Shorts Program 2: Mzansi Moments

This collection of short films from South Africa includes Ntokozo Mlaba’s The Passage, Michelle Name and Onke Meje’s Intsikelelo Yamanzi, Nduduzo Shandu’s Gogo, Phumi Morare’s Why the Cattle Wait, Hachimiya Ahamada’s Zanatany, When Soulless Shrouds Whisper, Kgomotso Sekhu’s Shap Shap, and Zoe Ramushu’s Damsel, Not in Distress.

The Passage
Ntokozo Mlaba, 2024, South Africa, 12m
Southern Sotho and Zulu with English subtitles
North American Premiere

When Mrembula learns that Dakalo has opened a case of rape against him, he blackmails Bafana, his best friend and Dakalo’s boyfriend, into fabricating a story. Bafana tries to resist but realizes that with his hopes of making it out of the hood, it would be better to go with Mrembula’s story than to end up living his days in a jail cell. Mrembula thus sits Bafana down as they recreate the recollections of the events that unfolded on that fateful night in the passage.

Intsikelelo Yamanzi
Michelle Name, Onke Meje, 2024, South Africa, 8m
English and Xhosa with English subtitles
North American Premiere

When Cape Town encounters an extreme stretch without water, things get desperate. Perhaps it’s a little boy who returns us to our humanity.

Gogo
Nduduzo Shandu, 2024, South Africa, 13m
Zulu with English subtitles

Introduced to storytelling at a young age from her own grandmother, Nduduzo Shandu crafted a story of a lifetime bond between a grandmother and her grandson.

Why the Cattle Wait
Phumi Morare, 2024, South Africa, 20m
Xhosa with English subtitles
New York Premiere

A folklore love story about a Nguni goddess who must find and convince her former mortal lover to return to the eternal world with her, before she destroys the earth.

Zanatany, When Soulless Shrouds Whisper
Hachimiya Ahamada, 2024, Belgium/Madagascar, 27m
Malagasy with English subtitles
New York Premiere

Majunga, Madagascar, December 1976. A wind of revolt sweeps through the city. Ali, a second-in-command in a bookbinding workshop, is raising his two daughters alone. One morning, before going to work, he witnesses what seems to be a simple neighborhood quarrel….

Shap Shap
Kgomotso Sekhu, 2024, South Africa, 10m
English and Tswana with English subtitles
U.S. Premiere

After surviving multiple attempts on his life in a dangerous village, 13-year-old Mmusi sets out to find his father in the township but is taken in by a strict Jehovah’s Witness. Homeless and judged by society, he struggles to survive in a harsh and unforgiving world. On his journey to reunite with his mother in Johannesburg, Mmusi faces discrimination but discovers hope and strength through unexpected friendships. Just as his life begins to improve, he receives a scholarship to go to the United States, but without a fixed address, his future remains uncertain.

Damsel, Not in Distress
Zoe Ramushu, 2025, South Africa, 11m

Aluta​​ infiltrates a crew of party girls who are hustling Johannesburg’s rich and powerful using charm and deception, but what the crew doesn’t know is Aluta is on a secret mission to find her missing sister. But when a job goes wrong, she’s betrayed and needs to stay one step ahead, or she’ll be the next target.