A film about the joy that comes from owning one’s story and identity, Black Burns Fast follows a bookish scholarship student at a prestigious boarding school whose rigid life is upended by the arrival of a magnetic new student.

Behind the doors of a prestigious all-girls boarding school in South Africa, another year of academic politics, cliques, and head-scratching teenage shenanigans is afoot, and 17-year-old Luthando (Esihle Ndleleni) is unfortunately getting wrapped up in it. As the poster child and designated gifted scholarship girl of the school, Luthando is determined to not make a splash; meet her overzealous religious mother’s expectation; and succeed with little notice from the sharks. However, that hope is thrown out the window when new student Ayanda (Muadi Ilung) steps onto campus. A budding romance sparks an internal change that is expressed boldly in Sandulela Asanda’s vibrant, funny, and wholesome coming-of-age teen romcom.