By Michelle Betton | Communications Specialist
The time has finally come! After years of working on our film to give audiences more information about tuberculosis and help individuals make more informed health decisions, the film is about the premiere!
This phase of "The Lucky Specials" project is the most exciting, bringing the film to its target audiences and entertaining viewers while giving them critical information about a disease that killed 1.8 million people in 2015, yet is completely curable. Delivering knowledge about accessing prevention and treatment efforts wrapped in a personal and memorable story makes this project all the more powerful.
The film's world premiere will take place on February 17 in Johannesburg, South Africa, followed by several regional premieres. The film will then air on television in March in countries across southern Africa and beyond, extending the film's message about making informed health decisions - and the fact that TB is curable - as far as possible!
After the initial television broadcast, the film will become available on the website, along with a facilitator's guide. The guide will help break down the information in the film about the science of how tuberculosis works and how it can be treated. Anyone can download the film and host an event to share the story and tuberculosis facts with friends, family, schools, communities, everyone! The website will also feature additional resource information about tuberculosis and links to websites for additional information about the disease.
We hope you will share this invaluable tool with the people around you!
THE LUCKY SPECIALS, a feature-length film, follows a guitarist and his friends in their journey to create a new musical sound and catapult their small-time band to the big stage.
Produced by South African-based Quizzical Pictures and directed by Rea Rangaka (Ode in Blood), the movie stars Oros Mampofu (Skeem Saam) as Mandla, a miner by day who plays lead guitar for the band The Lucky Specials by night.
The Lucky Specials are a cover band in a dusty town in southern Africa. Mandla dreams of making it big in the music industry. When tragedy strikes, the band, Mandla and Nkanyiso (Sivenathi Mabuya) – who believes in the band’s potential – struggle to hold everything together. Through the obstacles, The Lucky Specials must find the strength to make their dreams reality.
About the cast:
Mampofu and Mabuya are joined by a phenomenal cast of nationally known stars, including musician Blondie Makhene as Mandla’s mentor Bra Easy; Richard Lukunku (Thina Sobabili), Thomas Gumede (A Place Called Home) and Fulu Mugovhani (Ayanda) as Mandla’s bandmates; and Linda Sebezo (Gauteng Maboneng) as a businesswoman who threatens to make The Lucky Specials’ dreams fall apart.
Links:
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