NO 1 Ladies' Detective Agency movie coming soon

source: Mmegi

CHANDAPIWA BAPUTAKI
Staff Writer

The Producer of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Timothy Bricknell has revealed that he is making arrangements to screen the movie on Botswana Television (Btv).

Speaking to Mmegi yesterday, Bricknell said that they are trying to screen the movie at the same time that M-Net, which has the rights, will be screening it. Currently the movie is being shown free of charge to interested individuals at the No 1 Ladies Opera House in Gaborone until next week.

Bricknell disclosed that the movie has been well received in the United Kingdom (UK) where it was shown on BBC and watched by 6.7 million people. He said HBO Channel has also come on board to screen the movie, which was shot last year, followed by the six-part series being currently shot in Botswana.

"We want the six-part series to be shown in the UK by end of March at [continue reading]

BBC McCall Smith bonanza

source: The Bookseller
04.12.08 Katie Allen

Alexander McCall Smith's The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series is returning to the BBC with TV and radio projects lined up for Christmas and the new year. The BBC1 series of six 60-minute episodes will be based on McCall Smith's novels (Abacus), and is being filmed on location in Botswana. It was written by Nicholas Wright and Robert Jones and directed by Charles Sturridge and Tim Fywell. It continues from the feature-length, one-off film production of the first novel, The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, which was directed by the late Anthony Minghella and broadcast in March, attracting 6.9 million viewers. Singer Jill Scott is returning to star in the new series, with "Survivors" star Paterson Joseph to join.

Producer Timothy Bricknell said: "We were thrilled with the reception to the film from critics and BBC viewers. Anthony was so proud of the project and would have been delighted to see it do so well." He added: "We are [continue reading]

Minghella, Pollack to receive posthumous credits

source: Reuters

By Mimi Turner

LONDON (Hollywood Reporter) - Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack will receive posthumous executive producer credits as the BBC moves forward with its six-part TV series based on Alexander McCall-Smith's "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency."

The series, officially announced Monday, continues the vision of Minghella, whose feature-length adaptation of the first book premiered to huge success in the U.K. shortly after his death in March. Pollack, whose Mirage Enterprises -- a co-venture with Minghella -- co-produced the telefilm, died two months later.

Filming has begun on location in Botswana on six 60-minute episodes, which will chronicle the poignant and amusing adventures of Precious Ramotswe, proprietor of the only female-owned detective agency in Botswana.

Grammy winner Jill Scott will reprise her role as Botswana's first female sleuth and be joined by [continue reading]

Man behind lady detective

source: The Telegraph (India)
caleidoscope


He is the man behind The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, located in modern-day Gaborone, Botswana and founded by Mma Precious Ramotswe. And he is coming to Calcutta.

The theme this book fair is Scotland. That’s the reason Alexander McCall Smith, the writer of the detective series featuring the rotund, wise, independent-minded, stew-making loveable Ms Ramotswe, will deliver the inaugural lecture.

McCall Smith, apart from being Scot, is a former professor of medical law and worked in universities in the UK and abroad. After the publication of his highly successful No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, which has sold over 15 million copies, he devoted his time to the writing of fiction. The various series he has written have been translated into over 45 languages and have become bestsellers through the world.

The various series are about different places. “In Botswana, we have [continue reading]

Mma Ramotswe series on track

source: Botswana Press Agency
16 October, 2008

GABORONE - The shooting of the the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series has provided employment and experience for locals.

The movie, also known as Mma Ramotswe, generated a lot of publicity and excitement when it was shown locally early this year.

The shooting started six weeks ago and the episodes are expected to be ready next year. The series has 99 actors and 52 of them are locals.

The executive producer of the movie, Ms Amy Moore, said the filming of the movie has had a positive impact on Botswana and its people.

She said they employed 2 300 adding that they favoured women as an empowerment measure.

She also noted that they have given exposure to a number of local artists, hence promoting the Setswana culture.

She further noted that the filming of the series gave the country experience in [continue reading]

Traditional rest camp opens

source: Botswana Press Agency
24 September, 2008

GABORONE - Officials of the Botswana Tourism Board, participants in the tourism industry and media practitioners had an experience of a life time at the Mokolodi Nature Reserve recently when they were taken on a game drive to coincide with the official opening of Alexander McCall Smith Traditional Rest Camp.

The traditional rest camp which is located in the south western part of the reserve comprises five thatched huts and a lolwapa amid esthetically placed lead wood and natural morula trees.

The building styles come directly from the neighbouring community and only natural attributes were used in the structures.

Officially opening the Rest Camp, the Chief Executive Officer of the Botswana Tourism Board, Ms Myra Sekgororoane, described the development as an additional facility which adds value to the tourism industry.

She said Alexander McCall Smith is not a stranger to Botswana and his footprints from his renowned book series and financing the rest camp, are felt all over Botswana.

Book number seven of the Alexander Mc Call Smith's series titled Blue Shoes and Happiness has prominently featured Mokolodi Nature Reserve and the park manager who appeared as a real life character.

Sekgororoane added that the mention of the place in the book on its own provided some unprecedented publicity which if well used would push [continue reading]

No. 1 Ladies' Detective movie continues?

source: Mmegi
MEEKAEEL SIPHAMBILI
Correspondent

The first movie ever to be filmed in Botswana is being continued on a location near Gaborone.

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency movie, starring American songbird, Jill Scott, as the main actor and the lady detective, is being continued in Gabane, four kilometres from Gaborone. Jill Scott stars as Mma Ramotswe, a lady detective.

The first part of the movie was filmed in 2007 on a location built especially for the movie at Kgale View in Gaborone. However, this time around, the movie producers have taken over an old abandoned and dilapidated school in Gabane.

The script for the first part of the movie was from a book by author Alexander McCall Smith, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. The director of the [continue reading]