In South Africa’s capital city of Pretoria, two feisty real estate agent sisters dream of making a fortune and building an empire of their own. When an exclusive mansion falls into their hands, it seems like their big break has finally arrived. Their plans, however, are quickly derailed with the discovery of a dead body, and the sisters launch a comedic adventure. With wit, charm, and a touch of chaos, these sisters will stop at nothing to seal the deal of a lifetime.
by Wendy Li
See the comedy Real Estate Sisters on February 23 @6:00 PM at LOOK Cinemas (657 West 57th Street) as part of New York City’s 12th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival. Tickets now on sale!
The mystery-comedy film Real Estate Sisters features two talented female characters who remain ambitious despite constraints of race, class, and gender in South Africa. It seems that the two female filmmakers behind this story have done the same.
The film marks Rea Moeti-Vogt’s debut into fiction feature films. Moeti-Vogt created, directed, co-wrote, and co-produced the project after its initial inception in 2020.
According to Moeti-Vogt, Real Estate Sisters is the only production out of its slate of seven total productions that features a female black director. “By how well our film has done, I think it gives confidence to other producers like us,” Moeti-Vogt said.
The project was also produced with equal opportunity in mind. According to co-writer and co-producer Zoe Ramushu, they “wanted to prioritize women in technical roles… We’re very proud to have a lot of black young females in technical roles like camera assist [and] on our sound team.”
Moeti-Vogt estimates that over 80% of the cast and crew for Real Estate Sisters were black, and about 50% were female.
“I think we can proudly say,” Ramushu said, “We did it to the best of our ability. Did we have an all female crew? Not yet. But we are working in that direction.”
For Moeti-Vogt, the story is also personal. She grew up in Pretoria, and hopes to show the city in “as much of its glory as possible.” The city is rarely the backdrop chosen for feature films, even domestic films within South Africa, and Moeti-Vogt sees Real Estate Sisters as “an opportunity for us to grow our language of cinema, in that spirit and that texture.”
Within Pretoria, Moeti-Vogt also draws inspiration from the women around her for her funny, ambitious, and occasionally chaotic characters. “The kind of women – their attitude, their style, their flair, their craziness- is what I grew up around. But I don’t often see them on screen.”
These women are not merely on screen in Real Estate Sisters. They are boldly dreaming of starting their own companies, quietly scheming ways to dodge the authorities, and occasionally screaming at dead bodies.
Moeti-Vogt believes that the boldness of these sisters is important. It is “to also say that if you are from a disadvantaged black community, your dreams are valid. You know? Wanting to be a real estate agent, and grow, and do big things is absolutely valid,” said Moeti-Vogt.
“Yeah I agree,” said Ramushu, “I think what really drew me to the story is that part of having these two girls who want to own something…Two young black girls who are out there… and sometimes you don’t even exactly know what it is that you want. But you don’t realize that you can actually build something of your own.”
Ramushu also believes that the mystery-comedy genre that the story is framed within is critical. Although she feels that there is a time and a place for serious conversations, “Black people deserve entertainment as much as any other race. Unfortunately our stories are a lot sadder, so we won’t deny those realities. Those realities are in there. But we’re having a good time whilst we’re doing it,” Ramushu said. “Black joy is as revolutionary as the message that we’re sending about race, about gender, about you know, all of those things.”
Wendy Li
Wendy Li recently graduated with a bachelors degree in journalism and politics from NYU. She writes stories, produces videos, and occasionally breaks out her camera to shoot photos. When she’s not working, you’ll find her hunting down the next cup of matcha, laughing too loudly on the sidewalk, or staring wistfully into the nearest body of water.
About Winter Film Awards
New York City’s 12th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival runs February 21-25 2024 in New York City and includes 82 outstanding films, a diverse mixture of animated films, documentaries, comedies, romances, dramas, horror films, music videos and web series of all lengths. Our five-day event is jam-packed with screenings and Q&A sessions at NYC’s LOOK Cinemas, six Education sessions/workshops and a variety of filmmaker networking events all coming to a glittering close on February 25 with our red-carpet gala Awards Ceremony.
Winter Film Awards is dedicated to showcasing the amazing diversity of voices in indie film and our 2024 lineup is 58% made by women and half by or about people of color. Filmmakers come from 23 countries and 41% of our films were made in the New York City area. 13 films were made by students and 26 are works from first-time filmmakers.
Winter Film Awards programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Promotional support provided by the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment.
Visit https://winterfilmawards.com/wfa2024/ for more information.
