Soldiers of the Rock

Running time: N/A

United States Premiere It is the deep, dark bowels of the Earth. It is the ever dangerous; the claustrophobic. It is the world of the South African gold mine, a world not for the weak of heart. Vuyo, an idealistic but inexperienced student, searches for answers about his long-lost father amidst the economic chaos and political infighting of the failing mine company where his father was crushed to death by a rock fall. It is here, deep under the surface, where Vuyo meets the men his father worked side by side with for 35 years - a team of men trapped in the darkness of circumstance, caught between the cross-fire of losing their jobs or continuing to mine the treacherous terrain. And it is also here where Vuyo must make a choice whether or not to embark on a journey out of his own darkness into the light. But in order to find himself, Vuyo must find what made his father risk his life in a search for the yield-rich gold slopes buried five kilometers below. Soldiers of the Rock marks the directorial debut of 21-year-old Norman Maake, as he heads a mostly student crew from the South African School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance in this remarkably mature tale of survival and courage. - John Ignowski