South African Filmmaker Maggie Follett In-Production on "The Black Countess from Bain Street"

Nov. 7, 2010 - PRLog -- Maggie Follett and her Potboiler Productions Wellington is currently at work exploring the extraordinary love affair between Martha Solomons, a humble semi-literate, Dutch-speaking daughter of a freed Cape slave, and Harry Grey, Oxford educated clergyman and exiled aristocrat from a noble British family. Their chance meeting in the rural town of Wellington in 1863 eventually led to marriage. When Harry unexpectedly inherited the title 8th Earl of Stamford and Martha became his Countess, it became a scandal that shook the House of Lords and created tabloid frenzy throughout the British Empire, especially as the Queen was expected to kiss the cheeks of the wives of Peers of the Realm. Despite the hysteria and a lengthy legal battle, Harry's beloved Lady Martha had other, more far reaching plans to consider for their offspring and for the future.  She would build the first school for mixed-race children in South Africa.

Cape Town television documentarian Jerome Mouton is co-directing this unique film project with writer/producer Follett.  Etienne Neser, one of South Africa’s top cameramen, is serving as Director of Photography on the far flung production, which features locations in South Africa, the United Kingdom and Spain. Producer and film historian Robert von Dassanowsky and his U.S./Austrian Belvedere Film company is co-producing, and partial funding of the film is being provided by the South African National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF).

Follett first became interested in the Stamfords after moving to Bain Street four years ago.“I discovered by chance that the long-vacant, dilapidated cottage opposite mine was supposedly the site where their extraordinary cross-cultural romance first blossomed. This led to an abiding fascination with the story, which sums up for me the complex and often uncomfortable history of South Africa as a Rainbow Nation.” She subsequently established that the Countess had also bequeathed a significant legacy. By donating property towards establishing a small institution for mixed-race children in Wynberg in 1891, she laid the foundation for the highly-reputable Battswood School and Teachers’ Training College - fertile ground for many of South Africa’s most illustrious academics during the Apartheid era.

Follett recently interviewed the two foremost authorities on Lord and Lady Stamford: South African historian Winnie Rust, author of a book on Martha Solomons recently translated into English, and Dr. R. E. van der Ross, a past pupil of Battswood who penned "The Black Countess". Follett explains that her film “is a documentary containing interviews, archival material and dramatic period reconstructions.  I hope my visual tribute does justice to the priceless input of these wonderful writers.” Co-Producer Robert von Dassanowsky adds that “Maggie Follett’s inspiring passion in presenting the life of a woman whose significant contributions have been largely unrecognized is the driving force in this important recovery of lost history.” He hints that a dramatic biopic on the couple and their children is also in the works.  

The independent production of "The Black Countess from Bain Street (Never Kissed by the Queen)" is actively seeking additional funding and distribution interest for what both Follett and Dassanowsky believe is a benchmark South African production that will spark international interest.

Follett and Neser on location at the seventeenth century Stamford manor-- Dunham Massey -- in Cheshire, England
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIr5QI0z7xw