Friendship and forgiveness in joyful #LoveMySelfie touches the heart
Johannesburg, 31 October 2023 – Imagine that you and a group friends can be on a luxury cruise, far away from the daily mundaneness, to rejuvenate yourself and leave behind your past. Heavenly, right?
But it’s not always as easy as that. Just like local TV-star, Adele Swan, very quickly finds out when she accepts an opportunity to pay off her debt, by agreeing to be the face of the real estate tycoon George’s campaign: a competition on the luxury cruise ship, MSC Sinfonia, to win and sell exclusive units of the Silwer Eike retirement estate.
Not only does her ego get bruised when she realises that she will also have to take part in the Survivor of Seniors competition onboard, but when she recognises an old school friend, Winnifred, the doors of her long-forgotten past are opened. Memories bring self-doubt, regret and suppression of certain emotions for Adele as the pressure to sell more retirement units grows, with George becoming increasingly unreasonable.
By entering their best “selfie”, twelve lucky seniors wins a weekend onboard the luxury cruise with the television personality, Adele, where women compete in survival-style games and quizzes to win the exclusive prize of a retirement unit to the value of R7 million.
The comical and touching film #LoveMySelfie is about more than just a long-awaited holiday on a luxury cruise. Four women older than 60, undertake a journey inward and discover that it’s never too late to develop and change yourself for the better.
The lead character Adele Swan is portrayed by the seasoned and versatile actress, Illse Roos, known for roles in Egoli, Die Boekklub, Boland Moorde, Troukoors, Fynskrif and was recently seen in kykNET soap Suidooster. Adele’s long lost friend Winnifred is played by veteran actress June van Merch and the rest of the heavy-weight cast includes Joanie Combrink, Robyn Scott, Chané Grobler, Hélène Truter, Chanelle de Jager, Moses Williams and Kevin Smith as the sly George.
The filmmaker actress Lika Berning with her versatile career of more than 20-years in the entertainment industry, as well as her philantropic work, is the director of #LoveMySelfie. This is her first full-lenght feature film as director credit.
“I wanted to create an enjoyable comedy but also one that warms the hearts, and not only for an older Afrikaans audience, but one that everyone can appreciate. #LoveMySelfie shows an emotional satifactory journey wherein Adele has to peel off the layers which she hides behind – just like all of us sometimes do,” says Berning.
The script is written by Hélène Truter and produced by Nigel Tattersal, Vlokkie Gordon, Kurt Darren and Berning.
LoveMySelfie was filmed on two seperate MSC luxury cruises; a two-night cruise to Mosselbaai and a four night cruise to Walvisbaai, Namibia.
Ross Volk, Managing Director of MSC Cruises South Africa, says the following about their involvement with the film: “Our major aim was to demonstrate our continued support for the Afrikaans community while helping the creative arts, a very important part of the entertainment sector in South Africa. We hope that South African audiences will enjoy this heartwarming and uplifting story and we look forward to its success on screen.”
Popular Afrikaans pop singer and co-producer of #LoveMySelfie, Kurt Darren, also has a cameo in the film. One of the characters is a huge fan of him and his iconis song, Kaptein span die seile, is also part of the soundtrack with other well-known Afrikaans songs.
LoveMySelfie has its premiere on 25 November 2023 at Spier Wine Estate with a second viewing only for the public on Sunday 26 November. Tickets can be bought on the website www.lovemyselfie.co.za from Friday 27 October at 10:00. Various other screenings of the film are in planning and new screenings will be regularly added to the website. If you have any enquiries to show the film in your community or estate, community hall or any other appropriate venue, please contact the marketing team through the website.
The trailer can be viewed here: #Lovemyselfie lokprent – YouTube
Kindest regards
Lebogang Mashangoane
Senior Account Manager