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LAST UPDATED: 12 October 2023
South Africa has one of the oldest film industries in the world. Home to a diverse cross-section of people and places, it's a world of its own and has become a renowned film-making destination. Being a South African and movie critic, Spling has made it his mission to watch as many South African films as possible! This South African movies list represents the films Spling has watched and reviewed over his years as a film reviewer.
50 South African Movies to Watch Before You Die is a contemporary reflection, which is by no means definitive*. While there are hundreds of South African films, a few of which deserve a spot, the films ranked below are some of Spling's favourites and are all recommended having received a 7/10 rating or higher.
Be sure to click through to read or listen to his review before you commit to watching a film listed below. While they're all recommended, some are not for sensitive viewers. *Documentaries and well-regarded classics will be ranked as part of future lists.
1. District 9
Watching District 9 was a new film experience from the mind of Neill Blomkamp, which could only be described as Hotel Rwanda, Fido and Lars and the Real Girl... in a blender.
Full Movie Review
2. Life, Above All
Life, Above All is a universal story from Oliver Schmidtz about the intricate relationship between mother and daughter.
Full Movie Review
3. Toorbos
Toorbos is a compelling period drama based on Dalene Mathee's novel about a woman's quest for personal freedom. A dapper gentleman tries to prepare the free-spirited young woman for civilised society and marriage as her connection to nature draws her back to her spirit home - the woods.
Full Movie Review
4. Dis ek, Anna
Dis ek, Anna is a powerful and provocative drama that seeks to bring the issue to light by telling the personal story of Anna, a victim of domestic sexual abuse, against the backdrop of a country in crisis.
Full Movie Review
5. Meerkat Maantuig
Meerkat Maantuig or Meerkat Moonship is a magical fantasy drama from writer-director Hanneke Schutte, which tells the story of Gideonette, a young girl, who moves in with her grandparents after her father passes away and her mother goes to rehab.
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6. Moffie
Moffie is a brutal, powerful and haunting drama from Oliver Hermanus about a young gay conscript who tries to survive two years of intensive military service in Apartheid-era South Africa.
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7. Yesterday
Yesterday is a simple, pure, slow and quietly powerful South African drama from writer-director Darryl Roodt - the first feature-length Zulu film - and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film, lauded for its universality and purity, compared with The Bicycle Thieves.
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8. Kanarie
While South Africa’s complicated history of Apartheid diffuses the pop culture of the day, this is where we find Christiaan Olwagen's Kanarie, a coming-of-age drama about an army conscript searching for his true identity.
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9. Sink
Sink is a sleek, harrowing and powerful South African domestic drama from writer-director Brett Michael Innes.
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10. Liewe Kersfeesvader
While the title would make you think Christmas, this is more of a heartwarming sometimes prickly comedy drama about a dysfunctional family from writer-director Etienne Fourie.
Movie Review
11. Johnny is Nie Dood Nie
Johnny is Nie Dood Nie, adapted from a play by Malan Steyn, is a Christiaan Olwagen reunion drama in the tradition of The Big Chill as four friends gather for a braai on the Sunday after Johannes Kerkorrel's suicide to reminisce about their student days.
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12. Vir die Voëls
While Vir Die Voëls also has a dramatic and romantic element, its quirky comedic undertones are carried by a plucky lead character who narrates and stars.
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13. Ellen: The Ellen Pakkies Story
Ellen: The Ellen Pakkies Story tells of the troubled relationship between a mother and her drug-addicted son.
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14. Hard to Get
Hard to Get echoes a similar passion and energy to the acclaimed Congolese crime thriller, Viva Riva.
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15. Blood Diamond
Blood Diamond is an intense, thrilling, blood-drenched action drama about diamond smuggling in Africa.
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16. Nommer 37
Nommer 37 is an Afrikaans language homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, borrowing and re-imagining the concept at the heart of the classic thriller.
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17. Die Seemeeu
Die Seemeeu or The Seagull is based on a classic Russian play by Anton Chekhov, which was originally modernised for stage by writer-director Christiaan Olwagen.
