between R35 and R50 for the screenings at Ster-Kinekor Musgrave.
For more information (and to view the film trailer), visit
www.wheretheroadrunsout.com. Alternatively, join the conversation on
Facebook and
Twitter with the #WTRROmovie hashtag.