Fantastic Fest 2011

Writer/Director Charlie Vundla and Producer Mfundi Vundla live in person!

Make no mistake about it, there’s a wave of new cinema coming from Africa and when it arrives it will be directors like VIVA RIVA helmer Djo Tunda Wa Munga and HOW TO STEAL 2 MILLION director Charlie Vundla leading the charge.

With his directorial debut the South African Vundla delivers a slick, stylish noir – a classic story of bad people doing bad things and doing them with style. Soap opera star Menzi Ngubane delivers a magnetic performance as Jack, a career criminal debating going straight after his release from prison. He’s got the skills and the plans for a legit business, but what he doesn’t have is the start up money. Nobody is about to lend the kind of cash Jack needs to a freshly released con. Jack’s former friend and partner Twala, on the other hand, he’s got options.

An ex-friend thanks to the fact that he took up with Jack’s girl while Jack was in prison, Twala’s got a score lined up. A big one. But it’s one that he needs help to pull off. And if Jack does it, the payoff will be big enough for him to chart whatever path he wants. It’s not such a hard choice.

Post-apartheid Johannesburg proves to be an ideal setting for a classically styled noir. Rife with corruption, the police distrusted, it’s not a question of who’s good and who’s evil. They’re all bad, it’s just a question of who’s bad and who’s worse and who – when all is said and done – is going to come out alive. Vundla proves to be a sure hand behind the camera while Ngubane delivers a quietly mesmerizing performance in the lead. This duo serves official notice, Africa is a film force to be reckoned with. (Todd Brown)