Darling! The Pieter-Dirk Uys Story

New Zealand/South Africa/Australia 2006 / 54min.
Director Julian Shaw / Producer Jonathon Green

Social justice has a new name. In the 1980’s the most famous white woman in Africa, Mrs Evita Bezuidenhot, was a male political satirist, Pieter-Dirk Uys, a highly acclaimed comic. Evita was outspoken in the fight against apartheid.

Entertainer, female impersonator, political satirist and sex educator: Peter-Dirk Uys is a man of many faces. A hero to thousands of South African children — and friend to Bishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela — he is also somewhat of an enigma. Until now…

New Zealander and first-time director Julian Shaw, first became mesmerized by this Afrikaner raconteur at the age of 15. Later his fascination grew when he heard of Uys’s “AIDS Awareness Entertainment” programme used for school children. Never shy of tackling even the most controversial national issue, Uys now uses his inimitable skill as a mimic and raconteur to politicise the HIV/AIDS pandemic at grassroots level.

Believing that he can help to prevent South Africa’s teenagers from joining the ranks of the estimated 5.5 million citizens with the virus, Uys travels the country wowing students of all backgrounds, flagrantly raising the most taboo subjects. Shaw was so taken by the man that he took it upon himself to make a film about a fearless man with a mission — and a mandate. And alter-ego Evita Se Perron is just as outspoken!

“Darling” combines footage of Pieter’s charismatic and rousing performances with moving interviews and will inspire you with the powerful persona of Pieter and the profound effect his work has on his audiences and his nation.

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