Cedric Sundström

Cedric Sundström (b. Johannesburg, 09/03/1951) is a film director and screenwriter.

Biography

Cedric Miles Sundström was born in Johannesburg and attended the Belgravia Commercial High School, which was near to where his parents ran a convenience store. As a young boy he was already making 8mm films, all silent and in colour. His first amateur sound film was called A Day in the Life of… and apparently featured narration by none other than Siegfried Mynhardt. In 1969 this was followed by Swan Song. Within two years he had formed his own production company. Under the banner of CMS Films he made three short films with which he established a reputation as an interesting and sometimes controversial filmmaker. Summer Is Forever (1971), The Hunter (1973) and Suffer Little Children… (1976) all received exposure at European film festivals, including Locarno, Grenoble and San Sebastian.

Before embarking upon a fulltime film career, he also became involved in the theatre. In 1971 he acted in Child’s Play, which John Hussey produced for PACT at the Alexander Theatre, and the following year he became stage manager for the PACT Arena Company. At various times he returned to the theatre. In 1981 he provided video sequences for John Nankin’s Oudisie om die Einde van die Aarde te Verhoed at the Market Theatre, with a cast that included Marcel van Heerden and Dale Cutts, while in 1983 he directed Dai Bradley in The Wound, which was staged at the Wits Theatre. In 1977 his film Suffer Little Children… was also shown at the Market Theatre, together with Leslie Dektor’s We Take Our Prison with Us and Terence Hammond’s Adrian’s Birthday.

For many years he made a living as assistant director, unit manager or second unit director on various films, including Douglas Hickox’s Zulu Dawn (1979) and J. Lee Thompson’s King Solomon’s Mines (1985). He also made a number advertising films and music videos, the latter including Fight It With Your Mind (1981) for the Asylum Kids. As director he was also responsible for Blood Hunt and The Annihilation, the 3rd and 4th films in the American Ninja series. A trio of short dramas made for television received good reviews as did the television docu-drama If This Be Treason about Helen Joseph, with Gillian Garlick and Sandra Prinsloo in the leading roles. For most of the films he directed he was also involved in the writing of the script. In a partial return to the theatre he filmed Patrick Mynhardt in Stone Cold Jug (2003) for video release. Filmmaker Neal Sundström is his younger brother.