WAlive in Joburg is a 2006 science fiction mockumentary short film written and directed by Neill Blomkamp and starring Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, and Dawie Ackermann. The film explores themes of apartheid and is noted for its visual effects as well as its documentary-style imagery. Blomkamp's 2009 feature film District 9, again starring Copley and Cope, expands themes and elements from this short film.
WThe Bang-Bang Club is a 2010 Canadian-South African biographical drama film written and directed by Steven Silver and stars Ryan Phillippe as Greg Marinovich, Malin Åkerman as Robin Comley, Taylor Kitsch as Kevin Carter, Frank Rautenbach as Ken Oosterbroek and Neels Van Jaarsveld as João Silva. They portray the lives of four photojournalists active within the townships of South Africa during the apartheid period, particularly between 1990 and 1994, from when Nelson Mandela was released from prison to the 1994 elections.
WBlack Butterflies is an English-language Dutch drama film about the life of South-African poet Ingrid Jonker. The film was directed by Paula van der Oest and premiered in the Netherlands on February 6 before being released on 31 March 2011.
WBopha! is a 1993 American drama film directed by Morgan Freeman and starring Danny Glover. It is Freeman's directorial debut. It was adapted from a 1986 play of the same name.
WThe Butler is a 2013 American historical drama film directed and co-produced by Lee Daniels and with a screenplay by Danny Strong. It is inspired by Wil Haygood's Washington Post article "A Butler Well Served by This Election".
WCatch a Fire is a 2006 biographical thriller film about activists against apartheid in South Africa. The film was directed by Phillip Noyce, from a screenplay written by Shawn Slovo. Slovo's father, Joe Slovo, and mother Ruth First, leaders of the South African Communist Party and activists in the Anti-Apartheid Movement, appear as characters in the film, while her sister, Robyn Slovo, is one of the film's producers and also plays their mother Ruth First. Catch a Fire was shot on location in South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique.
WThe Color of Friendship is a 2000 television film based on actual events about the friendship between two girls; Mahree & Piper, one from the United States and the other from apartheid South Africa, who learn about tolerance and friendship. The film was directed by Kevin Hooks, based on a script by Paris Qualles, and stars Lindsey Haun and Shadia Simmons.
WCome Back, Africa is a 1959 film, the second feature-length film written, produced, and directed by American independent filmmaker Lionel Rogosin.
WCry Freedom is a 1987 epic drama film directed and produced 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 Donald Woods, who initially finds him destructive, and attempts to understand his way of life. Denzel Washington stars as Biko, while Kevin Kline portrays Woods. Cry Freedom delves into the ideas of discrimination, political corruption, and the repercussions of violence.
WCry, the Beloved Country is a 1951 British drama film directed by Zoltán Korda. Based on the novel of the same name by Alan Paton, it stars Canada Lee, Sidney Poitier, and Charles Carson. This film was Canada Lee's last film.
WCry, the Beloved Country is a 1995 South African-American drama film directed by Darrell Roodt, based on the novel Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. It stars James Earl Jones and Richard Harris.
WDistrict 9 is a 2009 science fiction action film directed by Neill Blomkamp in his feature film debut, written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. It is a co-production of New Zealand, the United States and South Africa. The film stars Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, and David James, and was adapted from Blomkamp's 2006 short film Alive in Joburg.
WDrum is a 2004 film based on the life of South African investigative journalist Henry Nxumalo, who worked for Drum magazine, called "the first black lifestyle magazine in Africa". It was director Zola Maseko's first film and deals with the issues of apartheid and the forced removal of residents from Sophiatown. The film was originally to be a six-part television series called Sophiatown Short Stories, but Maseko could not get the funding. The lead roles of Henry Nxumalo and Drum main photographer Jürgen Schadeberg were played by American actors Taye Diggs and Gabriel Mann, while most of the rest of the cast were South African actors.
WA Dry White Season is a 1989 American drama film directed by Euzhan Palcy and starring Donald Sutherland, Jürgen Prochnow, Marlon Brando, Janet Suzman, Zakes Mokae and Susan Sarandon. It was written by Colin Welland and Palcy, based upon André Brink's novel A Dry White Season. Robert Bolt also contributed uncredited revisions of the screenplay. It is set in South Africa in 1976 and deals with the subject of apartheid. Brando was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
WEndgame is a 2009 British film directed by Pete Travis from a script by Paula Milne, based upon the book The Fall of Apartheid by Robert Harvey. The film is produced by Daybreak Pictures and reunites Travis with Vantage Point actor William Hurt. It also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jonny Lee Miller and Mark Strong. The film dramatises the final days of apartheid in South Africa. It was filmed at locations in Reading in England and Cape Town, South Africa in the first half of 2008 and was completed in December that year.
WEscape from Pretoria is a 2020 Australian thriller film co-written and directed by Francis Annan, based on the real-life prison escape by three political prisoners in South Africa in 1979, starring Daniel Radcliffe and Daniel Webber. It is based on the 2003 book Inside Out: Escape from Pretoria Prison by Tim Jenkin, one of the escapees.
