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PRESS RELEASE 5
April 18 2001 GRANNY LEE GOES GLOBAL Metamorphosis, The Remarkable Journey of Granny Lee, the acclaimed documentary produced by Underdog Entertainment and commissioned by SABC3 is making waves internationally. The film, which made its debut on South African TV screens in July 2000, has been selected for screening at both the prestigious New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival as well as the up-coming INPUT 2001 international television conference to be hosted in Cape Town in April. Metamorphosis is an hour-long documentary exploring the life of South Africa's most outrageous and notorious drag party-animal, Granny Lee, who, while born a coloured man in Kimberley at the height of Apartheid, died as a "white woman" in 1989. Directed by Underdog Entertainment's Luiz DeBarros the film received much critical acclaim and even spawned a hit compilation CD: Granny Lee's Disco Hits of the 70's and 80's. "It's a great honour that Metamorphosis has been selected from among the best documentary work from around the world, especially considering our very limited local budgets." says writer/director Luiz DeBarros. "For better or worse, we're helping to make Granny Lee a legend, not only in South Africa, but also in the rest of the world. She'd like that," he adds with a grin. Since its inception in 1988, the annual New York Lesbian & Gay Film Festival has become one of the most comprehensive forums of international lesbian and gay film and video, and an important exhibition platform for independent film and video makers. The festival provides a professional and public context for the presentation of innovative and challenging work that reflects the broad range of practice and ideas found in contemporary media. The 13th New York Lesbian & Gay Film Festival is taking place from May 31st through till June 10th 2001. INPUT (the International Public Television Screening Conference) is a regular event for visionaries and creators of international public television, held annually in a different city around the world. This time it's South Africa's turn and the organisers are expecting over 1000 international delegates including directors, producers, network bosses, journalists, distributors and commissioning editors. Delegates will view and critique the best television projects from around the world and interact with their creators. Metamorphosis was among two other South African projects selected by an international panel in Italy to be included in the total of 80-something films that will be screened at INPUT 2001. (The other South African projects selected are Yizo Yizo 2 (2 episodes) and Positive). The conference will take place from 29 April to 5 May 2001 at the Nico Theatre in Cape Town. "We see the international interest in Metamorphosis as re-affirming our vision of producing South African film and television that will not only find an audience locally, but will also have universal appeal around the world" explains Metamorphosis' producer Marc Schwinges. Underdog Entertainment is an acclaimed, progressive, South African film, television and new media entertainment content creation Company. Founded on the cusp of the convergence of film, television, music, video-on-demand, advertising and the Internet, Underdog is poised to conquer a New World of entertainment opportunities. Highlights have included the acclaimed two-hour television documentary Death (now distributed internationally) that won three awards at the prestigious 1998 Avante Awards, including Gold in the documentary category. Most recently is has come on board the Big Brother South Africa project as the editorial content creator for the show's interactive website. For further publicity material or more information on this project please contact: Producer Marc Schwinges at Underdog Entertainment Tel: +27 (011) 380-3232 Fax: +27 (011) 380-3233 E-Mail: grannylee@underdog.co.za WWW: http://www.grannylee.co.za -ends- < back to press release list >
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