Waleed Al-Yamani

Johannesburg, September 04th 2023- This September a South African independent film named 'Verified' will premiere at at Comicon Africa. The film was directed by South African maverick, Waleed M. Al-Yamani with the multi-talented, triple threat Richard Gau in the lead. Richard and Waleed had been looking for a project to collaborate on for many years and after Richard sent tongues wagging in Prime, Nandi and Aya – it was only a matter of time before he’d get Verified. The film arrives just in time to give the South African film industry the shot in the arm it needs.  It couldn’t debut at a better time as a new wave of disruptors in the form of international corporations are buying out the genius our country has to offer in the form of filmmakers. Each wringing out the talents of writers, directors, actors and local craftsmen at the altar of cheap labour. Tax rebates and beautiful locales has borne the fruit of more prime real estate being carved up by foreign powers looking for holiday homes to escape harsh winters and paralyzing strikes. The once conceived immutable mould of streaming is crumbling in an aftermath of a digital war, a global pandemic and the power of Tom Cruise. Perhaps Ricky Bobby was correct when he yelped across a race track patting invisible flames that only Oprah, Allah and Tom Cruise could help. The film industry like Ricky Bobby wanted to go fast and now it’s nearly gone. There is hope – not in the form of a Frenchman who likes to watch reruns of the Highlander on Showmax but rather in the form of a local team. A team of guerilla filmmakers who at the height of the COVID pandemic saw all of this coming. They had pioneered a new formula of filmmaking which was not only award winning but it was sustainable and accessible. Having experimented with the form in early 2017 and perfected it in late 2020, the team set out to deliver their most ambition film yet, “Verified”. A film conceived as a one location film much like ‘Lock’ and the …