Very soon now everything in South Africa will revolve around football. But the country on the Cape has much more to offer than beautiful stadiums. Those interested in finding out something about the host of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™, about the people of South Africa, the country’s checkered history and its impressive scenery, can also do so at home, seated in front of their TV. ContiSoccerWorld presents the best documentary and feature films from and about South Africa.

Dance for All

2008 documentary by the German directors Viviane Blumenschein and Elena Bromund about a ballet project in the Cape Town townships offering young South Africans an exceptional career chance.

The Bang Bang Club

A current film adaptation of the South African bestseller of the same name, in which two war photographers capture the final days of South African apartheid in moving pictures. The film is directed by the South African documentarist Steven Silver, with Malin Ackerman of “Watchman” fame and Ryan Philippe from “L.A. Crash” in the lead roles. Shooting started in April 2009; the debut is scheduled for 2010. 

Boy Called Twist

Dating from 2004, the film is a modern rendition of the classic novel by Charles Dickens. Directed by Tim Greene, the film transfers the story of Oliver Twist, an orphan in 19^th England, to present-day South Africa. Set in Cape Town, the big-city drama was financed by donations. Greene persuaded 1,000 people to each back the film to the tune of 1,000 rands (ca. €100).

Catch a Fire

A stirring drama directed by Phillip Noyce about a football coach (Derek Luke) who discovers his political conscience. Wrongly suspected during the apartheid years of being behind an attack and under pressure from the police (including US star Tim Robbins), the footballer decides to actually go underground. The San Francisco Chronicle labeled the 2006 political thriller “an unsettling film".

Country of my Skull

Film about truth, love and reconciliation. Samuel L. Jackson and Juliette Binoche play the lead roles. A US reporter and a Boer writer become acquainted in post-apartheid South Africa and fall in love. Based on a book by South African author Antjie Krog, this drama by John Boorman was shown in competition at the 2004 Berlinale. The film is also known under the name “In My Country".

Die drei ??? [The Three ???] – Das verfluchte Schloss [The Cursed Castle]

Fans know that Justus Jonas, Peter Shaw and Bob Andrews are actually “headquartered” at a junk yard in the fictive community of Rocky Beach, California. Because of the gorgeous scenery and very favorable production conditions, German director Florian Baxmeyer shot the current adventures of the three junior detectives (to be released in March 2009) completely in South Africa.

The Color of Friendship

A moving film by successful director Kevin Hooks (“Without a Trace”) about a white South African girl who goes to the US as an exchange student – to a black family.

Shot in Canada in 1999, the film won an Emmy in the “Outstanding Children’s Program” category.

The Gods Must Be Crazy

Anyone growing up in the '60s will certainly recall this film. A bottle of Coca Cola falling out of the sky over the Kalahari Desert brings chaos into the life of a tribal aborigine. Although the 1980 film by director Jamie Uys was funded by the South African government, it was released as a Botswanian production because of the embargo that had been imposed against South Africa to protest apartheid there.

Animals Are Beautiful People

Whether thirsty apes, mating ostriches or staggering elephants: This 1974 production with scenes from the lives of animals in the Kalahari Desert has all the makings of a cult film. The documentary was written and directed by the South African Jamie Uys, who also shot the classic film “The Gods Must Be Crazy”. The film won a Golden Globe in 1975.

Drum – Truth at Any Price

The 2004 thriller by director Zola Maseko tells the true story of two courageous men in Johannesburg at the beginning of the ‘50s. Working together with the German photographer Jürgen Schadenberg, journalist Henry Nxumalo exposes the inhuman working conditions on a Boer farm. The film was awarded the major prize at the Panafrican film festival in 2006.

A Summer in Cape Town

Romance from the “One Summer in ....” series that ran on Germany’s 2nd national television channel. Already the first sequel, “A Summer in New England”, was shot in Cape Town and environs, although it supposedly takes place in the US. In the second sequel, “A Summer in Cape Town”, the title is true to the content. Rebecca Immanuel (“Edel & Starck”) and Ray Fearon (“Lulu and Jimi”) play the lead roles in this film about love and jealousy.

Geheimnis der Wale [Secret of the Whales]

This two-part made-for-television feature film offers enchanting scenes from South Africa and New Zealand. Stars Veronica Ferres, Christopher Lambert and Mario Adorf perform in front of the camera for this production paid for by Germany's second channel. It’s about the rising noise level of the oceans as a result of shipping, with whales the main victims. The film is set to be broadcast at the end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010. An adaptation for cinemas is under discussion.

