Tsotsi belly-flops in PE

2006-03-08 18:25

Port Elizabeth - South African film Tsotsi may be big in Hollywood after winning an Oscar for best foreign film - but it's flopping in the Eastern Cape.

Distributors Ster Kinekor had decided to withdraw the film from Port Elizabeth because of a lack of public interest, reported the Herald Online website on Wednesday.

"Only 667 people watched the show between last Thursday and Monday," the website quoted a Ster Kinekor representative as saying.

The movie will be screened for the last time at the city's Bridge complex on Thursday night after a run that began on February 17.

The company's marketing manager for local films, Helen Kuun, said Tsotsi had not performed well at The Bridge, the only cinema complex in Port Elizabeth to show it.

"It has to move to smaller circuits because not enough people are buying tickets," said Kuun.

'It is disappointing'

Asked if there had been increased demand for the movie since it won the Oscar, Kuun said it was too soon to tell.

According to the Herald Online, Rhodes University English literature professor Gareth Cornwell said: "It is disappointing that the movie is going to be removed from the Port Elizabeth theatre, but it must have been a commercial decision."

Cornwell said Tsotsi was showing in Grahamstown and had attracted not only traditional moviegoers, but also those in Grahamstown east which includes Joza township.

Kuun said there were 21 copies of Tsotsi in circulation and five more would be added soon.

The film opens at Vincent Park Cinema in East London on Friday and is due to reach the Southern Cape in the next few weeks.

- SAPA