Anant Singh gets a nod in the House of Lords

A South African film about a soccer league formed by political prisoners on Robben Island during the apartheid era is being used to drum up support for the 2010 soccer World Cup.

More Than Just a Game, produced in 2007 by South African film maker Anant Singh and Britain’s Lord Ted Rowland, will be broadcast by the BBC in the run-up to the flagship soccer tournament.

Last month, the film, which stars Tsotsi actor Presley Chweneyagae, was screened in Britain’s House of Lords to thunderous applause.

Singh, who took the film to the Cannes Film Festival last month, said he was “delighted at the reaction to the film from the House of Lords”.

“The film is a tribute to the people on Robben Island who fought for the privilege of playing football. It demonstrates our continent’s love for the game, validating the Fifa World Cup finally coming to Africa,” he said.

“I am delighted that the audience was moved and impressed by our film. It was truly an amazing experience to have the film screened at the House of Lords.”

Present for the screening were members of the house, including Baroness Jan Royall and house leader Lord Bassett. Also in attendance were anti-apartheid activist Lord Bob Hughes, sport and human rights activist Lord Richard Faulkner, and BBC executive producer Carol Sennett, who announced that the film “will be broadcast on BBC’s main channel as a lead-up to the 2010 Fifa World Cup ”.

Singh said: “I was especially pleased that a number of those who attended the screening were involved in the anti-apartheid movement and in football, and made a special effort to be there.”

The film is based on the book More Than Just a Game: Soccer vs Apartheid, by Professor Chuck Korr. It was directed by Junaid Ahmed.

Also starring Rhythm City’s Wright Ngubeni and Isidingo’s Tsepo Maseko, the film documents the Robben Island prisoners’ Makana Football Club, formed in the 1960s.