Glanz und Gloria [Blaze of Glory]

Power, luxury and friendship – these are the issues Dieter Wedel, of “The Great Bellheim” fame, deals with in his new two-part feature film “Glanz und Gloria” (working title). The long-standing maestro of TV features got the idea for the film during the trial of German financial juggler, Jürgen Harksen, who had fled to South Africa. The “King of the Con Men” is played by Ulrich Tukur. The film is tentatively scheduled for broadcast in January 2010.

Goodbye Bafana

The drama by director Bille August (“Smilla’s Sense of Snow”) tells the true story of the prison guard James Gregory, who was charged with watching over political prisoner and later state president Nelson Mandela. Shot on site in South Africa, the film staged its German debut at the Berlinale in 2007.

Human Factor

A film by veteran master Clint Eastwood set in the post-apartheid period. Nelson Mandela heads a new, democratic government; the Springboks become Rugby world champion. It is 1995, a year of upheaval for many people in South Africa. Matt Damon of “Bourne Identity” fame plays Springbok captain Francois Pienaar, Morgan Freeman does Nelson Mandela. The film will be released in the cinemas at the end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010.

Jerusalema

The action film focuses on gangster Lucky Kunene. A man with clear ideas, Kunene needs nothing more to be happy than a fast car, a house on the sea and a beautiful, intelligent woman. Ralph Ziman's film is about live dreams, violence and failure. Also shown at the Berlinale 2008, “Jerusalema” was one of the most successful films of all times in South Africa.

Memories of Rain

This 2004 documentary, directed by Gisela Albrecht and Angela Mai, tells the story of two resistance fighters - the South African Jenny Cargill and Kevin Qhobosheane, both of whom fought for the ANC. The two led lives in exile. She, a white, was trained by the secret service in East Berlin, while he, a black, was trained for service in the resistance at an Angolan military camp.

The Piano Player – Souls Aflame Never Forget

The 2004 action thriller by Jean-Pierre Roux was shot with a star-studded cast. Killer Alex Laney (Christopher Lambert) receives a lucrative contract. In Cape Town he is assigned to protect the business man Robert Nile (Dennis Hopper), who is scheduled to testify in a court trial against a gangster and voodoo priest.

Cry Freedom

This classic 1987 film directed by Richard Attenborough is about the resistance fighter Steven Biko, played by Denzel Washington. When Biko is killed by the police, journalist Donald Woods (Kevin Kline) decides to write a book about Biko’s life. To publish it, he has to sneak out of the country. From then on he is on the run.

Tsotsi

Director Gavin Hood won the 2006 Oscar for best “Foreign Language Film” for this gangster epos. Unscrupulous violence, drugs and utter poverty – the drama by Gavin Hood shows the naked truth about life in Soweto. Based on a story of the same name by South African writer Athol Fugard, the film focuses on 19-year-old Tsotsi.

U-Carmen eKhayelitsha

Even insiders had not heard of this film. In 2005 “U-Carmen eKhayelitsha” became the first African film to win a Golden Bear, the top prize at the Berlinale. The debut film by Marc Dornford-May transfers the story of Bizet’s opera “Carmen” to the Cape Town township of Khayelitsha.  Dornford-May has his performers sing the opera, originally in French, in the South African Xhosa dialect.

We are together

This touching 2008 documentary is about a South African orphanage where many children are stricken with AIDS. They derive renewed force above all from the chorus in which they sing. Director Paul Taylor tracked the Slindile orphanage for three years. Winner of several awards, the resulting film is a sensible documentary showing that music is a part of life – and death – in South Africa.

Yesterday

When the young mother Yesterday finds out that she has AIDS, her life becomes unhinged. She can expect no help from her husband, who remains willfully blind to the illness. The only thing that gives her the courage to live on is the wish to experience her young daughter's first day at school. Spiegel Online described the film by Darrell Roodt as “A drama that is equally unsentimental and poetic.” In 2005 “Yesterday” was nominated for an Oscar as the best “Foreign Language Film".

A World Apart

Shawn Slovo wrote the screenplay, but life itself wrote the story for this film, which was awarded the special prize of the jury at the 1988 Cannes International Film Festival. The parents of Slovo are resistance fighters. The film relates the story of covert meetings in his parents’ home and daily mudslinging on the part of his classmates. The film was directed by Chris Menges, who had earlier won an Oscar for his camera work in the 1985 production “Local Hero”. He also did the camera work for “The Reader” (2008).