A Dry White Season | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Euzhan Palcy |
Produced by |
Paula Weinstein Tim Hampton Mary Selway |
Screenplay by |
Colin Welland Euzhan Palcy |
Based on |
A Dry White Season by Andre Brink |
Starring | |
Music by | Dave Grusin |
Cinematography | Pierre-William Glenn Kelvin Pike |
Edited by | Glenn Cunningham Sam O'Steen |
Production
company |
Davros Films
Sundance Productions |
Distributed by | MGM/UA |
Release date
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September 22, 1989 |
Running time
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97 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $9 million |
Box office | $3,766,879 |
A Dry White Season is a 1989 American drama-historical film directed by Euzhan Palcy and starring Donald Sutherland, Jürgen Prochnow, Marlon Brando, Janet Suzman, Zakes Mokae and Susan Sarandon. It was written by Colin Welland and Euzhan Palcy, based upon André Brink's novel of the same name. Robert Bolt also contributed uncredited revisions of the screenplay. It is set in South Africa and deals with the subject of apartheid. Brando was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
In 1976, in South Africa during apartheid, Ben Du Toit (Donald Sutherland) is a South African school teacher at a school for whites only. One day the son of his gardener, Gordon Ngubene (Winston Ntshona), gets beaten by the white police after he gets caught by the police during a peaceful demonstration for a better education policy for black people in South Africa. Gordon asks Ben for help. After Ben refuses to help because of his trust in the police, Gordon gets caught by the police as well and is tortured by Captain Stolz (Jürgen Prochnow). Against the will of his family, Ben tries to find out more about the disappearance of his gardener by himself. Seeing the disenfranchisement and helplessness of the black people, he decides to bring this incident up before a court with Ian McKenzie (Marlon Brando) as lawyer but loses. Afterwards, he continues to act by himself and supports a small group of blacks, including his driver Stanley Makhaya (Zakes Mokae), to interview others to find out what happened to Gordon.