It's My Life

In a Time of Violence: The Line

This controversial political thriller, which provoked mass demonstrations and nine deaths in South Africa when it was first shown, gives dramatic form to the African National Congress's basic program of reconcilliation within a non-racialist, democratic society. A train massacre by an Inkatha militant causes the sole witness to the crime to flee the Soweto townships to take refuge in Johannesburg; but the violence follows him when his ANC comrades try to buy guns for a retaliatory raid against Inkatha supporters.

The Abyss Boys

A coming-of-age tale of two boys trying to survive amidst rampant corruption and gang violence.

Zilima Ziya Etshini: Compelling Freedom

A film made by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) that depicts workers using song and dance as a form of resistance. A radical "workers' culture" was a major element of 1970s and 1980s insurgent trade unionism in South Africa.

Orion

Zatopek (Zet) van Heerden is an ex-cop, a damaged man who describes himself as trash and acts self-destructively. He reluctantly agrees to take on a job for attorney Hope Beneke. Jan Smit, an antiques dealer, has been killed; tortured with a blowtorch then shot in the back of the head. An execution-style murder. The weapon used was an M16, a military gun, favoured by mercenaries. The contents of Smit's safe are missing and that includes his will which is needed to settle his estate. When van Heerden tries to find out more he discovers that Jan Smit had a false ID and sets out to uncover who he was. His investigations lead him into South Africa's murky past and attracts the unwelcome attention of brutal killers. Meyer effectively weaves together the progress of the investigation with van Heerden's account of his life story leading up to the awful events that resulted in his fall from grace and loss of integrity.