South Africa's explosive '79 cult classic: would you storm a warzone for your girlfriend's brother?
A story about a fictional South African police base on the border between Angola and the former South West Africa. While patrolling, a mail convoy is ambushed and most of the soldiers are shot. The captain is rescued, but one of his constables is taken prisoner. The constable’s sister is also the captain’s girlfriend. GRENSBASIS 13 (Border Post 13) tells the story of the captain’s suspenseful and action-filled rescue attempt in order to bring his sweetheart’s brother home.
Production
Shot on location in active militarized zone with real SADF cooperation.
Acting
Karin Kritzinger's hysterical sister act hits peak soap opera.
Director
Elmo De Witt
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Elmo De Witt shot this during the actual South African Border War, using active SADF personnel as extras. The 'terminal illness' keyword refers to a subplot where a character hides his cancer diagnosis to fight one last time.
Grensbasis 13 exemplifies 'grensfilme'—a forgotten genre of South African border war films made between 1966-1989 that functioned as nationalist propaganda. It was banned in most of Africa and virtually unseen outside Afrikaans-speaking communities until recent restoration efforts.
ZA
