Thisiwe Ziqubu, who played Skiets in Hard to Get, the opening film for last year’s edition of the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), returns in the mini-series, The Book of Negroes to premiere on BET (DStv Premium, channel 129) this month.
The actress, who came to limelight in Man on Ground directed by Akin Omotoso, told TheNiche last year that it feels like she is on a rollercoaster ride since taking up her role in Hard to Get.
“I feel like that now, since Hard to Get came out. (Like I am on) a rollercoaster, but it is nice, it is thrilling,” she had said.
Directed by Clement Virgo, and starring Oscar winners Cuba Gooding Jr. and Louis Gosset Jr., The Book of Negroes is a powerful re-telling of Lawrence Hill’s 2007 award-winning novel of the same title. The six-part mini-series centres around the life of 19th century slave, Aminata Diallo (Aunjanue Ellis), who bravely navigates the perils of the slave trade in an attempt to secure her freedom.
Eleven-year-old Aminata is abducted from her village in West Africa, placed in shackles and sent across the ocean to be sold into slavery on a South Carolina plantation. She falls in love and marries a fellow West African slave named Chekura but when their baby is brutally abducted and sold by a jealous slave master, Aminata becomes determined to return to her homeland.
The onset of the Revolutionary War helps Aminata flee her new owner in New York. Using her ability to read and write, Aminata successfully petitions British abolitionists, who organise passage to Africa for 1,200 former slaves – a final voyage that will reunite her with her homeland and allow her to voice her life story.
Shot on location in Canada and South Africa (Cape Town), The Book of Negroes features strong performances from a host of South African actors and actresses, including Fana Mokoena, Siya Xaba, Andile Gumbi (Isibaya), Nondumiso Tembe (The Avengers: Age of Ultron, True Blood, Generations), Thisiwe Ziqubu, Zethu Dlomo and Anele Matoti.
The Book of Negroes premieres exclusively on BET on Monday August 17 at 8:10pm.
Ziqubu, who is working on the script for her first feature film turned 30 on July 5.
The actress, who apart from the two feature-length films has been in three television films and a Canadian series, among others said her sojourn in film started as a volunteer for the DIFF.
Before then she was writing scripts, still is, as a matter of fact
“I studied scriptwriting and directing after high school. I went to AFTA a film school. There is one in Johannesburg and Cape Town. I studied at the one in Johannesburg. I have always wanted to act but I am actually a very shy person, very shy, very insecure so I was always very afraid,” she had explained.
But the shyness is all in the past. Although she cringed when her father showed up to watch the screening of Hard to Get, Ziqubu knows that there is no looking back on her career path.
“I would love any opportunity to work globally because I see myself not as a South African artiste, I see myself as a global artiste. And I would love any and every opportunity to engage with audiences the world over especially Africa, God, this continent is my priority,” she had then stated.
