Popular TV and radio star Anele Mdoda is making big moves behind the scenes with her new film Don’t Let’s Go to The Dogs Tonight. The film has now officially launched in South African cinemas after its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on 30 August 2024.
This is a big moment for Mdoda’s production company, Rose and Oaks Media, because it’s their very first feature film. Anele worked as an executive producer on the project alongside Frankie du Toit and world-famous comedian Trevor Noah. This team had already worked together before on the Oscar-nominated short film The Last Ranger, but this is their first full-length movie.
According to News24, the film is based on Alexandra Fuller’s best-selling memoir and tells a powerful story set in Zimbabwe (which was called Rhodesia at the time). It follows eight-year-old Bobo, played by newcomer Lexi Venter, as she grows up during the last days of the Rhodesian Bush War. Bobo’s life is filled with pain, confusion, and tension, from the war outside to the troubles inside her family.
Directed and adapted for the screen by South African actress Embeth Davidtz, who also stars as Bobo’s mother, Nicola Fuller, the film gives a deep and emotional look at a world in crisis. It also features top local talent, including Zikhona Bali, Fumani N. Shilubane and Rob van Vuuren.
Anele Mdoda explained why she believes the story will touch South African audiences. “The entire thing is based on war. There’s a war, it’s ending, and people want to leave their land. What the movie does well, there’s a war happening in Rhodesia, which is about to become Zimbabwe. There’s also a war happening in that household but, most importantly, there’s a war happening inside Nicola,” she said.
She added, “I think South Africans will resonate the most with this movie. It may be based in Zimbabwe, but I think there are a lot of similarities, especially if you look at where the world is right now.”
Mdoda is proud of the work her company is doing. Rose and Oaks Media has already been involved in other popular productions like The Masked Singer South Africa, Ready, Steady, Cook, and the Netflix series Ludik.
Even though she’s growing in the film and production world, Mdoda says she’s not leaving radio or TV behind. “I’m not switching lanes, I’m just widening the lane,” she said. “I really wish for all of them [everybody on this red carpet] to go into production because, when you get into ownership, that’s when you get into business.”
