IF GAVIN HOOD hadn't stuck to his guns, one of the most original scripts to come out of South Africa would have ended up being set in America, with American Indians replacing black South Africans, a shaman for a witchdoctor and an American equivalent of a tikoloshe.

In his self-confessed naivete, Hood, who lives a "schizophrenic" lifestyle between London and Johannesburg, decided to tackle the project himself over here -- and the result has been described as a breakthrough South African movie.

As one critic said of A Reasonable Man, it lacks the "cringe" factor so often prevalent in South African films.

"In a sense, local films are an advert for the country as they reflect the society," said Hood.

"I wanted to produce something that retained a sense of dignity."

Growing up in a theatrical family, 36-year-old Hood's first choice after school was to study film. But, he said, "I thought that was for people overseas and it wasn't really an option. So I took my big mouth and went to study law at Wits".

It was here that he came across the criminal law case of R v Mbombela on which he was to base A Reasonable Man.

"The aspects of law I enjoyed were the emotionally powerful human and moral issues that come to a head in the courtroom. It's been said that drama is conflict -- well so is law."

He kept his interest in the arts alive by acting in student productions and studying part-time for a diploma in stills photography.

He practiced law for just six months before he was drawn back to his first love. His lucky break came in 1989 when he was cast in the television series The Game. Then in 1991 he took the plunge, sold everything and went to the US to study film at the University of California in Los Angeles. It was there that the idea he had gleaned from R v Mbombela germinated into a script which won him a Diane Thomas Screenwriting award.

Suddenly there was a great deal of interest in his scripts -- the problem was that it was the only thing he'd written at that stage and US producers wanted something less foreign.

Turning down a producer who wanted to Americanise the script was more a case of blissful ignorance of how hard it would be to go it alone than of courage.

Hood returned home in 1993, found a producer, but ran into the financial reality of film-making in South Africa. For the next couple of years he wrote and directed educational television dramas about HIV, prostitution and child abuse, garnering awards but not funding. He used the time to learn about writing, directing and acting and then, in 1995, fortune smiled on him once again.

A letter arrived from British Screen Finance Ltd who had liked the script for A Reasonable Man but felt it needed further work. Three weeks later Hood and his wife, actress Janine Eser, were on their way to London to work with a script editor.

His next break came when his script was selected by the British Film Institute Script Factory as one of 10 from 600 entrants to be performed as a reading for producers and distributors.

A representative from Paris-based Pandora Cinema -- makers of Oscar-winners Shine and Kolya -- was in the audience, and liked what she saw. The drawback was that Hood hadn't worked on 35mm format before. He and Eser were about to shoot a 35mm short, The Storekeeper, so everything was riding on that.

As it turned out, The Storekeeper went on to win three golds, a silver award and rave reviews at international film festivals and Pandora, together with African Media Entertainment, M-Net, the South African Department of Arts and Culture and British Screen Finance, came up with the money.

On the surface A Reasonable Man is a courtroom thriller set in present-day KwaZulu-Natal where a herdboy is accused of killing a baby he mistakenly thought was an evil spirit.

On another level it raises the questions of which elements of South Africa's culture, history and tradition the country will embrace and which it will reject as it forges a new society.

"One man's religion is another's superstition," said Hood. "It's easier to prove reasonable behaviour than reasonable belief, as it is such a personal concept."

It's not the usual South African film subject matter of black vs white and Hood went some way to flip preconceived ideas on their head by playing a white lawyer who defends the boy while the black prosecutor (Vusi Kunene) is anti-witchcraft.

"They're in opposite camps for different reasons but both are attempting to exorcise the past in their search for citizenship in a new country.

"It's not political -- people are tired of re-hashing the same old issues -- but rather a murder mystery rooted in a cultural belief system which will hopefully surprise the audience."

To satisfy foreign investors, the project needed a big-name lead, but Hood felt it was fundamental to cast an actor who was from the same culture and had a sense of the issues.

This dilemma was solved by Oscar nominee Nigel Hawthorne (The Madness of King George) who was born in South Africa and grew up in Cape Town. He had worked with Eser four years earlier. He read the script and came on board.

Hawthorne plays Judge Weldon, who has the almost impossible task of defining who in a multi-cultural society is "a reasonable man" in order to impose sentence. Is "belief" an acceptable defence and, if so, where does he draw the line?

Sixteen-year-old screen newcomer Loyiso Gxwala, who plays herdboy Sipho, was "discovered" by Eser at Sacred Heart College in Johannesburg.

"There's a great difference between an actor and a performer," said Hood. "We saw some very bright kids, but Loyiso is shy, intelligent and reflective."

For the role of the sangoma he found Nandi Nyembi, a sangoma who became an actress and thus brought a personal understanding to the character.

The rest of the cast includes South African theatrical stalwarts such as Ken Gampu and Ian Roberts. Eser plays the wife of his screen character, Sean Raine.

Hood said juggling the roles of director, actor, producer and writer would have been out of the question without his wife's support.

"When you're acting you need one person you trust totally to tell you where you're going wrong.

"It's not easy directing yourself because it's hard to lose yourself in your character and be a part of the scene while still trying to keep an overview of things."

He praised his crew, fellow actors and producer for all their support. They rehearsed for no money ahead of schedule, so that the real money could be spent in the six weeks of production at the end of last year.

Hood felt it was ridiculous to compare the South African film industry with that of Australia.

"Film-makers there are subsidised and the government does not have the same strain on resources. In South Africa it's a case of priorities and, obviously, health and housing are going to top that list."

He felt the South African film industry had more in common with Brazil, Argentina and Eastern Europe.

South Africa's film fund to develop and produce videos, films and features is about R10 million compared to the UK's £145million (R1,45billion) raised from lottery money.

Raising finance in South Africa is difficult, as it's impossible to recoup from local ticket sales what it costs to make a film. South Africa's cinema-going market is relatively small and, in real terms, tickets are sold for a third of what they go for in the UK. This leaves the dilemma that unless a film is sold abroad, it isn't going to recoup its losses.

Hood said South Africa had the technicians, film crews, equipment and a healthy commercial market. What was missing was writers, scripts and directors -- the people who provide the vision.

"If we want our film industry to develop we need to train writers and directors, people who control the storytelling.

"We have to make damn good films in South Africa to succeed -- we just don't have the home market to absorb bad films."

A Reasonable Man has been well received in Eastern Europe, at the Montreal, Edinburgh and Oslo film festivals and filled cinemas in South Africa, receiving critical acclaim.

It may also get limited cinema release in the UK.

"If people feel we've made a quality film, then hopefully it will help give investors and the Department of Arts and Culture more confidence to develop the industry," he said.

And where does he go from here?

"I'm busy adapting an American novel for a UK producer and I've got some projects in the bottom drawer."

While Hood is flattered that critics have hailed A Reasonable Man as a breakthrough movie, he's also a little intimidated.

"If I'd known how competitive it was going to be, I don't know if I'd have even started.''