Child's stick figure drawing holding a diploma with the text 'kindergarten films'.

growing dreams

Kindergarten Films was founded by three advertising colleagues as a place to incubate the long-form film projects they dreamed of making, with the intention of partnering with local or international production companies to produce them. Now solely owned by producer/writer/director Erica Brumage, Kindergarten Films develops projects with a personal resonance and social justice or environmental themes, recently taking its first steps into production with OMDRAAI, a documentary feature about the potential for dance to uplift communities.

About

In 2019 Kindergarten Films optioned Claire Robertson’s award-winning historical novel ‘The Spiral House’, which examines the nature of freedom and the power of dangerous ideologies in an allegorical story set in the eighteenth century that has particular resonance today. Kindergarten Films teamed up with Up a Gumtree Productions (SA) to develop the novel as a feature film. In 2023, in partnership with Hazazah Pictures (NL), THE SPIRAL HOUSE was awarded development funding from the Thuthuka co-production initiative between South Africa and the Netherlands.

Erica Brumage

Previously a dancer and choreographer for one of South Africa’s national ballet companies, Erica created and directed a number of works for the stage before moving into film, where she directed short films and award-winning commercials for some of the world’s leading advertising agencies for close to twenty years. Accolades include a New York Festivals Gold Award and a Wildscreen Film Festival Panda Award, the highest honour in the global wildlife and environmental film industry.

While working in commercials, Erica wrote and developed a range of film, television and theatre projects through Kindergarten Films. As sole owner, her focus is on films that tell meaningful stories with the potential to inspire change. When the opportunity arose to film OMDRAAI, she co-produced, directed and joined the camera team. Erica developed and co-wrote the screenplay of the film adaptation of the novel “The Spiral House”. THE SPIRAL HOUSE will be her drama feature directorial debut, co-directing with Zenobia Kloppers.

Three people involved in a film or video production, discussing with one person holding a script, another with a camera, outdoors on a balcony.

From the short film THE OLD LADY NEXT DOOR produced by Groundglass

An elderly woman with curly red hair and glasses looks up with a serious expression in a brightly lit room.
Stacked floral-patterned teacups and saucers with colorful designs.
Lower part of a modern multi-story apartment building with trees in front, under a clear blue sky.

From OMDRAAI, currently in post-production

A still life scene with a human skull, scientific drawings, and old papers on a table, along with a glass jar containing a snake, and a small metal instrument.

The Spiral House

The beguiling allegory of a wigmaker’s apprentice with a chilling text from the Age of Enlightenment at its core.

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Young ballet dancers in practice, sitting on the floor in a ballet studio, all wearing masks and ballet attire, stretching their legs forward.

Omdraai

Seven young girls from a rural village make it to the big city to participate in an international dance competition.

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A person standing next to a horse under a large, leafless tree during sunset or dusk, with cloudy sky in the background.

Equus in Africa

A celebration of the African continent told through a remarkable meeting of natural and human history.

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A large group of white chickens with red combs and wattles, crowded closely together in a poultry farm or coop setting.

Chicken Man

A small story about our complicated relationship with the animals we eat.

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A surreal scene featuring a dancer with angel wings performing on a dark stage with celestial objects, space-themed elements, and abstract figures floating in the background.

The Science Lesson

A multi-media experience about the triumph of the human spirit against the greatest odds of all.

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