WFinal Solution is a 2001 film set in South Africa based on the real-life stories of Gerrit Wolfaardt and Moses Moremi, with themes of morality, tolerance, and forgiveness. Written and directed by Cristóbal Krusen, the title of the film comes from the Nazi Final Solution which was the inspiration of a plan with an apartheid motive in the film.
WThe Forgiven is a 2017 British drama film directed by Roland Joffé starring Forest Whitaker, Eric Bana and Jeff Gum. Joffé co-wrote the script with Michael Ashton on the basis of the play The Archbishop and the Antichrist by Michael Ashton, which tells a story involving Archbishop Desmond Tutu's search for answers during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and his meetings with the fictional character Piet Blomfeld.
WForgiveness is a 2004 South African drama film dealing with the effects of the apartheid system and the difficulty of reconciliation. It was directed by Ian Gabriel and stars Arnold Vosloo, Zane Meas, Quanita Adams and Denise Newman.
WGandhi is a 1982 period biographical film based on the life of Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of nonviolent non-cooperative Indian independence movement against the British Raj during the 20th century. A co-production between India and United Kingdom, it is directed and produced by Richard Attenborough from a screenplay written by John Briley. It stars Ben Kingsley in the title role. The film covers Gandhi's life from a defining moment in 1893, as he is thrown off from a South African train for being in a whites-only compartment, and concludes with his assassination and funeral in 1948. Although a practising Hindu, Gandhi's embracing of other faiths, particularly Christianity and Islam, is also depicted.
WGoodbye Bafana, or The Color of Freedom (US), is a 2007 drama film, directed by Bille August, about the relationship between Nelson Mandela and James Gregory, his censor officer and prison guard, based on Gregory's book Goodbye Bafana: Nelson Mandela, My Prisoner, My Friend. The film also explores the relationship of James Gregory and his wife as their life changes while Mandela is under Gregory's watch.
WThe Human Factor is a 1979 British neo noir thriller film directed and produced by Otto Preminger and starring Richard Attenborough, Nicol Williamson, Derek Jacobi and John Gielgud. It is based on the 1978 novel The Human Factor by Graham Greene, with the screenplay written by Tom Stoppard. It examines British espionage, and the West's relationship with apartheid South Africa.
WIn My Country is a 2004 drama film directed by John Boorman, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Juliette Binoche. The film is centred around the story of Afrikaner poet Anna Malan (Binoche) and an American journalist, Langston Whitfield (Jackson), sent to South Africa to report about the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings.
WInvictus is a 2009 biographical sports drama film directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. The story is based on the 2008 John Carlin book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation about the events in South Africa before and during the 1995 Rugby World Cup. The Springboks were not expected to perform well, the team having only recently returned to high-level international competition following the dismantling of apartheid—the country was hosting the World Cup, thus earning an automatic entry. Freeman and Damon play the South African President Nelson Mandela and François Pienaar, respectively. François was the captain of the South Africa rugby union team, the Springboks.
WKalushi is a 2016 South African film about Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu, a nineteen-year-old hawker from the streets of Mamelodi, a ghetto township outside Pretoria in South Africa. He was born in Pretoria on 10 July in 1956, the second son of Martha Mahlangu. His father left him in 1962, and from then on only saw him infrequently. His mother was a domestic worker and took sole responsibility for his upbringing. The film is based on a true story.
WLethal Weapon 2 is a 1989 American buddy cop action film directed by Richard Donner, and starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Patsy Kensit, Derrick O'Connor and Joss Ackland. It is a sequel to the 1987 film Lethal Weapon and the second installment in the Lethal Weapon film series.
WLost in the Stars is the 1974 film version of the Kurt Weill-Maxwell Anderson musical adaptation of the Alan Paton novel Cry, the Beloved Country. The film was produced and released as part of the American Film Theatre, which adapted theatrical works for a subscription-driven cinema series.
WMandela and de Klerk is a 1997 made-for-television drama film written by Richard Wesley and directed by Joseph Sargent. The film stars Sidney Poitier and Michael Caine. The film documents the negotiations between F.W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela to end South African apartheid, and was nominated for numerous awards in 1997 and 1998. It originally premiered on Showtime on February 16, 1997.
WMandela: Long Walk to Freedom is a 2013 British-South African biographical film directed by Justin Chadwick from a script written by William Nicholson and starring Idris Elba and Naomie Harris. The film is based on the 1995 autobiographical book Long Walk to Freedom by anti-apartheid revolutionary and former South African President Nelson Mandela.
WMoffie is a 2019 South African-British biographical war romantic drama film co-written and directed by Oliver Hermanus. Based on the autobiographical novel of the same name by André Carl van der Merwe, the film depicts mandatory conscription into the notorious South African Defence Force (SADF) during Apartheid through the eyes of a young closeted character Nicholas van der Swart as he attempts to hide his attraction to another gay recruit in a hostile environment. The title derives from a homophobic slur in South Africa used to police masculinity.
