Under African Skies: the Adventure begins

You must be Frank Ducks?

Now they often say that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, well in this case it began with a single phone call. It was from an old friend, veteran director Ken Siu (Siu Wai-keung)whose credits include everything from The Forbidden Kingdom with Jackie Chan & Jet Li, Irreversi, Flatlands with Dennis Hopper, Hong Kong 97, Deadly Duo, Fearless with Jet Li, Off Limits/Saigon with Willem Dafoe & Gregory Hines amongst so many others. But to anyone who is a fan of martial arts cinema, Ken is instantly recognizable for his memorable turn as Victor the guide who looks after a young Jean-Claude Van Damme in a little movie named Bloodsport.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxQW2UogfUs

And here'sd a new take on a classic scene from the movie

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_RrH_Fdnys

Ken was in the first stages of production on his latest project, and began to tell me how the movie was about a girl who wants her boyfriend to marry her, and i began to wonder why he wanted me to work on a love story. As my own love life can frequently testify, I'm not really the most romantic of people. But then he tells me the love story is set against the backdrop of an African country in the throes of revolution, i begin to take a bit more interest and agree to read the script. And I like it, the story works well, the romance angle works but i especially like the journey that each character goes through and their interaction. Ken asks me if I'd be interested in joining the project as First Assistant Director amongst other things and I said yes.

A Rumble In The Jungle

Now the initial plan for the movie would have seen us shooting the film in the Congo, where Muhammad Ali & George Foreman faced off for the classic Rumble In The Jungle, as chronicled in the superb documentary When We Were Kings.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3HPSxWdjD0&feature=related

And while the location scout to the Congo went well, the country offered some incredible locations and the people were very welcoming, sadly the logistical problems we were going to face if we shot there, would have been insurmountable.

 We would have had to fly in every single piece of equipment we needed as well as crew member, and realized they didnt really have the infrastructure to support the project, and we were forced to look for another location for the shoot, and my thoughts quickly turned to another African country where a lot of production have shot, and various friends of mine in the industry quickly confirmed that it would be a great choice, South Africa.

South African Action Cinema?

South Africa has long served as the backdrop and location of choice for many a classic movie, with everything from The Wild Geese, Dolph Lundgren's Red Scorpion, Stander,
Lord of War,Machine Gun Preacher, Jake Speed and of course District 9 being shot there.Both Cannon Films & Nu Image used the country as a location for everything from American Ninja 2,3,4, Sweepers, Cold Harvest, Gorand many others.

Now before District 9, probably the most famous South African movie of all time was The Gods Must Be Crazy

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GorHLQ-jLRQ

he film introduced the world to bushman Nixau, who would later go on to topline several Hong Kong productions including Crazy Hong Kong with Lau Ching-wan, Crazy Safari alongside Lam Ching-ying which not only boasts a running commentary by Stephen Chow & Ng Mang-tat, but features Nixau being posessed by the spirit of Bruce Lee at one point.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgwAZy0wYT4

His final Hong Kong project was The Gods Must Be Crazy In Chinawhich saw him alongside the lovely Cynthia Khan.

Even Jackie Chan ran wild in the country in 1997's Who Am I? directed by Benny Chan, the film made great ue of the South African locations, shooting so much footage that at one point there was even serious discussion of releasing the film in two parts, with the first film focusing just on Chan's adventures in South Africa.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-N9YD4M9GA

During the late 1970's & early 1980's, South Africa even groomed its own martial arts hero with james Ryan, who headlined two chopsockey projects that were released around the world, Kill or be Killed & Kill & Kill Again. Ryan would later return to martial arts action in the mid 90's battling Mark Dacascos in Kickboxer 5: Redemption. At one point in the film he takes on a young fighter played by Gavin Hood, who would later go on to direct Tsutsiand a little movie entitled X-Men origins: Wolverine starring Hugh Jackman.

And the recent success of District 9 helped show the world just what South Africa could do filmwise, without having to mention its Apartheid past.

So in mid July I found myself flying out of Hong Kong in a typhoon and heading for Johannesberg once more.

To Be Continued...