Amazon’s Prime Video has released its first South African Original movie. Titled The Shakedown, the film is directed by Ari Kruger. The film is a crime comedy set in Cape Town.
Kruger is no newcomer to streaming platforms. He worked on Tali’s Diary, Showmax’s award-winning Original series. The Shakedown, his feature film debut, is produced by Sketchbook Studios, a Cape Town-based production company founded by Julia Anastasopoulos and Kruger himself. Anastasopoulos, memorably, played Tali in the earlier series and is also featured in the just released movie.
Other cast members include Carl Beukes, Emmanuel Castis, Milton Schorr, and James Borthwick. The film follows Justin Diamond (Beukes), a medical aid broker who gets involved in underworld after his mistress threatens to reveal their affair.
The release of The Shakedown seems to indicate that arrangements the streamer had with African filmmakers before its abrupt departure from the continent will be honoured. In Nigeria, a country that’s home to Africa’s other big film industry, Amazon Prime has continued to release films, including Kill Boro and With Difficulty Comes Ease.
