Joe Oppenheimer (Executive Producer)

Joe Oppenheimer (Executive Producer, BBC Films) - Joe made the imprudent decision to leave the post of editor-manager of an internet start-up company in 1995 in order to pursue a career in film and television, thereby neatly missing the dotcom boom. He spent three years as a freelance writer and director before making the move into development and production.

Joe joined BBC Films’ development team in 1998. Covering the full range of the department’s output in the last ten years, he has worked with established auteurs and filmmakers as well as with up-and-coming talent new to the cinema. His work has been across a wide range of genres, from contemporary drama to period biopic, taking in comedy, horror and documentary. For THE FIRST GRADER, Joe relied on his extensive experience with African-based production shoots, including previous films SHOOTING DOGS, RED DUST and THE MEERKATS; he continues to executive produce the internationally successful television series, THE NO. 1 LADIES’ DETECTIVE AGENCY starring Jill Scott.

Selected credits: THE AWAKENING (in production); THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS, NATIVITY!, THE NO. 1 LADIES’ DETECTIVE AGENCY; TORMENTED; THE EDGE OF LOVE; FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT TIME TRAVEL; DEATH DEFYING ACTS; CONFETTI; SHOOTING DOGS; MILLIONS; RED DUST; MY SUMMER OF LOVE; THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PETER SELLERS; CODE 46; ANITA & ME; TRAUMA; KISS OF LIFE; THIS LITTLE LIFE; CONSPIRACY; LAST RESORT.

Anant Singh (Executive Producer)

Executive Producer, ANANT SINGH is recognised as South Africa’s pre-eminent film producer, having produced more than 100 films since 1984. Born and raised in Durban Singh began his film career at age 18 when he left his studies at the University of Durban-Westville to purchase a 16mm movie rental store. From there, he moved into video distribution, forming Videovision Entertainment and then progressed into film production in 1984 with PALACE OF WEEPIING, the first anti-apartheid film to be made entirely in South Africa.

He is responsible for many of the most profound anti-apartheid films made in South Africa, among which are PLACE OF WEEPING, SARAFINA!, CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY and YESTERDAY which received South Africa’s first Oscar® nomination.

Nelson Mandela called Singh “a producer I respect very much… a man of tremendous ability” when he granted him the film rights to his autobiography, Long Walk To Freedom. Singh is set to film LONG WALK TO FREEDOM later this year.

Among the films produced by Singh include: THE ROAD TO MECCA, with Kathy Bates; FATHER HOOD, with Patrick Swayze and Halle Berry; CAPTIVES, with Julia Ormond and Tim Roth; Tobe Hooper’s THE MANGLER, with Robert Englund and based on a Stephen King short story; PALJAS (shot in Afrikaans, the first South African film to be selected for Oscar Consideration in the Best Foreign Language film category); and RED DUST, with Hilary Swank and Chiwetel Ejiofor, a drama focussing on South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Singh’s association with South Africa’s number one box office star, Leon Schuster, saw the production of the Top Three Highest Grossing South African Films of All Time, MR BONES 2, MR BONES 1 AND MAMA JACK. The inspirational film, MORE THAN JUST A GAME which tells the story of organised football on Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned was supported by FIFA and was released in 2008. Following this were the 2009 productions: the comedy, JOZI directed by Craig Freimond (GUMS ‘N NOSES) and OUTRAGEOUS! which sees South Africa’s top stand up comics come together in a no-holds barred, adults only stand up comedy experience.

In 2007, the Palm Beach International Film Festival conferred the World Visionary Award to Singh for his contribution to world cinema and his production of socially conscious films. The South African Film Industry honoured Singh for his significant contribution to the advancement of the industry with the inaugural Golden Horn Award for Outstanding Contributor at the first South African Film and Television Awards in October 2006. Singh is also a recipient of the World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award and was conferred with honorary doctorates by the University of Durban-Westville and the University Of Port Elizabeth.

