A SHOT AT THE BIG TIME (EPK)

A SHOT AT THE BIG TIME (EPK)

Brad Backhouse

You should know by now that A Shot at the Big Time is one South African short film that we have been following for a while now. Helping to promote it in every way we can.

Now we see that a new EPK (Electronic Press Kit) for the film as debuted, which you can witness below:

On the EPK itself this is what Janet Van Eeden (Writer and Producer) had to say about it.

"Here's the final version of the fantastic electronic press kit put together by honours students at UKZN for A Shot at the Big Time.

Yet more proof that there is not a single aspect of this project that is devoid of ambition or talent!

 Great job, guys!" 

The films synopsis is as follows:

A Shot at the Big Time is a film inspired by the true story of Janet van Eeden's brother, Jimmy, who took his own life rather than fight in the Apartheid Border War, a war he didn't believe in.

She launched a crowd-sourcing campaign on Indiegogo.com to raise production funds for this film after the conventional fund raising platforms didn't work. This film is timeless, about the young men who gave up their lives to fight in a war many of them had no desire to fight. Every white boy in South Africa in the seventies, eighties and early nineties, was conscripted into military service. After three months of brutal basics they were spat out onto the border to kill their so-called enemy.

A Shot at the Big Time traces the life of Jimmy and one of his friends who just happened to black in Apartheid South Africa. They had no interest in waging war against each other - they just wanted to be rock stars. Then Jimmy received his call up papers. Forced into the brutal regime of the military, with a sargeant who had it in for him, he went AWOL. A fatal accident sealed his fate and blew up any chances Jimmy might have had to have a normal life. He had a mental breakdown after this and was removed from service and placed in a mental home to recover. Just as he was finding his feet again, the army declared him "fit for service", and drafted him straight into armed combat on the Angolan border with the instruction to seek and destroy "the enemy". His broken heart couldn't do this. So instead of fighting, he released the bullets from his rifle, walked straight into the line of enemy fire, strumming his gun as if it was his beloved guitar.

This film has taken Janet nine years to write, and she's ready to put it on the big screen. A number of songs have been written by Jonathan Handley of the Radio Rats who was so moved by reading the script that he recorded songs you can see on this website. Strum My Gun was inspired by the film's ending.

Make sure you check out http://www.shotthemovie.com for more on this film!! And spread the word!!