Best movies about South Africa ever
South African and foreign movies that would help you to better understand this amazing country
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- DirectorEuzhan PalcyStarsDonald SutherlandJanet SuzmanZakes MokaeA white middle class South African suburbanite with no interest in politics agrees to help his black gardener find his jailed son. His investigation opens his eyes to the horrors committed by the secret police and turns him into a target.
- DirectorGavin HoodStarsGavin HoodNigel HawthorneJanine EserWith issues of his own, an ex-army officer-turned-lawyer defends an impoverished young cowherd of killing a baby.
- DirectorLee HirschStarsAbdullah IbrahimDuma Ka NdlovuVusi MahlaselaInterviews, archival footage, and filmed performances highlight the role of music in the South African struggle against apartheid.
- DirectorJamie UysStarsPaddy O'ByrneHilarious documentary on the wildlife of the Namib Desert.
- DirectorLionel RogosinStarsZacharia MgabiVinah BendileMiriam MakebaCome Back, Africa chronicles the life of Zachariah, a black South African living under the rule of the harsh apartheid government in 1959.
- DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsDenzel WashingtonKevin KlineJosette SimonSouth African journalist Donald Woods is forced to flee the country after attempting to investigate the death in custody of his friend, the Black anti-Apartheid activist Steve Biko.
- DirectorZoltan KordaStarsCanada LeeSidney PoitierCharles CarsonIn the back country of South Africa, black minister Stephen Kumalo (Canada Lee) journeys to the city to search for his missing son, only to find his people living in squalor and his son a criminal. Reverend Msimangu (Sidney Poitier) is a young South African clergyman who helps find his missing son-turned-thief and sister-turned-prostitute in the slums of Johannesburg.
- DirectorJamie UysStarsStanley BakerJuliet ProwseKen GampuA film about an African tribesman seeking revenge against the people who murdered his daughter. His crusade leads him to commit murder himself, and to trial before a court.
- DirectorSteve JacobsStarsJohn MalkovichNatalie BeckerJessica HainesAfter having an affair with a student, a Cape Town professor moves to the Eastern Cape, where he gets caught up in a mess of post-apartheid politics.
- DirectorNeill BlomkampStarsSharlto CopleyDavid JamesJason CopeViolence ensues after an extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth finds a kindred spirit in a government agent exposed to their biotechnology.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsMorgan FreemanMatt DamonTony KgorogeNelson Mandela, in his first term as President of South Africa, initiates a unique venture to unite the Apartheid-torn land: enlist the national rugby team on a mission to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
- DirectorOliver SchmitzStarsThomas MogotlaneMarcel van HeerdenThembi MtshaliMapantsula tells the story of Panic, a petty gangster who inevitably becomes caught up in the growing anti-apartheid struggle and has to choose between individual gain and a united stand against the system.
- DirectorCornel WildeStarsCornel WildeGert van den BerghKen GampuDuring the 1800s, a safari guide, two elephant hunters and their crew run into trouble with the natives in the South African veld when they refuse to offer gifts to the tribesmen.
- DirectorCy EndfieldStarsStanley BakerJack HawkinsUlla JacobssonOutnumbered British soldiers do battle with Zulu warriors at Rorke's Drift.
- StarsEdward FoxRobert PowellTrevor HowardA historical account on the life of the Zulu King Shaka.
- DirectorBronwen HughesStarsThomas JaneDavid O'HaraDexter FletcherThe life and career of Andre Stander, a South African police officer turned bank robber.
- DirectorChris MengesStarsBarbara HersheyDavid SuchetJodhi May1963. Thirteen year old Molly Roth, the eldest of three offspring of Gus and Diana Roth, lives a carefree life as part of the affluent white minority in South Africa. Race is a non-issue for her as although, under apartheid, the Roths largely exist among other white people like them, she feels equally comfortable around the black people in her life, such as their servants and her parents' black friends. Beyond knowing that they are busy in their work, Molly is unaware of the full extent of what her parents do, Gus a leading member of the South African Communist Party and Ruth an anti-apartheid journalist who also secretly works for the underground in support of the outlawed African National Congress. Shortly after Gus quietly escapes the country to evade probable arrest by the government - Molly believing it just a short work related trip - Molly's carefree life starts to unravel when Diana is detained for ninety days under a new law that allows such detention without ever even being charged with a criminal offense. The goal of Diana's interrogators, led by Inspector Muller, is to get her to divulge details especially of the underground, most specifically proverbial "names". Beyond missing her mother, Molly begins to resent the anti-apartheid work which has directly and indirectly impacted her life in a negative way, she wanting a mother, not an activist-mother. As the situation with Diana evolves, which includes someone needing to act as caregivers to Molly and her younger sisters while Diana is in detention, Molly gets a broader perspective of her situation under apartheid as she is able to see more of life just outside her protected white enclave, and as she is made aware of what Diana is trying to achieve for society in her work.
