I need five keys to enter my house. Agencies advertise with ‘ultra save’ premises. The walls around the houses are still as high as they were four years ago. I thought that the ‘Rainbow Nation’ would have changed a bit, but things change always slower than you wish.
Because we’re going to shoot ‘The Bird Can’t Fly‘ in the Atlantis dunes we decided to do the casting in the same little town. Atlantis is a former township where coloured people had to go. Even today no whities do live here. It is a poor industrial area, where the main problems consist of unemployment and child prostitution.
During the casting session I asked the ten years old boys things about their private life. Many of their answers involve death, violence and abuse. One of the kids – we accosted him in the street – had nearly all the qualities I’m looking for. He could act, was original, open and eager and had those eyes I’ll never forget, full of pain, anger and warmth, simultaneously. I really fell in love with him, but his command of English is so bad that I’m afraid I have to continue my search for River.