Africa in Motion

Khumba, a half-striped zebra is born into an insular, superstitious herd and is immediately ostracised by the rest of the zebras, except for Tombi, a feisty tomboy. When he is blamed for the drought, Khumba leaves the only home he has ever known in search of the magic waterhole where legend has it, the first zebras got their stripes. It’s not all black and white in this colourful animation for the whole family!

13-year-old Felix Xaba dreams of becoming a saxophonist like his late father, but his mother Lindiwe thinks jazz is the devil’s music. When Felix leaves his township friends to take up a scholarship at an elitist private school, he defies his mother and turns to two aging members of his father’s old band to help him prepare for the school jazz concert. Felix is a family-friendly film of a deeply moving story about perseverance in pursuing dreams and developing one’s talent.

Shortlisted For Africa in Motion Short Film Competition 2014

Hendry and Dwain, two clumsy crooks, are planning on stealing a masterpiece painting out of the national gallery, their most ambitious heist to date. Hendry is confident that they have all their bases covered and that they are on the brink of finally making the big time. However Dwain feels differently, he is convinced that they have over-looked something crucial. There is only one problem: He just can’t put his finger on what the missing link is.

Shortlisted For Africa in Motion Short Film Competition 2014

Silence and I is a short film about May, a timid young woman struggling to find her voice. May speaks to the world by writing notes and planting them in her work place. Jonathan, her long time love interest, discovers the notes which spark his interest. However, May discovers a wedding invitation with Jonathan’s name on it.

Shortlisted For Africa in Motion Short Film Competition 2014

Long after his friends and family have moved on, Jewish pensioner Aaron Zukerman remains in his inner-city apartment, his world getting ever smaller and smaller, as the city closes in on his memories and happiness. His focus is on a weekly assignation with a kindly prostitute, for which he prepares days in advance. But when her unexpected replacement arrives one Friday, an initially angry response sparks a chain of events that ultimately changes the way Aaron Zukerman looks at the world.

Shortlisted For Africa in Motion Short Film Competition 2014

Harold is a dark comedy which explores poignant issues such as isolation, suicide and the search for acceptance through the unlikely friendship between Harold, a young man left tragically alone after the death of his grandmother, and Whynand, a suicidal Afrikaans novelist.

After witnessing first hand the terrors of fascism as a soldier in World War II, director Lionel Rogosin vowed to fight against it wherever and whenever he saw its threats re-emerging. In an effort to expose “what people try to avoid seeing”, Rogosin travelled to apartheid-struck South Africa and secretly filmed Come Back, Africa, which revealed the cruelty and injustice with which black South Africans were treated. A jarring view of a largely concealed environment of injustice, Come Back, Africa honestly and sincerely captures images of the faces of a people oppressed.

As South Africa celebrates its 20th anniversary of the advent of democracy in 1994, it’s difficult to believe the ‘Mandela miracle’ nearly didn’t happen. In an orgy of countrywide violence, some were intent on derailing the first free elections. Now, for the first time, those responsible for countless deaths and widespread mayhem explain how they nearly brought South Africa to its knees. 1994: The Bloody Miracle is a chilling look at what these hard men did to thwart democracy, and at how they have now made an uneasy peace with the ‘Rainbow Nation’ in their own different ways.

We are delighted to have director Meg Rickards present who will join us in discussion following this screening.

Banned in South Africa at the time of its release, Mapantsula is a true classic of South African cinema and one of the most important anti-apartheid films. It captures precisely and evocatively the politically charged atmosphere of the country in the late 1980s, when apartheid was at its most oppressive and destructive in daily life. The film tells the story of Panic, a small-time crook, who stalks the streets of Johannesburg pickpocketing and mugging at knife-point, in an unforgettable performance by Thomas Mogotlane. Arrested one day with a group of political activists, Panic is interrogated by the security police and offered all sorts of financial rewards to testify against the activists sharing his prison cell. Panic is forced to make some life-altering decisions, and it is in his journey from petty thief to a politicised man of principle that the true significance of the story lies.

Shot in Durban and set in 1989, in the final years of the crumbling system of apartheid, Otelo Burning tells the story of a group of township kids who discover the joy of surfing. When 16-year-old Otelo Buthelezi takes to the water for the first time, it is clear that he was born to surf. But then tragedy strikes. On the day that Nelson Mandela is released from prison, Otelo is forced to choose between surfing success and justice. Jealousy, betrayal and political turbulence impact the lives of these young boys in ways that will change them forever. This is a beautifully made, insightful and entertaining film that captures a turbulent time in the history of South Africa.