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18. Felix
Felix is an irresistible feel good family music comedy drama.
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19. Knuckle City
This ferocious, intense and brutal boxing drama comes from the mind of Jahmil X.T. Quebeka.
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20. Five Fingers for Marseilles
Five Fingers for Marseilles is a gritty South African western directed by Michael Matthews and written by Sean Drummond...
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21. Material
Material is one of the smartest, most heartwarming movies to originate from South Africa, telling the story of a young Muslim man whose love for stand-up comedy leads to conflict when his father expects him to take over the family business.
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22. Tsotsi
Gavin Hood's Oscar-winning gangster movie, Tsotsi, put South Africa on the map with gritty, gripping and even touching crime drama.
23. Noem My Skollie
Noem My Skollie or Call Me Thief is the story of Abraham and the Young Ones, a small-time gang that were separated for two years by a dangerous stint in Pollsmoor prison.
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24. Inxeba (The Wound)
Having been banned, classified as pornography and elicited vitriol for its revelations Inxeba (The Wound) has been a contentious drama from the get-go.
Movie Review
25. Wonderlus
Wonderlus aka Wonder Wander is a moody and nostalgic coming-of-age ensemble drama elevated by its co-lead chemistry and star-studded local cast...
Movie Review
26. Fanie Fourie's Lobola
This new South African romantic comedy doesn't insult your senses, it's actually street smart and mature.
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27. Die Windpomp
Die Windpomp or The Windmill is a mercurial genre butterfly.
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28. Thina Sobabili
Thina Sobabili (The Two of Us) is a brave, gut-wrenching and realistic drama about the exploits of a brother and sister in the Alexandra township of Johannesburg, South Africa.
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29. Die Wonderwerker
Katinka Heyns is the director behind South African classics such as Paljas and Fiela se Kind...
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30. Flatland
An epic and sprawling contemporary adventure western, tracking the lives of three women trying to break free.
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31. Mense van die Wind
Mense van die Wind is a melancholic, gentle, nostalgic, soulful and stirring coming-of-age music drama romance about healing and inspiration.
Movie Review
32. Red Dust
Red Dust is a solid political drama with an immersive South African feel and powerful story of the TRC in action.
Movie Review
33. Beyond the River
South Africa needs Beyond the River, an uplifting sports drama based on a true story.
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34. The Bang Bang Club
The Bang Bang Club is the story of four conflict photographers, Greg Marinovich, Kevin Carter, Ken Oosterbroek and João Silva, in the build-up to South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994.
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35. Ballade vir 'n Enkeling
Ballade vir 'n Enkeling is an Afrikaans mystery drama based on the '80s television series of the same name.
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36. Vaselinetjie
Vaselinetjie is a fascinating, haunting and immersive character portrait drama based on the book by Anouska von Meck.
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37. Verraaiers
Verraaiers (Traitors) is the latest drama from director-writer team, Paul Eilers and Salmon de Jager, who previously collaborated on Roepman (Stargazer).
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38. Roepman
Set in 1966, Roepman (Stargazer) is a charming and nostalgic coming-of-drama taken from the perspective of an 11-year-old growing up in a railway community.
39. Poppie Nongena
Poppie Nongena is a South African historical biographical drama about a housekeeper who struggles to keep her family together in the face of inhumane pass laws.
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40. Die Verhaal van Racheltjie De Beer
Die Verhaal van Racheltjie De Beer is a stirring and haunting period drama about a South African legend.
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41. Faan se Trein
Faan se Trein is an adaptation of a popular Afrikaans stage production that has been running for almost 40 years.
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42. Four Corners
Pollsmoor Prison is overpopulated and way beyond capacity, famous for Nelson Mandela's incarceration and infamous for its prolific gangsterism.
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43. Tess
Tess is a film adaptation of Tracey Farren's novel, Whiplash, which follows the heartrending journey of a sex worker who falls pregnant, and the difficulties she encounters on the streets of Cape Town.
Full Movie Review
44. Themba: A Boy Called Hope
Themba: A Boy Called Hope is an inspirational coming-of-age drama about a young South African boy's escape from poverty and the pursuit of a dream.
