In this edition of EoM Presents, Senior Interviewer Thomas Manning chats with the cast and crew of The Umbrella Men: Escape from Robben Island, a 2023 TIFF selection.

L-R: Bronté Snell as Mila and Shamilla Miller as Keisha in THE UMBRELLA MEN: ESCAPE FROM ROBBEN ISLAND. Photo courtesy of Cinematic Red PR.

Manning speaks with director John Barker and actors Jacques De Silva, Shamilla Miller, and Bronté Snell about returning to these characters in this sequel to The Umbrella Men (2022). In this half-hour conversation, they discuss the film’s South African history, practical stunt work, and their memorable experience with filming complex underwater sequences.

If you prefer an audio version, you can listen to the full interview here:

Official Synopsis:

After the successful Umbrella Men heist, our usual suspects, Jerome, Morty, Mila, Keisha and Auntie Val finds life is sweet. But that’s when Tariq takes a hand. And not before long, Jerome and Morty are banged up in the recently re-opened Robben Island Prison and Keisha, Mila and Auntie Val need to bust them out- and team up to take down an outa-control Tariq, who has plans of world domination and clear their names so that they can get to the Bo Kaap as free men.

World premiere of The Umbrella Men: Escape from Robben Island Saturday, September 9th, at 9:10am at the ScotiaBank, Cinema 5.

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Thomas Manning is a member of the NCFCA and SEFCA, and also the co-host of the television show and radio program Meet Me at the Movies. He has served as a production assistant and voting member on the Film Selection Committee for the Real to Reel Film Festival. Additionally, he manages his own film review and interview site, The Run-Down on Movies. Recently, Manning graduated from Gardner-Webb University with a double-major in Communications and English. His passion for cinema and storytelling is rivaled only by his love for the music of Taylor Swift.

Thomas Manning at the Critics Choice Awards 2020.

Categories: Filmmaker Interviews

Tags: acting, Africa, Afrikaans, Amazon Studios, Barking Rat Films, Bronté Snell, directing, English, EoM Presents, ETV, film festival, foreign film, interview, Jacques De Silva, John Barker, Known Associates Entertainment, Phillip Roberts, Shamilla Miller, South Africa, The Umbrella Men, The Umbrella Men: Escape from Robben Island, Thomas Manning, Toronto International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival 2023, writing