Jozi Film Festival 2019: South African Short Films(fiction)

Saturday, 5 October. 6:30pm.

South African Short Films(fiction)

1hr34min

Shaka’s Mask – Maishe Mosala (26:46)

In Johannesburg’s urban reality of seemingly instant success, obsession with status , a privileged Shaka, from an affluent family is forced to run his family’s business after his parents tragically pass away. The business is now facing bankruptcy under his management and Shaka is obsessed with trying to keep up with pretending on social media that all is well.

The Turning Son – Thabiso Christopher (17:53)

A rebellious student activist turns on his minister father when it's revealed to the young man that his father had a hand in the massacre of striking construction workers.

Porcelain – Francois Nolte (15:00)

Porcelain is inspired by true events. The film focuses on a detective, Johan Bezuidenhout, who is investigating the brutal murder of four-year-old Poppie van der Merwe. As his investigation unfolds, he is confronted by his own demons regarding his failed marriage and the impact this will have on his own daughter – who is the same age as Poppie. The film portrays his inner conflict as well as the events that lead up to Poppie’s death at the hands of her own mother and step-father.

Cowboy Dan – Wynand Louw (22:36)

Bandits steal a cowboy's cattle while he is being distracted by a beautiful woman. But the bandits are car thieves, the cowboy is a car guard, the cattle are cars and the cowboy's muse a barmaid. The theft sends Cowboy Dan on a mission to retrieve the car and find justice in the criminal underworld of Cape Town, with Zancas – a scared hobo – as his only help and unlikely sidekick. "Cowboy Dan" is a reinterpretation of the classic Western with a Cape flavour through the eyes of a modern "Man from La Mancha". 

Life’s a Drag – Kate D’Hotman (13:00) 

Life’s a Drag is a dark comedy about a depressed zombie named Bob. He used to be cool. He used to have groupies. He used to have all his body parts. Now, although the undead and the living have reached a truce, Bob is finding it hard to adjust. Life after death just isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. He’s in a dead-end job working for a narcissist, and he hasn’t been laid since before the Apocalypse. Up until now, he’s played by the rules, but Bob is reaching his breaking point, and he’s about to lose his temper… Life’s a Drag offers a hilarious re-imagining of a world in the grip of a zombie apocalypse.