• A Portrait on the Search for Happiness

    A Portrait on the Search for Happiness



  • A Portrait on the Search for Happiness

    A Portrait on the Search for Happiness



  • A Portrait on the Search for Happiness

    A Portrait on the Search for Happiness



  • A Portrait on the Search for Happiness

    A Portrait on the Search for Happiness



A Portrait on the Search for Happiness

by Benjamin Rost

A Portrait on the Search for Happiness

2021 | 73:00 min

Content Categories

Documentary
Synopsis
The story of the former diamond-diving village of Port Nolloth in South Africa.
A desert bordered by a deep cold sea. A torn landscape which hides the purest diamonds on earth deep beneath it. Digging for these diamonds with bare hands day and night, are young men on the frontier of a new diamond rush in South Africa. Hope beckons for the previously drug addicted Vianey who yearns for a better life. Nelson Mandela’s dream urges the homeless cook Patrick on into this new, hopeful future. Only George, the diamond diver, who once was a millionaire, is still hanging on to his memories of a bygone time. A poetic journey through the desert, the wind and the sand. [WS Journeyman]

A film in grandiose images and very close to its protagonists speculating poetically around human nature - as well as the power of our dreams.' [DOK.fest Munich, Jan Sebening]

'A Portrait on the Search for Happiness juxtaposes elegant cinematography and sensitive storytelling with raw truths about today’s South Africa.' [Encounters International South African Documentary Film Festival]

'A heart-warming journey of hope, resilience and the will of overcoming.' [Zubenathi Malothana, Callsheet Africa]
Festivals/Awards
2021
DOK.fest Munich
Encounters International South African Documentary Film Festival
Cast and Crew
  • Director Benjamin Rost
  • Producer Mark Szilagyi ( MSZ - Production & Consulting)
  • Director of Photography Johannes Greisle
  • Editor Robin Jünkersfeld
  • Sound David Kalla, Elmar Süczs
  • Score Philip Miller
Original Languages

Xhosa

Afrikaans

English

Zulu

Co-Production Company
Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH
Germany
www.filmakademie.de
Links / Reference
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