Duma (2005)

An orphaned cheetah becomes the best friend and pet of a young boy living in South Africa.

Director:

Carroll Ballard

Writers:

Carol Cawthra Hopcraft (book), Xan Hopcraft (book)

Stars:

Alex Michaeletos, Campbell Scott, Hope Davis

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alex Michaeletos	...	Xan (as Alexander Michaletos)
Campbell Scott	...	Peter
Mary Makhatho	...	Thandi
Nthabiseng Kenoshi	...	Lucille
Hope Davis	...	Kristin
Jennifer Steyn	...	Aunt Gwen
Nicky Rebelo	...	Coach Nagy
Garth Renecle	...	Hock Bender
André Stolz	...	Xan's Teacher
Charlotte Savage	...	Poetry Student
Ronald Shange	...	Policeman
Eamonn Walker	...	Ripkuna
Nadia Kretschmer	...	Tourist #1
John Whiteley	...	Tourist #2
Clive Scott	...	Tourist #3 - Eager Man

Storyline

During a nightly Porsche ride with his doting rascal Xan, white South African farmer Peter finds and adopts an orphaned cheetah cub, dubbed Duma (just Swahili for cheetah). It becomes the boy's inseparable playmate, even taking it to bed. Peter made clear from the start that the cheetah should be returned to the wild before its full adulthood. But the father is stricken down with a disease just before the cheetah could be returned. Xan's mother sells the farm and moves in with a city aunt. The cheetah escapes, but finds Xan at school, where the new boy is bullied. He decides to run away to the mountains with Duma. On the way they face countless perils, which courage, Xan's intelligence and Duma's instinct overcome.

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Plot Keywords:

animal character name as title | one word title | cheetah | boy | africa | 

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Taglines:

Some friendships are wilder than others.

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild adventure peril

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 May 2005 (UK)

Also Known As:

How It Was with Dooms

Filming Locations:

Botswana

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$105,422, 2 October 2005, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$860,002, 30 October 2005

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gaylord Films, John Wells Productions, Pandora Pictures

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Duma is played by 6 different Cheetahs. All orphaned or poached Cheetahs themselves; were hand raised in different parts of Africa.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Xan: [voiceover narration] There are things you know without knowing. For Duma, it was his wildness. For Rip, his family. For me, it was my dad. Everything he was, everything he believed in is now part of me. I was taking Duma home, but he took me somewhere too. Finding Duma's true home brought me back to mine and showed me that love doesn't stop when time passes or you live in different places or somebody's gone. That's how it was with me and Duma.

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Connections

Referenced in Movie Friends: Prashant Prabhakar (2013)

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Soundtracks

Kaboyi, Kaboyi (Woodpecker)
Traditional Swazi Song
Arranged by Philip Miller
Performed by Nana
Courtesy of Worldgoround Records

User Reviews

A pleasant surprise

I have no idea why this movie got such a small-scale cinema release. It certainly can't have anything to do with the quality of the film. I was surprised by Duma, because it's an extremely well-directed film which treats its audience with far more respect and intelligence than a lot of so-called "family" fare available. Also, as opposed to many films with animal protagonists, Duma doesn't treat them as objects of half-witted hokey slapstick fun, but instead makes the entire friendship between human and animal seem extremely touching and authentic.

In a way there is something almost Miyazaki -esque about this movie, in that it draws you into the narrative not with half-baked nudge nudge wink wink references which only adults will understand, but through its intelligence and excellent sense of drama alone; not to mention the great performances by Eamonn Walker and Alexander Michaeletos - two names to look out for in the future if their performances here are anything to go by. At any rate, Duma is one of the few cases where the possibly over-used moniker "A film for all ages" definitely applies. Recommended if you can find it.