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45. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Nelson Mandela is an extraordinary man, whose life story plays like a political version of The Count of Monte Cristo.
Full Movie Review
46. Ayanda
Ayanda is a fresh coming-of-age romance drama set in the suburb of Yeoville in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Full Movie Review
47. Hollywood in my Huis
Hollywood in my Huis is a South African romantic comedy about a wallflower, living in an impoverished railway neighbourhood, who tries to devise the perfect matric prom.
Full Movie Review
48. Glasshouse
Glasshouse is a claustrophobic post-apocalyptic chamber drama about a tight-knit community trying to survive an airborne virus.
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49. Pou (Peacock)
While led by contemporary elevated horror masters, Pou is an edgy, elegant and intriguing gothic horror drama that wields iconic performances and powerful, timely themes.
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50. iNumber Number
iNumber Number leverages South Africa's burgeoning crime rate against Hollywood's burning desire to tell a story that's entertaining and thought-provoking.
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Recommended
Spud
Spud is faithful to the book, giving an account of 1990s South Africa with the release of Nelson Mandela and John "Spud" Milton's first year at Michaelhouse, an elite private boarding school for boys in Durban North.
Full Movie Review
Necktie Youth
Necktie Youth is a black-and-white drama with a documentary feel that attempts to capture the Zeitgeist of South African youth culture.
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Little One
Little One is the story of a mother, who takes a young girl under her wing.
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Wesens
One of South Africa's only found footage feature films... Wesens is a period sci-fi thriller that recovers the investigation of a UFO crash landing in the late '60s.
Full Movie Review
Son of Man
Son of Man is a beautiful, smart and thoughtful adaptation of the story of Jesus Christ told in the form of an African fable.
Full Movie Review
My Father's War
My Father's War is a drama from writer-director, Craig Gardner, which examines the fractious relationship between David, a war veteran father, and his rebellious son, Dap.
Full Movie Review
Goodbye Bafana
Goodbye Bafana is a biographical drama based on the memoirs of Nelson Mandela’s prison guard, James Gregory.
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Sons of the Sea
A poacher's bag of abalone lures brothers into a dangerous game with a corrupt official in this somber and thoughtful crime drama thriller.
Full Movie Review
'n Man soos My Pa
'n Man Soos My Pa, which means A Man Like My Father, is an Afrikaans ensemble drama about a family reunion that turns into an opportunity for father-son reconciliation.
Full Movie Review
New Material
New Material picks up the story of Material as Cassim's stand up career takes off and sacrifices are made.
Full Movie Review
Invictus
Invictus is a film that attempts to capture the Zeitgeist of the New South Africa in its infancy.
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Woodwind
Woodwind is a stylish, enigmatic and meditative musical journey of healing and self-discovery.
Full Movie Review
Back of the Moon
Back of the Moon is a stylish, intense and moody portrait of an intellectual man’s crumbling criminal empire.
Full Movie Review
Vaya
Vaya is a South African crime drama, which essentially pivots on the story of three adolescents trying to find their way in the big city.
Full Movie Review
White Lion
Breathtaking visuals and a beautiful African tale are at the heart of White Lion.
Capsule Movie Review
Riding with Sugar
A colourful, energetic, spirited, slick and well-acted crime drama thriller.
Full Movie Review
A Million Colours
A Million Colours is based on the true story of two best friends, who fought the system that tried to separate them, after they shot to fame in 1975 with the release of the South African film e'Lollipop.
Full Movie Review
Vir Altyd
Vir Altyd is the latest romance comedy drama from film-makers and stars, Donnalee Roberts and Ivan Botha.
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Sleeper's Wake
Sleeper's Wake is a powerful, haunting and slow-burning thriller that deals with the darker, primal urges of living in a seemingly lawless country.
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Spud 3: Learning to Fly
Spud 3: Learning to Fly has a slightly darker, more serious tone which gives the schoolboy drama more weight without diminishing the vitality of the comedy.
Full Movie Review
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