- DirectorGavin HoodStarsPresley ChweneyagaeMothusi MaganoIsrael Matseke-ZuluSix days in the violent life of a young Johannesburg gang leader.
- DirectorJoe BerlingerStarsPaul SimonMaya AngelouOkeyrema AsantePaul Simon returns to South Africa to explore the journey of his Graceland album, including the political backlash he received for allegedly breaking the UN cultural boycott of South Africa designed to end the Apartheid regime.
- DirectorMalik BendjelloulStarsRodriguezStephen 'Sugar' SegermanDennis CoffeyTwo South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock n roller, Rodriguez.
- DirectorLloyd RossThe Silver Fez is the much-revered prize for the Cape Malay choirs of Cape Town, South Africa. Each year, hundreds of choirs compete to be crowned the undisputed champions of Cape Malay music - a form of music that first arrived in the Cape on slave ships. In the film we see the wealthy, ultra-competitive Hadji Bucks face off against Kaatji Davids, a struggling house painter. The two choirmasters assemble their troops and prepare for a musical war in which treachery and pain are endured in the hope of glory.
- DirectorJohn G. AvildsenStarsStephen DorffArmin Mueller-StahlMorgan FreemanAn English boy, living in Africa during World War II, through his boxing prowess, becomes a symbol of hope, in a time of war.
- DirectorMark Dornford-MayStarsPauline MalefaneAndile TshoniLungelwa BlouA version of Georges Bizet's Carmen, set in a modern-day South African township.
- DirectorArthur PennStarsNigel HawthorneEric StoltzLouis Gossett Jr.A South African political prisoner is tortured to obtain information on apartheid conspirators. Ten years later, the head officer in charge of the questioning is similarly held as prisoner and questioned about his past offenses.
- DirectorGraham EvansAlbert FinneyStarsMichael AldridgeNigel DavenportMark DignamBased on the official transcripts of the investigation that followed after the very suspicious notorious death in prison of one of the most important leading men of the South African anti-apartheid movement, Steven Biko.
- DirectorDeborah HoffmannFrances ReidStarsMary BurtonPumla Gobodo-MadikizelaMongezi ManqinaThis documentary tells four stories of Apartheid in South Africa, as seen through the eyes of the Truth and Reconciliation commission. White soldiers who have killed ANC activists, black activists who have killed whites in political attacks: can there be forgiveness when the full truth comes out?
- DirectorPeter DavisDaniel RiesenfeldStarsRichard AttenboroughBonoAndré P. BrinkThis award-winning film examines the role of cinema in both supporting and attacking apartheid. Includes newsreel footage of violence in South Africa and interviews with writers, directors, and actors.
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsEdward WoodwardJack ThompsonJohn WatersThree Australian lieutenants are court martialed for executing prisoners as a way of deflecting attention from war crimes committed by their superior officers.
- DirectorHenry KingOtto BrowerStarsSpencer TracyNancy KellyRichard GreeneTasked by his editor, American reporter Henry M. Stanley travels to a dangerous and uncharted region of East Africa to find the missing Scottish pioneer missionary Dr. David Livingstone.
- StarsMartin ShawFrances BarberNeil PearsonThe story of the British 19th-century businessman who became the wealthiest man in the Western world and founded the nation Rhodesia.
- DirectorOliver SchmitzStarsSteve CooganAndrea RiseboroughGarion DowdsA lawyer takes on a case of a prison guard in South Africa who is traumatized by the executions he's witnessed.
- DirectorHans SteinhoffKarl AntonHerbert MaischStarsEmil JanningsLucie HöflichWerner HinzRousing biopic of Paul Kruger, the Boer guerilla fighter turned statesman and first president of South Africa.