As South Africa continues to make creative strides internationally, “The Shakedown”, Amazon Prime Video’s first South African original film, is set to be released next month.
Set in Cape Town, the crime-comedy will be released on the streaming service on August 8.
It features a star-studded cast, which includes “Tali’s Diary” star Julia Anastasopoulos, Carl Beukes, who is known for his role on “Lioness”, and Emmanuel Castis from “Warrior” and “G20”.
They will be joined by South African rapper, Jack Parow, rising talent Berenice Barbier as well as Milton Schorr, who starred in “One Piece”, David Isaacs from “Spinners” and James Borthwick from “Hotel”.
Anastasopoulos’s husband, Ari Kruger, makes his feature directorial debut in “The Shakedown '' and has also co-written the production.
He has won three Best Comedy Director accolades at the South African Film & Television Awards for his work on the “Tali’s Diary” series. Kruger has also directed award-winning short films, TV commercials and comedy specials for Nik Rabinowitz and Marc Lottering.
“The Shakedown” is produced by Sketchbook Studios, a Cape Town-based production company founded by the couple.
According to “Variety”, the flick centres around Justin Diamond (Beukes), a well-respected medical aid broker who gets mixed up in the Mother City’s underworld after his mistress threatens to reveal the secret of their affair.
This leads him down a path filled with dangerous criminals, mistaken identities and comic mishaps as he desperately attempts to maintain his reputation and regain control of his life.
Beukes recently took to Instagram to describe this project as “one of the most incredible experiences of my life”.
Along with the trailer for the movie, he posted: “I can't wait for everyone to see this. I had one of the most incredible experiences of my life making this”.
Anastasopoulos, who plays his wife, added on Instagram: “What literal dreams are made of!! We had the time of our lives making this film and we can’t wait to share it with the world.”
Meanwhile, Parow, who plays a bumbling and comic hitman, Mikey, recently told EWN that he was thrilled to be a part of the cast, even though he didnt have much acting experience.
"I wasn't sure about this one because I haven't done much acting... but the director gave me the confidence to try this out and I really really enjoyed it; and it was so much fun and a great experience," the rapper was quoted as saying.
He added: "It was such a jol working with a bunch of amazing actors... I even had my own stunt double where I'm getting knocked into walls and bookshelves. It was just crazy, and to have all these professionals helping me along the way, it was really great”.
∎ “The Shakedown” premières on Amazon Prime Video on August 8.