The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
From script to screen, by Amy J Moore and Timothy Bricknell
The filmmakers were very keen that the film be shot in
Botswana, even though no film of this scale had ever been
attempted there before.
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"If we had gone to South Africa or
Namibia or somewhere else we would have ripped the heart
out of the project," says Amy J Moore.
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"Even when these days
a movie can be shot anywhere, anytime, with the technology
at our disposal, there was no way that could happen: the
people of Botswana have a national pride and are especially
proud of this character Mma Ramotswe who has become in
many ways iconic."
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Almost half of the crew were from Botswana, and there were 180 interns as well as
30 'attachments' from Botswana TV and on top of that more than 1,500 locals were used as cast members
and extras.
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Timothy Bricknell says: "We came from London with our script, to make a film set in a country we'd
never been to before, so without the help of local people every day, on every shot, about every decision,
we wouldn't have made a film that was very truthful. That would have been a huge disappointment, not
only to the people of Botswana but to ourselves as well."
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The film was incredibly difficult to cast, and Amy explains how it really came down to the wire: "As
recently as three months before shooting was supposed to start, Anthony thought the movie wasn't
going to happen. After scouring Botswana, South Africa and the rest of the world the filmmakers
thought the inimitable Mma Ramotswe could not be replicated by an actress."
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It was finally the award-winning American singer Jill Scott who mesmerised Anthony Minghella: "I knew from her
rap poetry, her spoken performances and her singing that she was the one. She was the one person
out of everyone we auditioned who had this majesty and enormous soul."
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