WNamibia: The Struggle for Liberation is a 2007 epic film on the Namibian independence struggle against South African occupation as seen through the life of Sam Nujoma, the leader of the South West Africa People's Organisation and the first president of the Republic of Namibia. The film was written and directed by Charles Burnett and stars Carl Lumbly and Danny Glover. The production was financed by the government of Namibia. Music composed by Stephen James Taylor won the award for Best African Film at the Kuala Lumpur International Film Festival where the film also won for Best Music Score and for Best Director.
WThe Power of One is a 1992 drama film loosely based on Bryce Courtenay's 1989 novel of the same name. Set in South Africa during World War II, the film centers on the life of Peter Philip Kenneth-Keith, an English South African boy raised under apartheid, and his conflicted relationships with a German pianist, a Coloured boxing coach and an Afrikaner romantic interest. Directed and edited by John G. Avildsen, the film stars Stephen Dorff, John Gielgud, Morgan Freeman, Armin Mueller-Stahl, and Daniel Craig in his feature film debut.
WRed Dust is a 2004 British drama film starring Hilary Swank and Chiwetel Ejiofor and directed by Tom Hooper.
WSarafina! is a 1992 French-British-South African-American musical drama film based on Mbongeni Ngema's 1987 musical of the same name. The film was directed by Darrell Roodt and written by Ngema and William Nicholson, and stars Leleti Khumalo, Miriam Makeba, John Kani, Ngema, and Whoopi Goldberg; Khumalo reprises her role from the stage performance.
WShepherds and Butchers is a 2016 South African drama film directed by Oliver Schmitz. It was shown in the Panorama section at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. It is an adaptation of the debut novel of the same name by Chris Marnewick, a New Zealand-based author and former South African High Court barrister and judge.
WSkin is a British-South African 2008 biographical film about Sandra Laing, a South African woman born to white parents, who was classified as "Coloured" during the apartheid era, presumably due to a genetic case of atavism. Directed by Anthony Fabian and Based on the book When She Was White: The True Story of a Family Divided by Race by Judith Stone, Skin premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2009.
WStander is a 2003 biographical film about Captain André Stander, a South African police officer turned bank robber, starring Thomas Jane, who initially turned down the role. The filmmakers were able to talk to Allan Heyl, one of Andre Stander's accomplices who was still in prison; Cor van Deventer, his police partner; and the warden of the prison where Andre was incarcerated.
WTengers is a 2007 South African animated film written, directed and produced by Michael J. Rix. It is the first full-length animation produced in South Africa and uses the claymation technique.
WThere's a Zulu On My Stoep, known as Yankee Zulu internationally, is a South African comedy film directed by Gray Hofmeyr. Released in 1993, the film is the highest grossing South African film in the country's box office history. The film stars Leon Schuster and John Matshikiza as two former friends, one white and one black, who grew up together during apartheid, later reuniting as adults over a winning lottery ticket, while being pursued by a racist organization.
WThe Wilby Conspiracy is a 1975 DeLuxe Color thriller film directed by Ralph Nelson and starring Michael Caine, Sidney Poitier, and Nicol Williamson. Filmed in Kenya, it was written by Rodney Amateau, based on the 1972 novel by Peter Driscoll. It had a limited release in the US.
WThe Wild Geese is a 1978 British-Swiss epic war film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and starring Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris, and Hardy Krüger. The screenplay concerns a group of mercenaries in Africa. It was the result of a long-held ambition of its producer Euan Lloyd to make an all-star adventure film similar to The Guns of Navarone or Where Eagles Dare. The same producer and director were later responsible for The Sea Wolves.
WWinnie Mandela is a 2011 drama film adaptation of Anne Marie du Preez Bezrob's biography Winnie Mandela: A Life. The film is directed by Darrell Roodt, and stars Jennifer Hudson, Terrence Howard, Wendy Crewson, Elias Koteas, and Justin Strydom. Image Entertainment released the film in theaters on September 6, 2013.
WA World Apart is a 1988 anti-apartheid drama film and directed by Chris Menges and starring Barbara Hershey, David Suchet, Jeroen Krabbé, Paul Freeman, Tim Roth, and Jodhi May. Written by Shawn Slovo, it is based on the lives of Slovo's parents, Ruth First and Joe Slovo. The film was a co-production between companies from the UK and Zimbabwe, where it was filmed. It features Hans Zimmer's first non-collaborative film score.
WThe World Unseen is a 2007 historical drama film, written and directed by Shamim Sarif, adapted from her own novel. The film is set in 1950s Cape Town, South Africa during the beginning of apartheid. The film stars Lisa Ray and Sheetal Sheth as two Indian South African women who fall in love in a racist, sexist, and homophobic society.
WZulu is a 2013 crime film directed by Jérôme Salle and starring Orlando Bloom and Forest Whitaker. It was selected as the closing film at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. The film is partly based on Project Coast, the program for biological and chemical weapons of the South African apartheid regime, and the book Zulu by author Caryl Férey, winner of the French Grand Prix for Best Crime Novel of 2008.