Helena Spring (Executive Producer)

HELENA SPRING (Executive Producer) is the worldwide Head of Production of Videovision Entertainment and has produced more than sixty television projects and more than twenty feature films. Her most recent motion picture credits as producer include JOZI, OUTRAGEOUS, MR BONES 2, MORE THAN JUST A GAME and Darrell James Roodt’s PREY.

She also produced the Academy Award® nominated motion picture, YESTERDAY (2005), starring Leleti Khumalo (SARAFINA!); RED DUST, the TRC courtroom drama starring Hilary Swank; the stylish Cape Flats gangster film, DOLLARS AND WHITE PIPES; the record-breaking box office performers MAMA JACK and MR. BONES, starring South Africa’s number one box office star, Leon Schuster; THE LONG RUN starring Armin Muehler-Stahl (SHINE); THE THEORY OF FLIGHT starring Academy Award® winning Kenneth Branagh and Helena Bonham Carter; BRAVO TWO ZERO, (as co-producer), a BBC co-production starring Sean Bean, based on Andy McNab’s best-selling book of the same title.

Helena was also executive producer of the motion picture WAATI, directed by Palme D’Or winner Souleymane Cisse; THE MANGLER, directed by Tobe Hooper (POLTERGEIST); Katinka Heyns’ PALJAS, which was selected as South Africa’s first official entry in the 1998 Academy Awards® in the Best Foreign Language film category and Darrell James Roodt’s SARAFINA! starring Whoopi Goldberg, which received a Christopher Award.

Rob Hardy (Director of Photography)

ROB HARDY (Director of Photography) is emerging as one Britain’s hottest Cinematographers. He emerged from the U.K.’s Sheffield film and music scene. His first short film as director and DP was PUFFERFISH, which received a BAFTA award nomination. In addition to being a prolific lenser for commercials, Hardy has, to date, shot six features including THE FIRST GRADER, most recently working in Albania on Joshua Marstons “UNTITLED ALBANIA PROJECT” for Journeyman Pictures. His credits include Elliot Lester’s BLITZ, and the award-winning RED RIDING: 1974, DOGGING: A LOVE STORY, EXHIBIT A, the horror film JELLY DOLLY, which won a special award in Berlin in 2004, and John Crowley’s highly-acclaimed telefilm “BOY A”, starring Peter Mullan, for which Hardy won a BAFTA.

Alex Heffes (Composer)

ALEX HEFFES (Composer) is one of the UK’s leading film composers. Rising to international prominence with his score to Kevin Macdonald’s Oscar®-winning ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER Alex is a composer who has never been confined by musical boundaries. After graduating from Oxford with a first-class degree, Alex first worked as writer and arranger on projects covering the musical spectrum from steel band to symphony orchestra with artists such as Elton John and members of Blur. His versatility as a composer has led to a busy and varied movie-scoring career taking him across musical boundaries from the acclaimed BAFTA-winning film TOUCHING THE VOID to THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND. Other movie scores include :

DEAR FRANKIE (Miramax Films), the psychological thriller TRAUMA (Warner Bros.), starring Colin Firth and Mena Suvari, the Fox Searchlight romantic comedy IMAGINE ME AND YOU, and Steve Coogan’s hi-jinx comedy THE PAROLE OFFICER. While scoring THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, Alex travelled to Uganda to record and produce many of the bands featured on the soundtrack. His score to acclaimed thriller STATE OF PLAY, starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck and Helen Mirren, featured a collaboration with classic British rock producer Flood. He also collaborated with director Tim Burton on his screen adaptation of SWEENEY TODD starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.

Alex’s scores have been nominated for BAFTA, Ivor Novello, European Film Academy and ASCAP awards. On the concert platform Alex’s music has been featured at venues as diverse as Symphony Hall Birmingham, the London Jazz Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He was composer in residence at the Sangat Music Festival in Mumbai, India and in 2003 was invited to the Sultanate of Oman to attend the premiere of his overture commissioned by the Oman Royal Symphony Orchestra. His band, the Alex Heffes Trio, was featured on the soundtracks to WOMEN TALKING DIRTY (Rocket Pictures) and CIRCUS (Columbia Pictures).