HIJACK STORIES (Oliver Schmitz, 94 minutes, 2000)

The young actor Sox is offered the role as a tsotsi (gangsta) in a TV series that could launch his career. Although his family roots were in the tough township of Soweto, his middle class upbringing is light years away from that experience.  

In true Method acting style, he immerses himself in the township and approaches Zama, a real tsotsi  to teach him the ways of that life.  

Conflict and confusion ensue for everybody.   Punctuated by booming kwaito music, this thriller is the 2nd feature film by Oliver Schmitz director of the acclaimed Mapantsula (screened at the Pacific Film Archive on March 18) and it obliquely addresses the growing class divide amongst Black South Africans.

‍*Born Free is a term for people who have grown up since the end of apartheid

‍Curated by Cornelius Moore.

This program is presented in conjunction with our current exhibition After the Thrill is Gone: Fashion, Politics and Culture in Contemporary South African Art