The story of a gay conscript in the army in the 80s gave one critic a panic attack – but its director says it sheds light on the nation’s toxic masculinity
From an outside perspective, South African cinema tends to announce itself through occasional breakout films rather than consistently visible directorial careers. Back in the 1980s, The Gods Must Be Crazy was a global hit that didn’t do much to raise the profile of its director, Jamie Uys. Fourteen years ago, gritty township fable Tsotsi won the country one of its first
Oscars, only to send director Gavin Hood directly into a proficient but culturally anonymous
Hollywood career.
In Oliver Hermanus, however, the country has produced its most significant auteur in several generations. The 36-year-old Capetonian studied at the
London Film School, but returned home for his art. His 2009 graduation film Shirley Adams, a tough-minded mother-son portrait set on the Cape Flats, set the tone for a career marked by global critical acclaim. He stepped up to Cannes with his follow-up, Beauty, a startling study of a closeted Afrikaner that made it to
UK cinemas; his third film, The Endless River, did not.