DARRELL JAMES ROODT (writer/director) Darrell James Roodt (writer/director) has directed some of the most acclaimed films to come from his native South Africa, including “Place of Weeping,” “Sarafina!” and “Cry, the Beloved Country.” After being turned down for Drama School at the University of the Witwatersrand, Roodt secured financing and the commitment of local actors and technicians to produce South Africa's first anti-apartheid feature film, “Place of Weeping” (1986). Produced by Anant Singh, the film premiered in New York to wide critical acclaim and was endorsed by the “Arts Against Apartheid” committee as a courageous indictment of the racial policies of the time. Roodt’s next two films, “City of Blood” and “A Tenth of a Second” were followed by “The Stick,” an anti-war film set and subsequently banned in South Africa for two years. The Stick enjoyed a successful run on the international festival circuit and opened the 1988 Montreal Film Festival. When finally released in South Africa it was nominated for six awards in the 1989 M-net Film Awards, including Best Film. Roodt next directed the human drama “Jobman,” nominated in six categories in the annual M-net Film Awards, followed by the action thriller “To The Death.” “Sarafina!” (1992), based on Mbongeni Ngema's award-winning Broadway stage hit, and starring Whoopi Goldberg, Leleti Khumalo and Miriam Makeba, introduced Roodt to a wider international audience. Screened in Official Selection at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, the film was released in the U.S. by Disney, who commissioned him to direct the comedy “Father Hood,” starring Patrick Swayze and Halle Berry. Roodt next adapted Alan Paton's classic novel “Cry, The Beloved Country” (1995) to the screen, with an illustrious cast that included James Earl Jones, Richard Harris and Charles Dutton. The script was adapted by Oscar nominee Ronald Harwood and scored by five-time Oscar-winner John Barry. Roodt’s subsequent films include “Dangerous Ground” (1997), with Ice Cube and Elizabeth Hurley; the thriller “Second Skin” (2000), with Natasha Henstridge and Peter Fonda, “Queens Messenger II” (2001), “Pavement” (2002), with Robert Patrick and Lauren Holly, “Sumuru” (2003) and upcoming, “Dracula 3000,” with Casper Van Dien and Coolio. |