In 1974, when it seemed as though everyone was leaving South Africa, family was going back.
Davidtz, a familiar presence in films and television for over 30 years with memorable roles in everything from to 鈥淢atilda,鈥� was born in the United States to white, South African parents. When she was 8, they decided to return during a time of upheaval.
Although the transition from 鈥渋nnocent New Jersey鈥� was hard, it was also a life-making, character- and imagination-building experience that she鈥檚 still processing to this day. It鈥檚 where she grew up. It鈥檚 where she began acting. And it鈥檚 where she鈥檇 return decades later to direct her first film, 鈥淒on鈥檛 Let鈥檚 Go to the Dogs Tonight,鈥� a poetic and deeply personal adaptation of memoir about growing up during the Bush War in which was then Rhodesia.
The film, which was widely praised at the Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals for its deft handling of complex themes and for the discovery of young newcomer Lexi Venter, and expands nationwide July 18.
鈥淭he sun rises and sets on her writing,鈥� Davidtz said in an interview with The Associated Press. 鈥淚f anything works, it鈥檚 because of that memoir.鈥�
Becoming a director in her mid-50s
Like so many people, especially those who lived in Africa in the 1970s and '80s, Davidtz devoured the book when it came out in 2001. But it would take more than 15 years to start seriously thinking about a film. Davidtz was refocusing after a little hiatus from acting: She鈥檇 survived breast cancer, raised children and was reflecting on parts of the book she loved, like Fuller鈥檚 mother, a complex figure who struggled with trauma, alcohol and mental health. Davidtz, who is now 59, could have hardly predicted that this journey would lead to her writing, directing and producing her first feature as well.
鈥淚t felt like an imperative. It felt like a call,鈥� she said. 鈥淥nce I dug my teeth into this, I felt like I couldn鈥檛 not tell it.鈥�
The adaptation was slow-going but rewarding as Davidtz sprinkled some of her own stories and recollections in and the focus and structure of the story started to reveal itself. A pivotal revelation came four years in: It had to be from the child's point of view.
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 thinking about directing it, but at the end, I thought, you know what? I know what kind of shots I like. I know what sort of films I like. I could shoot this so simply,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 need to take control of this because if I give it away to someone else, they鈥檙e not going to tell the story that I鈥檓 trying to tell.鈥�
Finding a real child, not a child actor
Davidtz was inspired by films like 鈥淏adlands鈥� and 鈥淒ays of Heaven,鈥� and the young girls' narrations, as well as Steven Spielberg鈥檚 鈥淓mpire of the Sun,鈥� in which the end of a colonial regime is seen through the eyes of a young, white boy.
鈥淧eople say, 鈥極h, voiceover is so lazy,鈥欌�� Davidtz said. 鈥淏ut with a child you hear the quirks, you hear the offbeat, you hear what is wrong and the point of view that is skewed.鈥�
To play Bobo, the 8-year-old center of the film, Davidtz did not want a polished child actor. She wanted a real kid 鈥� a wild, little barefoot child, unspoiled and unsophisticated, who could maybe ride a motorbike. They eventually resorted to a Facebook post which led them to Venter, age 7.
鈥淚t was such a project of love and torture,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was so very hard to direct a 7-year-old who doesn鈥檛 act.鈥�
Venter wasn鈥檛 given a script. Davidtz instead played games, would give her some lines to say and then pour through the footage to find the most unfiltered moments to sprinkle into the film with the overlaying voiceover 鈥� a yawn, the picking of a wedgie, the things kids just do.
鈥淚 got a few gray hairs from that, but I love her. She鈥檚 perfect,鈥� Davidtz said. 鈥淚 worry that I have brought her into the world in a way that, cinematically, people will seek her out. I want her to be left to be the wild little creature that she is.鈥�
A South African cast and crew
Filming took place in South Africa as Zimbabwe was too unstable and didn鈥檛 have the infrastructure for film. And Davidtz filled the production with an entirely South African crew and cast, including Zikhona Bali as Sarah, who works for Bobo鈥檚 family. Authenticity was paramount to Davidtz, from the music to the props and costumes, many of which she sourced herself, including a tattered silk robe she found on eBay.
鈥淚 remember someone saying, why don鈥檛 you cast and bring him out. I said, 鈥楴o, it鈥檚 got to be the real thing. It鈥檚 got to be the real people,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淓veryone carries the burden of what was there.鈥�
She鈥檚 acutely aware that South Africa is not Zimbabwe and the dismantling of white rule differed in each, but there are similarities, too. It allowed her to ask questions about what happens to children surrounded by violence and generational racism through Bobo鈥檚 lens. Though she worried about the optics of telling the story from a white child鈥檚 point of view, she also didn鈥檛 waver.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I remember and that鈥檚 what I saw,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a way of informing and telling what you saw that can teach. My connection to my past, as risky as it was, there was nothing to be lost.鈥�
Early audiences seem to be receiving it the way she hoped. For Davidtz, it hardly matters what happens now 鈥� awards, box office, whatever.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I was ever the wisest person about what I would choose material-wise or business-wise,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 so great that I, at almost 60, got this chance to do this. Whatever ends up happening, it got made. That鈥檚 a miracle.鈥�
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
