IN DEVELOPMENT
South Africans are hungry for community. 30 years post-apartheid, we still fall short of Ubuntu, failing to even speak the same language. Set against the backdrop of the brutal 90km Comrades marathon, Countdown for a Nation uses an observational cinematic language to juxtapose the journey of a race with the journey of a nation and its people. In revealing how ordinary South Africans can resist the legacy of the past, using running to unite as Comrades, the film posits: If we can unite for a marathon, why can’t we unite as a nation?
CAST & CREW
Director(s)
Erin Macpherson & Gary Knowles
Producer(s)
Array Media (Sean Powter, Dylan Thomson)
Cast
Wietse & Wilna van der Westhuizen | Eugene Lekay
Michane Stead | Seluleko Ngubane
Marissa Groenewald | Ashraf Orrie |
Nontuthuko Magbhi
DOP
TBC
Cinematographers
Erin Macpherson | Gary Knowles
Sean Powter | Mike Faraday
Jarret Erasmus | Jodi Bos | Nic Murphy
Gert Meyer | Jacobus van Heerden
Gabriel Attwood
Sound Recordist
Erin Macpherson | Melissa Dessels
Marciano Monjane | Damian Roodt
Georgine Erasmus
Editor
Erin Macpherson
Post-Production Supervisor
Dylan Thomson
Story Consultant
Santwana Bayaskar
SPECIFICATIONS
Project Type
Feature-length Documentary
Genre
Drama | Comedy | Feel-Good
Runtime
100 minutes
Country of Origin
South Africa
Language
English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana
Shooting Format
Digital
Aspect Ratio
16:9
Film Colour
B&W + Colour
Release Year
2027