Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £6.99 a month
Mapantsula
Panic, a petty gangster, is caught up in Township riots in this cult classic crime drama, the first anti-Apartheid film shot guerilla style on the streets of Soweto.
Director: Oliver Schmitz
Overview
During demonstrations in apartheid-era South Africa, police arrest not only activists but also Panic, a “mapantsula” or petty gangster. While a cop tries to get him to make incriminating statements, we learn in flashbacks how Panic got caught up in the township riots. Oliver Schmitz' long-elusive cult classic is one of the most important films to ever be produced and exported out of Africa. The first true anti-apartheid picture, it was produced guerilla-style with a dose of deception and evading government authorities, and was subsequently banned by the Apartheid regime soon after release. After screening in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival it was exhibited in countries around the globe to massive critical acclaim, only to fall out of distribution, but is now available again in this transformational new 4k restoration.
Related
Ossessione Ossessione
Crime 1943 140 mins Director: Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti’s adaptation of James M Cain's novel The Postman Always Rings Twice is an electrifying tale of the seductive and destructive power of human sexuality.
Hyena Hyena
Crime 2015 112 mins Director: Gerard Johnson
In this stylish, dark crime thriller, a policeman’s complex web of underworld relationships is threatened by an internal affairs investigator.
A Bittersweet Life A Bittersweet Life
Action and Adventure 2005 120 mins Director: Kim Jee-woon and Doo Hong Jung
A hitman becomes the target in this ultra-stylish neo noir from Kim Jee-woon.
The Honeymoon Killers The Honeymoon Killers
Crime 1969 107 mins Director: Leonard Kastle
The disturbing true story of a pair of twisted lovers who posed as siblings to seduce, con and - if necessary - kill.
In Cold Blood In Cold Blood
Crime 1967 135 mins Director: Richard Brooks
Powerful adaptation of Truman Capote’s true-crime novel about the massacre of a family in Kansas, and the manhunt for the killers.
One False Move One False Move
Crime 1990 106 mins Director: Carl Franklin
Explosive thriller starring Bill Paxton as a small-town Sheriff, out to bust a gang of LA drug dealers… until he learns his ex-girlfriend is one of them.
Holiday Holiday
Thriller 2018 88 mins Director: Isabella Eklöf
A lavish trip to the Turkish Riviera goes horribly awry in this disturbing tale of power, exploitation and complicity from the writer of Border.
The Lover The Lover
Drama 1992 115 mins Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud
Jean-Jacques Annaud's powerful, intimate, and sensual adaptation of the best-selling novel by Marguerite Duras.
The Quiet Girl The Quiet Girl
Drama 2021 91 mins Director: Colm Bairéad
A neglected girl lives a joyful summer in Colm Bairéad's Academy Award-nominated debut that combines outstanding beauty and heart-wrenching performances.
Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power
Documentary 2022 107 mins Director: Nina Menkes
You may never look at film the same way again after watching this illuminating journey, which deconstructs the male gaze in cinema.
EO EO
Drama 2022 86 mins Director: Jerzy Skolimowski
The joint winner of the Cannes Jury Prize and Academy Award-nominated, EO is a strangely wonderful tale where the dark and light of humanity is laid bare.
The Eight Mountains The Eight Mountains
Drama 2022 147 mins Director: Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch
An epic journey of friendship and self-discovery set against a magnificent and breath-taking Italian landscape, winner of the 2022 Cannes Jury Prize.
Amores perros Amores perros
Drama 2000 148 mins Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Alejandro González Iñárritu's (Birdman, The Revenant) gripping debut feature is a savagely brilliant triptych around the theme of animalistic desires.
Drugstore Cowboy Drugstore Cowboy
Drama 1989 101 mins Director: Gus Van Sant
Matt Dillon and his not-so-merry band of junkies rob pharmacies and cheat death.
Maurice Maurice
Drama 1987 140 mins Director: James Ivory
Merchant Ivory’s landmark adaptation of E M Forster’s classic LGBTQ+ novel and a precursor to the James Ivory-scripted Call Me By Your Name, starring Hugh Grant, James Wilby and Rupert Graves.
Architecton Architecton
Documentary 2024 98 mins Director: Viktor Kossakovsky
Victor Kossakovsky’s film essay looks at the way we have constructed our built world through a series of breathtaking sequences.
Layla Layla
2024 100 mins Director: Amrou Al-Kadhi
A British-Palestinian drag performer catches the eye of a strait-laced white man in Amrou Al-Kadhi’s stunning, semi-autobiographical debut.
When I Saw You When I Saw You
Drama 2014 94 mins Director: Annemarie Jacir
Following the Six-Day War in 1967, a young Palestinian refugee boy yearns to be reunited with his father and joins a band of freedom fighters.