Mapantsula was the first anti-apartheid feature film by, for and about black South Africans. Filmed inside Soweto, scored to the urban beat of "Township Jive," Mapantsula has been called a South African The Harder They Come.

Mapantsula 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. Mapantsula will give viewers an insider's tour of township life and a foretaste of the vibrant popular cinema promised by the new, democratic South Africa.




Politics and Government
South Africa – Overcoming Apartheid
Urban Studies (Africa)

"A moral drama in disguise...Our conscience and sense of outrage are ripped open."
-- Los Angeles Times

"It's about time a feature film presents South Africa from a black perspective. Mapantsula does that and much more."
-- Spike Lee

Director: Oliver Schmitz
South Africa, 1988
In Zulu, Sotho, Afrikaans and English with English subtitles
104 minutes

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