- Occupation
Director - Country
South Africa
Maas Deon
Durban Poison
The Stable Theatre was the first independent black theatre in South Africa, founded in the racially and culturally mixed city of Durban. Its most famous product is Broadway playwright and pop star Mbongeni Ngema, a controversial figure tainted by scandal and accusations of racism. In an attempt to return to his roots, Ngema begins work on an ambitious new musical designed to tell the Stable's history. Unseen fault lines are crossed, and corruption, fraud and politics threaten to engulf the project. At the same time, the film's producer Deon Maas unexpectedly becomes a reality TV celebrity and decides to use his new public notoriety to investigate the situation. As the musical collapses and the theatre itself slides into failure, the film becomes a road movie through the minefield of contemporary South African politics and a search for the deeper problems at the heart of the Stable Theatre's collapse.
Punk in Africa
Three chords, three countries, one revolution… Punk in Africa is the story of the multi-racial punk movement within the recent political and social upheavals experienced in three Southern African countries: South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. In these societies, the punk subculture represented a genuinely radical political impulse, playing out against a backdrop of intense political struggle, economic hardship and even civil war.
The Stable Theatre was the first independent black theatre in South Africa, founded in the racially and culturally mixed city of Durban. Its most famous product is Broadway playwright and pop star Mbongeni Ngema, a controversial figure tainted by scandal and accusations of racism. In an attempt to return to his roots, Ngema begins work on an ambitious new musical designed to tell the Stable's history. Unseen fault lines are crossed, and corruption, fraud and politics threaten to engulf the project. At the same time, the film's producer Deon Maas unexpectedly becomes a reality TV celebrity and decides to use his new public notoriety to investigate the situation. As the musical collapses and the theatre itself slides into failure, the film becomes a road movie through the minefield of contemporary South African politics and a search for the deeper problems at the heart of the Stable Theatre's collapse.
Punk in Africa
Three chords, three countries, one revolution… Punk in Africa is the story of the multi-racial punk movement within the recent political and social upheavals experienced in three Southern African countries: South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. In these societies, the punk subculture represented a genuinely radical political impulse, playing out against a backdrop of intense political struggle, economic hardship and even civil war.