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Welcome to the South African Film Festival! All proceeds go to support Education without Borders. Buy a Festival Pass to get access to all films, documentaries and shorts.
SAFF Top Picks
Shap Shap + Q&A
A 13-year-old boy, homeless and searching for his father, faces prejudice and struggles to find a place to belong.
Watch now
The Friendship Bench + Q&A
When community loses hope, grandmothers take action.
Watch now
Old Righteous Blues
A young man is forced to confront his limitations, face the ghosts of the past and rise above establishment constraints to unite a fractured community and realise his life-long dream of leading his town’s Christmas Choir Band (Kerskoor) to its former glory.
Watch now
Shap Shap + Q&A
A 13-year-old boy, homeless and searching for his father, faces prejudice and struggles to find a place to belong.
Watch now
The Friendship Bench + Q&A
When community loses hope, grandmothers take action.
Watch now
Old Righteous Blues
A young man is forced to confront his limitations, face the ghosts of the past and rise above establishment constraints to unite a fractured community and realise his life-long dream of leading his town’s Christmas Choir Band (Kerskoor) to its former glory.
Watch now
Shap Shap + Q&A
A 13-year-old boy, homeless and searching for his father, faces prejudice and struggles to find a place to belong.
Watch now
Feature Films
Documentaries
Q&A
Is there an elephant in the room?
A special Q&A with international comedian, Schalk Bezuidenhout about comedy, culture and conservation, hosted by Joel Creasey. All the proceeds of this event will go to Education without Borders.
Watch now
Short Films
All Films
"Banned" uncovers the compelling story of "Joe Bullet," a groundbreaking 1971 South African action thriller. As the first film to feature an all-black African cast, it faced immediate censorship upon its 1973 release.
78 min | 2024 | South Africa
Banned
A poetic exploration of mental health issues among creatives in communities on the African continent and in the diaspora, exploring myths, stigma and solutions through the personal stories of the characters.
82 min | 2024 | South Africa
Black People Don't Get Depressed
A loner ex-reporter stumbles across a covert operation that allows former apartheid bosses to continue their work in biological warfare unchecked in the new South Africa.
127 min | 2023 | South Africa
Death Of A Whistleblower
The Jabulani herd is unique in that it is mostly comprised of elephants that were also once orphans. This makes the herd more accepting of other orphans, offering a unique solution for orphaned baby elephants who seldom survive outside of an elephant family structure.
83 min | 2024 | South Africa
Diary of an Elephant Orphan + Q&A
Elsabe Marais, a widow in her 80s, and her three geriatric friends embark on a hilarious road trip across the Karoo to attend a significant meteor shower viewing in Sutherland. With only three days to get there, they speed away from her overprotective son, who is hot on their tail.
91 min | 2024 | South Africa
Die Kwiksilwers + Q&A
Six decades, two families, one story.
68 min | 2024 | South Africa
Don't Be Late For My Funeral + Q&A
When community loses hope, grandmothers take action.
76 min | 2024 | South Africa
The Friendship Bench + Q&A
The Burgess family is a typical culturally-blended family. Eric is secular, but his wife Julie, is a non-practicing Muslim. After she suddenly dies, years of family conflict must be navigated so that she can be buried as per Muslim custom.
93 min | 2024 | South Africa
Hier.Na
I Did Not Ask for This! looks at Tsakani Motshweni’s tough and extremely courageous journey towards healing after being sexually abused in juvenile prison, and his determination to fight to end the scourge of sexual violence in places of detention.
28 min | 2023 | South Africa
I Did Not Ask for This!
"Two childhood friends, separated by apartheid, embark on a journey across the Cape Flats in 'Illusion of Distance', confronting the lasting effects of racial segregation."
11 min | 2024 | South Africa
Illusion of Distance
A special Q&A with international comedian, Schalk Bezuidenhout about comedy, culture and conservation, hosted by Joel Creasey. All the proceeds of this event will go to Education without Borders.
