Duma (2005 film)

Duma is a 2005 American family drama adventure film about a young South African boy's friendship with an orphaned cheetah, set in the country of South Africa and based on How It Was with Dooms by Carol Cawthra Hopcraft and Xan Hopcraft.

Directed by Carroll Ballard. Produced by Stacy Cohen, E.K. Gaylord II, Kristin Harms, Hunt Lowry and John Wells. Written by Karen Janszen, Mark St. Germain and Carol Flint. Story by Carol Flint, Karen Janszen, Carol Cawthra Hopcraft and Xan Hopcraft.

Some friendships are wilder than others.

Xan

• My father, he died recently. How can someone just disappear like that? Forever.
• Love doesn't stop when time passes, or you live in different places, or sombody's gone. That's how it was with me and Duma.
• [last lines of the film; 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.

Ripkuna

• That is a place of many teeth, my friend.
• Your cheetah is a great hunter. I'm very impressed... he caught an egg!
• People go when they are ready to go, not when you are. We are all just travelers on the same river, grandparents, parents, sons and daughters. We all have our time on the river. We do what we can before we disappear.

Dialogue

Xan: [observing Peter as he is biting a flower] What on earth are you doing?

Peter: Well, this is simple. You just grab a shaker, fill it up, stuff in the flower and you have... a bottle.

Tourist #1: [brings a bowl of milk] Here you are.

Peter: Cheers!

[Peter pours the milk into a pepper shaker and straps the flower to it]

Xan: [as the cub bites him] Ah! He's feisty, dad.

Peter: See if this helps.

[Peter hands Xan the bottle and clicks his tongue to coax the cub]

Xan: [as the cub begins to drink a little bit] Hey, he's drinking it!

Peter: Good.

Xan: Black streaks all along his face. You know what that means?

Peter: What?

Xan: A cheetah!

Peter: A cheetah? Yeah. How long would you like to keep him, Xan? Of course there is something you need to realize... we can't keep him like we keep the others. One day we'll set him lose, when he's big enough.

Cast

• Alexander Michaeletos as Xan.
• Anthony, Azaro, Nikita, Sasha and Savannah as Duma.
• Eamonn Walker as Ripkuna.
• Campbell Scott as Peter.
• Hope Davis as Kristin.
• Mary Makhatho as Thandi.
• Nthabiseng Kenoshi as Lucille.
• Jennifer Steyn as Aunt Gwen.
• Nicky Rebelo as Coach Nagy.
• Garth Renecle as Hock Bender.
• André Stolz as Xan's Teacher.
• Charlotte Savage as Poetry Student.
• Ronald Shange as Policeman.
• Nadia Kretschmer as Tourist #1.
• John Whiteley as Tourist #2.
• Clive Scott as Tourist #3 (Eager Man).
• Catriona Andrew as Tourist #4 (Beautiful Woman).
• Errol Ballentine as White Haired Doctor.
• Michele Levin as Doctor's Wife.
• Sam Ngakane as Old Man in Village.
• Adelaide Shabalala as Medicine Woman, Suliwa.
• Thokozani Ndaba as Rip's Wife, Melika.
• Wright Ngubeni as Rip's Son.
• Bernard Msimang as Rip's Father.
• Ivy Nkutha as Rip's Mother.
• Sheba as Young Duma.