Screenwriter Shawn Slovo and
Producer Robyn Slovo
Michelle Sedaca
October 18, 2006

On October 18, Catch a Fire, a new movie written by Shawn Slovo, produced by Robyn Slovo, and directed by Phillip Noyce (Rabbit-Proof Fence and The Quiet American), held a press screening before a packed audience at the Regal Fenway Theatre in Boston.  The film opens nationally in theaters across the country on Friday, October 27.

Shawn and Robyn Slovo are the children of the well-known and respected South African anti-apartheid leaders, Joe Slovo and Ruth First.   As white South Africans, Joe Slovo and Ruth First represented a minority of white South African activists working with the African National Congress in the struggle to bring justice to their country.

Although Shawn and Robyn Slovo moved to the U.K. when they were young, the liberation struggle has clearly impacted their lives, as evident in their film. Catch a Fire’s overarching themes of heroism, liberation, and reconciliation offer testament to the unique challenges South Africa faces as well as profound lessons that the rest of the world can learn from its remarkable transformation.

South Africa Partners was honored to help promote this important film. For more information about Catch a Fire, please visit http://www.catchafiremovie.com. Catch a Fire opens on Friday, October 27 in the U.S.

Michelle Sedaca: What motivated you to choose to make a film about the life of Patrick Chamusso?

Shawn Slovo: Number 1, I didn’t set out to make a film about South Africa, although I have a close personal link to South Africa because of my parents. As a screenwriter, you are always looking for a good story. That is the main motivation.  Most anti-apartheid movies have been set in the sixties and seventies, and nothing has tackled the next phase of the struggle which is the armed struggle. Joe [Slovo] said don’t tell the story of Nelson Mandela or Walter Sisulu or Oliver Tambo. That’s not the story. This ordinary, not particularly sophisticated, uneducated, working black South African on whose behalf the ANC [African National Congress] was fighting. There are many unsung heroes like Patrick. It was specifically Patrick’s story because Patrick didn’t have a history of political activism; his parents weren’t involved, he didn’t go through the Soweto school uprising. He was just an ordinary man who was trying to make the best of a bad circumstance. Patrick had a job, a family that he loved, and a passion for soccer. He kept his head down. Patrick is a man who is pushed to the point where a spark is ignited in him. That is using the Focus Universal tagline. He leaves his family for the future of his family. It struck me as a great story.  Patrick lived up to his name, his nom de plume, ‘Hot Stuff.’

People are responding now in this country [to the film] because there is a resonance about this story for today...there is a resonance in what makes a so-called terrorist and in the fight to stand up to oppression. I think it was that resonance that appealed to Working Title Films and commissioned me to write the script. Working Title Films didn’t see it as a historical anti-apartheid story, but as relevant to the world we live in today.

Michelle Sedaca: Could you speak further about what lessons the world could learn from the lessons of the miracle of South Africa?

Robyn Slovo: I think the biggest lesson is conflict resolution. South Africa was a prime example where it looked like there were two sides so diametrically opposed that the only choice was a military victory of one over the other. There was never a military victory. There was a collapse of the apartheid regime, not only through internal pressure, but through international pressure. If people get around the table and decide that they want to bring change in a nonviolent way, it’s possible.

Shawn Slovo: It wasn’t the military campaign that brought South Africa to its knees. A far more crucial factor was outside pressure. Once the American banks withdrew, that’s what did it.

Robyn Slovo: South Africa is very sophisticated politically because they recognized that it’s not about winning war; it’s about finding the best way to move forward. That best way ought to do with talking and collaborating with everyone in the country. It is a unique situation that has not happened anywhere else in the world. That’s an enormous lesson to be learned. Even though these people were absolute sworn enemies, the ANC was sufficiently wise and sophisticated to know that they could reach an accord without any bloodshed. That’s the biggest lesson.

Shawn Slovo: The ANC realized through observing what had happened in other countries in Africa that it was absolutely crucial to preserve the infrastructure- the police, the civil service.  Joe [Slovo] was instrumental in this. He was the most hated man in South Africa. He initiated this document called the Sunset Clause which guaranteed the pensions and the jobs of the civil service. It was very canny, political, astute thinking. Years in exile were fruitfully spent. The ANC was very well organized.

Michelle Sedaca: What challenges did you encounter in producing the film?

Shawn Slovo: Producing this film was remarkably easy because it was developed by Working Title Films, which is phenomenally successful and phenomenally powerful. They engaged with the story about an ordinary man. Once Philip Noyce came on board, the film became stronger and stronger.

Robyn Slovo: The film was shot entirely in South Africa, entirely with South African crew which is really unusual because normally films going to South Africa take their production designers, their costume designers… It’s more or less unheard of. P hilip and I decided that why on earth would you use an international production design, when you can use a South African who knows what everything looks like? I think it was a very good decision. People were so extraordinarily accommodating and respectful towards us. We received a lot of help and support from South Africa.

Shawn Slovo: What really helped was being a Slovo. We could achieve the impossible through our connection. Many of Joe and Ruth’s contemporaries are running the country now. Slovo is a name that opens all kinds of doors in South Africa, such as getting a visa for Patrick Chamusso who is a convicted terrorist and has poor health. That is testament to Robyn producing. It’s just a miracle that Patrick’s here.

Michelle Sedaca: Thank you so much. Do you have any other comments that you would like to add?

Robyn Slovo: Phillip was absolutely extraordinary. As an Australian, he knew nothing about South Africa. Absolutely nothing. His attention to factual authenticity and to authenticity itself was absolutely remarkable.  We had no idea that he would spend that long in South Africa talking to people who were the background to the story really-we spent six months doing that. He was so magnificently respectful to not only Patrick Chamusso, but to all the real people who were involved in the story. Phillip is completely authentic.

Shawn Slovo: His openness is his strength. Ultimately, all of the experiences are filtered through the director. The fact that Patrick was so open is very clever and canny on his part. He is so located in his place and time.

Robyn Slovo: He used a police advisor, he used a singing advisor, someone who choreographed the wedding… South Africans who knew exactly what they were doing.

Mary Tiseo: Phillip spoke last night about how the story connected to his own experience of growing up in rural Australia. South Africa is an example to all of us.  A place that we can learn from and bring back to our own experiences.

We want to thank you.