Stars: Derek Luke, Tim Robbins, Michele Burgers, Bonnie Henna, Mncedisi Shabangu, Tumisho Masha, Sithembiso Khumalo

Director: Phillip Noyce

Summary: Set in early 1980s Apartheid-era South Africa, CATCH A FIRE is a gripping political thriller based on a remarkable true story. Patrick Chamusso is a family man who works as a foreman at the Secunda oil refinery. Although he tries his best to stay out of politics, he is dragged in when Colonel Nic Vos wrongly believes that Chamusso is a prime suspect in a terrorist bombing that occurred at the plant. Despite being brutally beaten and tortured, Chamusso continues to declare his innocence, but the situation changes drastically when the Police Security Branch brings in his wife, Precious. Faced with some hard choices, Chamusso starts listening to radio broadcasts by the illegal African National Congress, an organisation of freedom fighters seeking to end apartheid, and decides it's finally time to fight back.

Set in early 1980s Apartheid-era South Africa, CATCH A FIRE is a gripping political thriller based on a remarkable true story. Derek Luke (ANTWONE FISHER) stars as Patrick Chamusso, a family man who works as a foreman at the Secunda oil refinery. Although he tries his best to stay out of politics, he is dragged in when Colonel Nic Vos (Tim Robbins) wrongly believes that Chamusso is a prime suspect in a terrorist bombing that occurred at the plant. Despite being brutally beaten and tortured, Chamusso continues to declare his innocence, but the situation changes drastically when the Police Security Branch brings in his wife, Precious (Bonnie Henna). Faced with some hard choices, Chamusso starts listening to radio broadcasts by the illegal African National Congress, an organization of freedom fighters seeking to end apartheid, and decides it's finally time to fight back. Vos and Chamusso, both dedicated to their families as well as to their very different causes, play a relentless game of cat and mouse, symbols of the intense battle between blacks and whites that blew up in horrific violence right before apartheid ended. Robbins and Luke are both excellent in complex and difficult roles, and there's a breakout performance from South African actress Henna. Director Phillip Noyce (RABBIT-PROOF FENCE, THE QUIET AMERICAN) and screenwriter Shawn Slovo (whose father, Joe Slovo, was a white leader of the resistance movement) researched the story thoroughly, resulting in a powerful, realistic drama. CATCH A FIRE was filmed on location in South Africa, Mozambique, and Swaziland, and features traditional, folk, and protest songs by the Bongani Singing Group, Sidikadika Ndlovu, Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus, and Bob Marley, among others.

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Catch a Fire is an intelligent, fact-based apartheid thriller that tells the story of Patrick Chamusso (sympathetically played by Derek Luke), a South African wrongly accused, in 1980, of sabotaging the oil refinery where he worked. After both he and his wife are tortured by agents of the Boer government (led by a conflicted security chief played by Tim Robbins), Chamusso becomes a radicalised guerilla for the MK, or military wing, of the African National Congress. Filmed on the actual locations where its events took place, Catch a Fire bristles with urgent authenticity, its political cat-and-mouse game capably handled by director Philip Noyce, who applies the sensitivity of his acclaimed films Rabbit-Proof Fence and The Quiet American with the thriller expertise established in mainstream hits like Dead Calm and Patriot Games. The film's third-act shift toward conventional sabotage-and-manhunt plotting may seem jarring, but you can hardly blame Noyce and screenwriter Shawn Slovo (whose father led the MK when Chamusso joined) for sticking to the facts in a politically charged story handled with admirable humanity and compassion. --Jeff Shannon

Aspect Ratio:	2.35 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Audio commentary with Phillip Noyce, Robyn Slovo, Patrick Chammuso, Shawn Slovo, Tim Robbins, Derek Luke and Bonnie Henna, Deleted scenes
Year:	2007
Release Date:	July 16, 2007
Runtime:	97 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	8247684
Keywords:	Catch, Fire, English, General, Drama
Genre:	Drama