2025 | Australia
Is there an elephant in the room?
The world watched as Apartheid fell, but its shadow still lingers. An exploration into the deep wounds of South Africa's past and the nation's ongoing fight for equality.
110 min | 2024 | South Africa
Legacy: The De-Colonized History of South Africa
In this wry love letter to South African suburbia, a local filmmaker attempts to connect with his upmarket neighbours through their intercom systems, starting conversations about guard dogs, racial profiling and home security.
8 min | 2023 | South Africa
Love, Your Neighbour
A captivating short film documentary that takes viewers on a remarkable journey through the township community of Mamelodi, as author Aubrey Mogase introduces us to an extraordinary timeline of heroes.
29 min | 2023 | South Africa
Mamelodi - A Timeline of Heroes!
What is home?
10 min | 2023 | South Africa
Masiphumelele
After a family tragedy, a man attempts to guide his son into manhood through a series of hunting trips at the request of his overbearing and traditional father.
23 min | 2024 | South Africa
Middle of Somewhere
Set in past, present, and future South Africa — an invitation into a poetic, memory-driven exploration of love, intimacy, race, and belonging by the filmmaker, who grew up during apartheid but didn't know it was happening until it was over.
129 min | 2023 | South Africa, Colombia
Milisuthando
A slacker and her buddy have to come up with a thousand rands that they owe a loan shark to retrieve her grandmother’s new TV set before she returns from church when he confiscates and threatens to sell it off to recover his money.
84 min | 2023 | South Africa
Month End
A passionate conservationist makes a cruel pact to save endangered seabirds from extinction on an inhospitable island, alone. In the end, it's a victory for the birds, but at what price?
98 min | 2024 | South Africa
My Mercury
In a South African fishing community, Witbrood (White Bread) and his wife, Monica, face endless hardships. Nevertheless, they share what they have – and take in a child, who they raise as their own.
12 min | 2023 | South Africa
Of Bread and Water
A young man is forced to confront his limitations, face the ghosts of the past and rise above establishment constraints to unite a fractured community and realise his life-long dream of leading his town’s Christmas Choir Band (Kerskoor) to its former glory.
96 min | 2024 | South Africa
Old Righteous Blues
How kids make sense of the Christian afterlife.
13 min | 2023 | South Africa
Over my dead body
Through the medium of dance, the film tells the story of a young girl in a South African township.
15 min | 2024 | South Africa
Shame
A 13-year-old boy, homeless and searching for his father, faces prejudice and struggles to find a place to belong.
Shap Shap + Q&A
Love over Gold.
98 min | 2024 | South Africa
Sierra's Gold
When a 10-year-old farm girl gets trapped in the lies of a sinister stranger, she must fight with the truth to save her family.
110 min | 2024 | South Africa
Snake
A 19-year-old village boy saves the life of a kidnapped woman and endangers the lives of his family. When the killers stop at nothing to find him, he must choose between saving his family or a life of a stranger.
86 min | 2024 | South Africa
Sonti
After receiving her vaccine, a young woman unexpectedly reunites with her ex-boyfriend in the crowded observation room, leading to an awkward situation that forces them to confront unresolved issues from their past in the most inconvenient and amusing way possible.
14 min | 2023 | South Africa
Take a Seat
As climate induced disasters are on the rise across Southern Africa, three activists grapple with what thinking globally and acting locally means in practise.
72 min | 2024 | South Africa
Temperature Rising
After arriving in a police station to report a crime, Mzu takes it upon himself to help an elderly man at the back of the line. But he finds resistance from the people ahead and a stifling bureaucratic system.
15 min | 2024 | South Africa
The Wait
For centuries, indigenous people lived sustainably while resisting invaders on South Africa’s Wild Coast. In a David and Goliath courtroom fight against Shell, these communities and NGOs succeeded in halting oil/gas exploration, winning ongoing protection for their ocean and culture.
73 min | 2024 | South Africa
Wild Coast Warriors