‘Losing Lerato’, Kagiso Modupe’s debut film about a successful father who loses everything including his daughter and will do anything to get her back, opened this weekend and has led the box office at several cinemas around the country.
It was the number one film at Ster-Kinekor’s Mall@Carnival, Sterland, Wonderpark, Rustenburg, Maponya Mall, Newtown Junction, and Festival Mall cinemas, and at Nu Metro’s Loch Logan in Bloemfontein, Westgate Mall in Roodepoort, and Mams Mall in Mamelodi, as well as at The Gables in Swaziland – among others. Thanks to the more than 13 000 attendances, four screens will be added this coming weekend, in Welkom, Port Elizabeth, Sandton and Mimosa Mall.
Directed by Sanele Zulu, the film, which features the cream of the crop of the local film and television industry, had the second-highest print average of all films for the weekend, superseded only by the J Lo starrer ‘Hustlers’. It did 93% of Kagiso Lediga’s box office hit ‘Matwetwe’ on its opening weekend, and superseded Stephina Zwane’s ‘Baby Mamas’ opening weekend by 17%.
‘Losing Lerato’ is a beautifully told action/thriller about a young black man who takes matters into his own hands by kidnapping his daughter – after life, the law and the woman he once loved, separate him from her. His actions put him on a collision course with the police and he finds himself in a high-stakes hostage situation.
Modupe, who produced the film and stars as the desperate father Thami, along with his daughter in the role of Lerato, is extremely happy with the movie’s performance.
“The film is about real-life issues, and the tale is told with honesty and authenticity,” Modupe says. “It will resonate with anyone who has ever found themselves separated from their child as a result of a vengeful ex-spouse. I am thrilled by how well audiences are responding and I am immensely proud of the film that the cast and crew created. I want to thank the cinemagoers for supporting South African movies.”
Losing Lerato’ is distributed in South Africa by Indigenous Film Distribution.