Genevieve Hofmeyr Movies

A dark-skinned girl born to white South African parents attempts to explore her identity in the era of apartheid as her government, her parents, and society as a whole struggle with what it means to be a black child of Caucasian descent in a nation deeply divided by race. The year is 1955. Sandra Laing (Sophie Okonedo) has just been born to a pair of white Afrikaner parents, her brown skin and curly hair the surprising result of genetic throwback. As the government's rigid apartheid system struggles with whether to classify Sandra as white or black, the young girl and her parents gradually realize that the complications they face due to her appearance run deep and wide. Sandra lives in a society where the color of your skin determines the outcome of your life, and though she is eventually granted admission to an all-white school, she suffers endless torment from her intolerant classmates. Her father, Abraham (Sam Neill), is having a particularly difficult time accepting his daughter. Despite the fact that tests indicate he is her biological father, the neighbors constantly whisper behind their backs. And while Sandra's mother (Alice Krige) does her best to provide her daughter with understanding and emotional support, those consolations come at a high price for both mother and daughter. Her parents believe it's their daughter's birthright that she live as a white woman, though only after she grows up and falls in love with a black man will the conflicted Sandra finally find the strength to embrace her true identity as an African woman. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

His career in an uncontrollable downward spiral, a hapless Hollywood producer cons a major studio into financing a $100 million action film following the adventures of 19th century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, only to find his swindle taking a sudden turn for the worse when his star is kidnapped and the production is shut down. Now left with few other options for resuscitating his flat-lining career, the producer aligns himself with a well-connected Hollywood studio executive in a clandestine attempt to finance another, wholly different film by utilizing the blocked studio funds. William H. Macy and Meg Ryan star in The Wool Cap director Steven Schachter's comic look at the twisted side of Hollywood politics. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The citizens of London must grapple with one of the greatest environmental crises in British history, and the possible obliteration of the city itself, in Flood, a natural disaster opus from director Tony Mitchell (Supervolcano). In present day England, a colossal storm hits the North Atlantic Ocean just outside of the UK and moves toward the Scotch mainland, laying waste to the town of Wick. Some predict that the crisis will die off; not so Professor Leonard Morrison (Tom Courtenay of Billy Liar), who worked arduously on the Thames River barrier. Morrison presciently foresees the system moving across the Thames barrier, where it will gain added strength from the year's unusually high tide and inundate London with a wall of water. In desperation, Leonard contacts daughter-in-law Sam (Jessalyn Gilsig), Director of Operations for the barrier, and warns her of the impending destruction; Sam's estranged husband (and Leonard's son) Rob (Robert Carlyle), who is employed as an engineer on the Barrier, and Police Commissioner Patricia Nash (Joanne Whalley) also become involved. As the water hits - just as predicted - these officials declare a city-wide state of emergency and must take extreme measures to keep the pending disaster from spiraling out of control and claiming untold numbers of lives . ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

A South African mercenary and a Mende fisherman find their fates forever intertwined as they embark on a quest to obtain a rare and highly coveted pink diamond in director Edward Zwick's frantic adventure drama. Ripped from his family farm and forced to toil away in the sweltering South African diamond fields, Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) discovered an extraordinary rough stone of immeasurable value. Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a hired gun who specializes in the sale of so-called "blood diamonds" that are used to finance rebellions and terrorist organizations, and is currently serving time for smuggling. As a bloody civil war rages in Sierra Leone and Archer learns that Vandy has safely hidden the diamond in a place where no one would ever suspect, the pair enlist the aid of disillusioned American journalist Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly) in recovering the treasure that has the power to save Vandy's family and provide the desperate Archer with a much-needed chance for redemption. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A vicious shark terrorizes the New Jersey shore in this tale of terror at the beach starring Colin Egglesfield and John Rhys-Davies and based on the actual events that inspired Peter Benchley's Jaws. The year was 1916 and the citizens of New Jersey dared not step in the water for fear of meeting a grim fate in the jaws of a great white shark. For 12 days, the bloodthirsty beast would stalk the normally serine shores of New Jersey awaiting the next victim to tempt fate by taking a swim, and as the most sustained series of shark attacks in recorded history shook an entire community, the power of the perfect predator proved that humankind isn't always at the top of the food chain. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide