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BOUGAINVILLEA

By Genevieve AKAL

NATIONAL FILM & VIDEO FOUNDATION OF SOUTH AFRICA (NFVF) - as FIN

Thriller - Completed 2015

Lola once had an original writing voice, but now she's a blogger consumed by constructing the image of a quirky and desirable lifestyle. She meticulously prepares for a chic dinner party where she will do a chapter reading and hopefully secure a vapid 'Chick Lit' book deal. Everything is going according to plan until a Bougainvillea begins to intrude, threatening her life of pretense and the book deal.

- Year of production
- 2015
- Genres
- Thriller
- Countries
- SOUTH AFRICA
- Languages
- ENGLISH
- Duration
- 24 mn
- Director(s)
- Genevieve AKAL
- Writer(s)
- Genevieve AKAL
- Cast
- Jenna DUNSTER, David DE BEER, Talitha NDIMA
- Producer(s)
- Carolyn CAREW, Tsholo MASHILE, Kamscilla NAIDOO
- Synopsis
- LOLA once had an original writing voice, but now she's a blogger consumed by constructing the image of a quirky and desirable lifestyle.
  
  She awakes after a peculiar dream of a phantom dropping Bougainvillea flowers over her. It is the day of the dinner party where she will do a chapter reading and hopefully secure a vapid 'Chick Lit' book deal. Her guests will be, MARLENE, the publisher, along with some of Joburg’s glamorous elite. The pressure is on for Lola as she obsesses about every element of the dinner. JAMES, her corporate hipster husband, is confused by her anxiety for acquiring the right wild mushrooms or that her old friend, NOKS, an authentic artist, is in town and Lola felt cornered to invite her to the dinner. James leaves for work and when Lola packs away her personal journal and literary books she sees a Bougainvillea shoot jutting through the window. She snips it off and adds it to the chic table décor.
  
  As Lola continues her preparations she meticulously plans setting up ‘selfies’ that depict her quirky and fabulous lifestyle. She returns to the dining room and sees that the Bougainvillea shoot has grown back. Her anxiety over everything being perfect escalates and when she returns again, the Bougainvillea covers and pulses against the window. It eventually breaks through the window and Lola comes undone. She pulls herself together and manages to switch the dining room with the lounge before her guests arrive.