Director Oliver Schmitz tells some of the extraordinary tales of the making of Mapantsula, in conversation with Maona Art’s Tatenda Jamera.

Presented in partnership with Mosa Mpetha of Cinema Africa! and Tatenda Jamera of Maona Art
Supported by Independent Cinema Office and What The Hero Wants
Funded by BFI Audience Projects Fund

A true classic of guerrilla filmmaking, Mapantsula has been newly restored after years of suppression, marking the 30th anniversary of South African Freedom Day in April 2024. Mapantsula is one of the most important and influential films to ever be peroduced and exported out of Africa. Director Oliver Schmitz worked closely with co-writer and lead actor Thomas Mogotlane, to produce a film under extreme censorship, and by evasion of the authorities, they bravely created a radical and rare anti-apartheid feature film. Mapantsula tells the story of Panic, a small-time hood who believes he sees all the angles. But he is soon in the web of the authorities, pushed to betray the revolutionaries fighting for change.

Filmed at the Garden Cinema on 25th April 2024