South Africa has had some of the best movies to come from Africa and we are proud to say some of our movies have won Oscar awards and gotten numerous nominations! Below are the Top 10 South African Movies Of All Time which are definitely on every movie fanatics list.
1. Sarafina
Sarafina! is a 1992 South African film directed by Darrell Roodt and starring Leleti Khumalo, Whoopi Goldberg, Miriam Makeba, John Kani and Tertius Meintjies
2. Tsotsi
Tsotsi is a 2005 film directed by Gavin Hood and produced by Peter Fudakowski. It is an adaptation of the novel Tsotsi, by Athol Fugard and a South African/UK co- production. The soundtrack features Kwaito music performed by popular South African artist Zola as well as a score by Mark Kilian and Paul Hepper. The movies centres around a South African hoodlum named Tsotsi (Presley Chweneyagae) lives by a code of violence, and he and his gang of thugs prowl the streets of Johannesburg day and night, attacking those who fail to give them what they want. After casually shooting a woman and stealing her car, he discovers her baby in the car.
3. Invictus
Invictus is a 2009 American-South African biographical sports drama film directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. The story is based on the John Carlin book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation about the events in South Africa.
4. Cry Freedom
Cry Freedom is a 1987 South African epic drama film directed by Richard Attenborough, set in late-1970s apartheid era South Africa. The screenplay was written by John Briley based on a pair of books by journalist Donald Woods. The film centres on the real-life events involving black activist Steve Biko and his friend.
5. Jerusalema
A petty crook (Rapulana Seiphemo) builds a criminal empire in Johannesburg, but an escalating war with a drug lord and police pressure threaten to shut him down.
6. Mandela Long Walk To Freedom
A chronicle of Nelson Mandela’s life journey from his childhood in a rural village through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa.
7. The Bang Bang Club
The Bang Bang Club was a group of four conflict photographers active within the townships of South Africa between 1990 and 1994, during the transition from the apartheid system to democracy. This period saw much black on black factional violence, particularly fighting between ANC and IFP supporters
8. There is a Zulu on my stoep
There’s a Zulu On My Stoep is a 1993 South African comedy film by the comedy filmmaker Gray Hofmeyr starring Leon Schuster and John Matshikiza. It has received considerable popularity and a cult status in South Africa and Eastern Europe.
9. Mr Bones
Mr. Bones is a 2001 slapstick comedy film made and set in South Africa. Leon Schuster, well-known figure in the South African film industry, starred in the title role. He also created the story and co-wrote the screenplay. The film sets African “tradition” in opposition to forces of ambition and greed in contemporary South Africa.
10. The Gods Must Be Crazy
The Gods Must Be Crazy is a 1980 South African comedy film written and directed by Jamie Uys. Financed only from local sources, it is the most commercially successful release in the history of South Africa’s film industry. Originally released in 1980, the film is the first in The Gods Must Be Crazy series.
