The late icon, Brenda Fassie’s opposed biographical film finally gets approval and producers are confident that between 2020 and 2021, the film will be released.
In January 2019, Showbiz announced its partnership with Brenda Fassie estate and the Legaci Entertainment for the production of Brenda Fassie’s biopic film. This will centre on her life story, including how she rose to stardom.
Chicco Twala, Brenda’s former manager and producer, stated that he has the entitlement to any film that centre on the musician’s life. He also claimed that he had not given a go-ahead to the companies that want to embark on the project.
The court granting him a court interdict stopped the project from commencing until they concluded on the person with the right of producing the film.
The producers of the film expressed their lack of interest in meeting with Brenda’s former manager as a way to settle all issues. However, they confessed that the delays were affecting them financially.
The South African representative of Legaci Nova Entertainment, Vaughn Eaton, said,
The delays are not good for anyone. It’s a financial burden to us as well. We have 18 to 32 people working for us between the UK and South Africa. Those people need to be paid but the project is not moving forward. The longer the delays, the more it will hurt financially.
Last September, the judgment was reserved as there were arguments to make the order lasting.
In March, Chicco’s application for Brenda’s son, Bongani, to go ahead with the movie permanently was dismissed by the high court in Pretoria.
In Judge Nomonde Patience Mngqibisa-Thusi’s ruling, she said Chicco’s claims were “invalid from the outset.”
The late icon’s producer, Chicco, explained that he had plans to appeal against the ruling. He also said that the film would be ‘useless’ without his ownership of music rights.
He said:
It doesn’t affect me, it affects the producers. They need me more than I need them.
In November, Vaughn stated that Brenda’s biopic was in production and people are eager for its release. It is said to be released either late 2020 or early 2021.
