''Bakgat!'' is a 2008 South African

teen Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by Henk Pretorius and written by Pretorius and Danie Bester.

Plot

Katrien (Cherié van der Merwe) is dumped by her boyfriend, high school rugby star Werner (Altus Theart), so he can focus his energy on the sport. To get even, she makes a bet with her friends that she can make a star out of the school's dorkiest boy, Wimpie Koekemoer ( Ivan Botha), by pretending to be his girlfriend. The awkward Koekemoer rises to the challenge but Katrien finds herself falling unexpectedly in love with him, until he realizes she is merely using him.

Production

The film was shot on location in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

and

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

in 2007. Local high schools

Waterkloof Waterkloof (Afrikaans for "Water Ravine") is a upmarket suburb of the city of Pretoria in the Gauteng province of South Africa, located to the east of the city centre. It is named after the original farm that stood there when Pretoria was founded ...

and Eldoraigne participated in the production and the 2007 teams of both schools play the high school rugby teams in the film. These students, and the students who appear as extras, are all credited at the end of the film. Most of the cast, according to reviewer Kgomotso Moncho, were recruited from the

Tshwane University of Technology Tshwane University of Technology (TUT; af, Tshwane-Universiteit vir Tegnologie) is a higher education institution in South Africa that came into being through a merger of three technikons — Technikon Northern Gauteng, Technikon North-West an ...

, where many of the high school scenes were filmed. ''Bakgat!'' received mixed reviews, described by critics as amusing but clichéd. Shaun de Waal described it as "an efficient attempt to replicate the American teen comedy," criticized it as "largely predictable" and deriding its use of cartoonish stock characters such as "a mincing moffie thrown in for laughs."

Sequels

Two sequels, '' Bakgat! 2'' (2010) and '' Bakgat! tot die mag 3'' (2013) have been released. The filming of '' Bakgat! 2'' began in 2009 at the Potchefstroom Campus of

North-West University af , Noordwes-Universiteit , image = https://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/NWU-Logo-SW.png , motto = ''Dit Begin Alles Hier (Afrikaans)'' ''Gotlhe Go Simolola Fano (Setswana)'' , mottoeng ...

, with Henk Pretorius returning as director and Botha and van de Merwe returning in their roles as Wimpie and Katrien.

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 1259199 2008 films 2008 comedy films 2008 directorial debut films 2008 LGBT-related films 2000s high school films 2000s sports comedy films 2000s teen comedy films Afrikaans-language films Films about dysfunctional families Films set in South Africa Films shot in Gauteng LGBT-related comedy films LGBT-related sports comedy films Rugby union films South African comedy films South African LGBT-related films Teen LGBT-related films Teen sports films Tshwane University of Technology