Blood & Glory

Blood and Glory (Afrikaans: Modder En Bloed) is a feature film that was released to cinema in April 2016 in South Africa. The film, set during the Second Boer War in 1901, is a period drama that follows Willem Morkel, a Cape Rebel Boer/Afrikaans farmer who was captured and sent to a British prisoner of war camp on St. Helena Island in the Atlantic Ocean. Placed under terrible oppression and hardship, Morkel and his comrades slowly come together to assert their defiance, humanity and human spirit and, more specifically, through the game of rugby.

Blood and Glory
Modder En Bloed
Directed by	Sean Else
Produced by	Llewelynn Greeff Henk Pretorius Sean Else
Music by	Quinn Lubbe
Cinematography	Adam Joshua Bentel
Edited by	Quinn Lubbe
Distributed by	Ster Kinekor
Release date	April 2016 (2016-04)
Country	South Africa
Language	English Afrikaans

Blood and Glory is a fictional account, using the backdrop of the Anglo-Boer War with some of the places in the plot resembling historical locations from the war. The film's protagonist, Willem Morkel, is loosely based on Sommie Morkel, who went on to play for the South Africa national rugby union team.

The historical authenticity of backdrop events, conditions and attitudes in the plot of the film can be debated, as its depiction of the Boers and the British relies heavily on glorification of the former and vilification of the latter. However, the film's main villain (Australian Colonel Swanell) owes something to the real life Breaker Morant (convicted for murder and as a war criminal by the British during the Boer War and executed). It is documented that 28 000 Boer women and children, as well as 20 000 black people, died in British concentration camps (Professor Fransjohan, 2011 writing for BBC). The film also makes mention of the scorched earth policy implemented by Kitchener during the Boer War.

Blood and Glory is a co-production by Dark Matter Studios and Collective Dream Films. The film is written and directed by Sean Else (Spud 2, Platteland, 'n Man soos My Pa), and produced by Llewelynn Greeff (Leading Lady and The Unfamiliar) and Henk Pretorius (Leading Lady, Fanie Fourie's Lobola, Wolwedans in die Skemer, Hoofmeisie, Bakgat Trilogy and The Unfamiliar)