It was about 2 weeks ago when I posted an entry dismissing the industry-held belief (and sadly, amongst some of *us* as well) that “black American films don’t sell overseas.”
Read it HERE is you missed it.
In that post, I listed 2 countries that my research showed have demonstrated strong interest in black American films, given the number of black American films that have been released in those countries in recent years, as well as how well they performed at the box office, especially relative to mainstream Hollywood films – in some instances, outperforming those.
The two countries were England and South Africa.
Black filmmakers who read that post would be wise to take that piece of information into consideration, when plotting a release strategy for their future films, and research entry-ways into those markets especially (although there are others).
While I’m certainly not implying that my post had anything at all to do with the fact that Terence Nance’s feature film debut, An Oversimplification of Her Beauty (an indie film too) will be opening theatrically in South Africa, I thought it was definitely worth mentioning that it is, given debates we continue to have about black films playing in overseas markets.
The Bioscope Independent Cinema in downtown Johannesburg, South Africa, will run the film in a limited (1-week) release, starting this weekend.
I believe this will be the film’s first non-USA commercial theatrical release. Yes, it’s *limited*, but its USA release has been *limited* as well.
For our readers in the area, go to the Bioscope’s website HERE for times and ticket information.