Carolyn Carew

Disco Afrika: A Malagasy Story

Madagascar, nowadays. Kwame, 20, struggles to make a living in the clandestine sapphire mines. An unexpected event takes him back to his hometown. As he reunites with his mother and old friends, he finds himself confronted with the rampant corruption plaguing his country. He will have to choose between easy money and loyalty, between individualism and political awakening.

Seconds

Follows the story of Seconds Khumalo, a retiring boxer from the East Rand preparing for his final fight. Seconds is left to train under Jerry van Tonder, an ill-equipped 32 year-old daddy's boy, his father Pa van Tonder trained Second for years but after the family feels threatened that an unspoken contract might be broken, they are left with no choice but to end matters on their own terms.

Music Is My Life: Joseph Shabalala and Ladysmith Black Mambazo

The story of Joseph Shabalala, who rose to international fame with his band Ladysmith Black Mambazo after contributing to Paul Simon’s massively successful Graceland album. Bathed in Ladysmith’s powerful music, the documentary covers the full breadth of the singer’s life, from his early years in rural South Africa to the height of Shabalala’s global success to his passing in 2020, at the age of 79.

Sew the Winter to My Skin

Set in South Africa's rural Great-Karoo region in the 1950s, this epic existential-adventure film chronicles the exploits of the outlaw John Kepe and the various individuals his escapades affected. This Robin-Hoodesque figure would steal primarily livestock from the white settler farmers, terrorizing them for over a decade. Led by the hardliner General Botha, a mammoth manhunt ensues in the very mountain where Kepe was rumored to occupy a Noah's Ark like cave. This spectacle ingratiated Kepe in the hearts of the marginalized indigenous-population, who turn Kepe's miscreant deeds into the stuff of legend, making him a threat to the very fabric of the colonial society. Sew the Winter to my Skin is a thrilling, operatic ride into the heart of Pre-Apartheid South Africa and is a visceral exploration of the effects of the colonial displacement that sewed the seeds for one of the most viciously racist, political regimes in history.

Farewell Ella Bella

For Ella (24), the death of her alcoholic father leaves her with nothing but debt and the bitter memory of a complicated past. Abandoned by her mother at a young age, she has sacrificed her life, opportunities and love to care for a man she resents, but is now left adrift in the world after his passing. The re-emergence of her nomadic godfather, Neo (46), at her father’s cremation, gives Ella the opportunity to discover a better future for herself in Johannesburg. She also decides that she will bury his ashes at her childhood home in Jo’burg.