Watch Africa: Mapantsula + recorded Q&A (15)

South Africa | 1988 | 103’ | 15 | Oliver Schmitz | Zulu, Sotho, Afrikaans with English subtitles | Thomas Mogotlane

Panic is a small-time hood who believes he sees all the angles. But he is soon in the web of the authorities, pushed to betray the revolutionaries fighting for change.

More than a gripping crime story, Mapantsula is an almost miraculous opportunity to understand South Africa from within during its struggle for freedom, centred on the choices offered to Panic by a system set out to dehumanise him. Radical, vital, humane and unvarnished, this is a classic of guerrilla filmmaking produced under extreme censorship whilst evading the authorities. This rare anti-apartheid feature film marks the 30th anniversary of South African Freedom Day in 2024.

+ Q&A with actor Thomas Magotlane after the film