The endearing and highly entertaining Hear Me Move tells the story of Muzi, the son of an amazing pantsula dancer, who embarks on a journey of self-discovery in order to learn the truth about his father’s death and come to terms with his own identity. But will Muzi embrace his destiny and become the man he is meant to be? Hear Me Move is an exciting new South African feature film, adding African flavour to a popular genre that includes such well-known films as Step Up and Fame.

We are delighted to have Hear Me Move director Scottness L. Smith and main choreographer Paul Modjadji to join us for a Q&A following the screening.

Boys of Soweto is the vividly shot tale of a dapperly-dressed circle of gentlemen, a group of suave-conscious South Africans known as Boys of Soweto. The short film is a love letter to both style and township beauty.

African Gothic is the screen adaptation of the famous Afrikaans playwright Reza de Wet’s ‘Diepe Grond’ and brings to life the story of Sussie and Frikkie, characters caught in the unresolved grief and guilt of committing a horrific crime. Having experienced a traumatic childhood shaped by abusive parenting on their rural South African farm, they re-enact their childhood traumas. When presented with alternatives, they respond with a show of violent force and retreat deeper into their isolation. They have allowed their farm to decay by rejecting reality and creating an eerie fantasy world, endlessly enacting the rituals of punishment and humiliation to which their parents had subjected them. With the farm ruined and in the grip of an exhausting drought, they face eviction by an officious lawyer, who is onto their dark secret.

Cape Town today – home to South Africa’s toughest maximum security prison – Pollsmoor. When Farakhan, a general in one of the century-old Numbers Gangs, is released after 13 years, he wants a quiet life and a ‘river of peace’. But he finds himself in a world more violent than when he left it. Now ruthless street gangs control the ghetto streets, crack and guns are sold openly, and young boys are disappearing, victims of a serial killer. In this turbulent world, Farakhan seeks to make contact with his son, whom he has never known. Four Corners is a high-octane, multi-thread, coming-of-age crime drama set in a unique and volatile South African subculture. At times raw and violent, at times touching and true, the four lives of the characters Farakhan, Leila, Tito and Gasant converge around the boy Ricardo, weaving universal themes of love, loss, kinship, betrayal and redemption.

We are delighted to have director Ian Gabriel in attendance for a Q&A after the screening.

Andrew Mlangeni, the 11th accused in the infamous Rivonia Trial, escaped the death penalty to spend 26 years on Robben Island in the cell next door to Nelson Mandela. He looks back over his life and what drove him to give up everything in the fight for freedom and in the face of death. The film takes an intimate look at the sacrifices made by those committed to the ideals of justice and equality. What drove the heroes that made South Africa the miracle it is today? Telling the tale of the collective effort it takes to create a revolution, we shine the light on those relegated to the margins of history. Twenty years later a nation starts to question the true value of democracy. We remember that it takes more than a Mandela to free a nation. Andrew Mlangeni is one of those unsung heroes.

13-year-old Felix Xaba dreams of becoming a saxophonist like his late father, but his mother Lindiwe thinks jazz is the devil’s music. When Felix leaves his township friends to take up a scholarship at an elitist private school, he defies his mother and turns to two aging members of his father’s old band to help him prepare for the school jazz concert. Felix is a family-friendly film of a deeply moving story about perseverance in pursuing dreams and developing one’s talent.

This year’s Children’s Day is hosted in partnership with Glasgow Film Theatre Take 2, a weekly family event.

Directed by performance artist Spoek Mathambo and filmmaker Lebogang Rasethaba, this documentary aims to explore, express, and interrogate South Africa’s cultural landscape through the vehicle of electronic music. The film engages with a potent range of pioneers sculpting the sounds of things to come. We swim in the sounds of deep house, glitch hop, sghubu sapitori, durban qhum, dubstep and shangaan electro. In a country still steeped in poverty, crime and injustice, young South Africans party like their lives depend on it. The groove is thick and infectious and the future looks blindingly beautiful.

This screening event includes Mandela Day Shorts, commissioned by British Council Connect ZA and The Space.