Vusi Kunene Movies

In this drama, a man dealing with the ghosts of his past defends a child whose cultural dictates differ with the law. Sean Raine (Gavin Hood) was born and raised in South Africa, but during his time as a soldier in that nation's army, he killed a young black man by mistake while fighting in Angola and has been plagued with guilt ever since. He left South Africa soon after; in time, he studied law and became a successful corporate attorney. While visiting South Africa for the first time in nine years, Sean and his wife Jennifer (Janine Eser) meet a herd boy named Sipho (Loyiso Gxwala) during a canoe trip. As they're returning to camp, Sean and Jennifer meet Sipho again, but this time he's in shock, standing motionless with a bloody axe in his hand as his mother carries the body of a baby with a fatal head injury. When questioned, Sipho asserts that what he killed was not a human infant but a tikoloshe, a creature cursed with evil spirits. Sean offers to defend Sipho, and as he stands before the court, he tries to explain to the judge (Nigel Hawthorne) and jury that Sipho was acting sincerely, in accordance with his faith, and therefore did not truly commit a crime. Actor Gavin Hood made his debut as a writer and director with this film, as well as playing the leading role. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Durban-born Ramadan Suleman made this study of South African life, set in December 1989 when Nelson Mandela was still in prison. After an education in Swaziland, Zani (Hlomla Dandala) returns to Charterston and runs into disillusioned teacher Zamani (Patrick Shai), who invites Zani to lecture at his school. Once an activist, Zamani is soon inspired by Zani's idealism to take a stand. Shown at 1997 film festivals (Locarno, Toronto, Mill Valley). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Alan Paton's classic novel about two fathers coming to terms with personal loss and the emotional scars inflicted on South Africa during the era of apartheid was brought to the screen for a second time with this adaptation, the first major film produced in South Africa after Nelson Mandela's election ended mandatory white rule in that nation. Rev. Stephen Kumalo (James Earl Jones) is a minister from a poverty-stricken farming community who travels to Johannesburg for the first time in search of his son Absalom (Eric Miyeni), who moved to the city some time back and has gone missing. Kumalo regards the big city as a den of iniquity, and his low expectations are not betrayed; he is robbed and beaten shortly after he arrives, and when he visits his brother John (Charles S. Dutton), he discovers that Absalom has become a petty thief with a pregnant girlfriend, his sister Gertrude (Dambisa Kente) is a prostitute, and John has renounced his faith in God and advocates the violent overthrow of South Africa's white leadership. James Jarvis (Richard Harris) -- a wealthy white landowner from the same part of the country as Kumalo -- has also arrived in Johannesburg, also with sad personal business to attend to; his son, a well-liked activist for the rights of the city's black majority population, was killed during a robbery. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Friendship, politics, violence, and personal responsibility meet head on in this drama. In the late 1980s, three young women who are completing their college education share a house together in Johannesburg, South Africa. Aninka (Michele Burgers) is the daughter of wealthy Afrikaners; she is studying archeology and has personally rejected her family's pro-apartheid politics. Thoko (Dambisa Kente) is Black and receiving a degree in education; her family has little money, and her mother works as a cleaning woman to help pay her daughter's tuition. Sophie (Kerry Fox), whose British parents are well-to-do, is studying library science, and unknown to the others, she has taken a very strong position against South Africa's policy of minority rule. Sophie has joined a terrorist group determined to fight apartheid by any means necessary; under orders from the group, she places a bomb at a busy airport in Johannesburg, killing many innocent bystanders in the process. Sophie's confusion and guilt over the consequences of her actions drive a wedge between herself and her husband, a fellow activist, and it complicates her friendship with Aninka and Thoko. Writer-director Elaine Proctor won the Golden Camera award at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival for her work on Friends. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide