20 December, 2019 - 07:53
They say dynamite comes in small packages, Sadla, a narrative short film produced by Kude Media is proof of that, Clocking in at 5 minutes and forty-five seconds exactly, this powerful film has made history by being the very first narrative film by a black South African filmmaker to be selected for the Sundance Film Festival.
Sadla is a simple study in shifting power paradigms. Sadla draws a comparison between the most common and visible manifestations of racism and sexism in public spaces. It is an uncomfortable film that rests almost entirely on the shoulders of little known actor, Kuthula Magubane as he moves between being a victim of racism to victimising others with sexism. Veteran actors Abena Ayivor and Justin Strydom are also part of the cast.
According to the Sundance Institute, submissions reached a record high of 15,100 this year. Among those, only 29% were created by female filmmakers. The festival will take place in Park City, Utah between the 23rd of January and the 3rd of February, 2020. Sundance is widely regarded as the largest American independent film festival. Its the festival that launched the careers of the likes of Ava DuVernay and Black Panther director, Ryan Coogler. This will be the USA premiere of Sadla. The films world premiere was at the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada earlier this year.
Sadla was written, directed and produced by accomplished filmmaker, Zamo Mkhwanazi. Mkhwanazi works between South Africa and Switzerland. In 2011 she wrote, directed and produced her first short film, Philia. Her second short, The Call, premiered at Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival and screened at the 40th Toronto International Film Festival. Her short film, Gallo Rojo premiered at the 69th Cannes Film Festival Directors Fortnight. Mkhwanazi has written more some 200 hours of aired television on over 25 television shows. She is currently developing her first feature film, Laundry.
When questioned about her choice of police brutality as the films main themes, Mkhwanazi had this to say, The violence of the police towards black bodies has become ever more highlighted with the global impact of the Black Lives Matter movement and in South Africa, with the student protest movements sweeping the country. It occurred to me that this progression, from staring and inciting fear for fun, to outright murder is not a very different path than what most women experience on a day-to-day basis in urban streets. From having men making women uncomfortable with stares and following, to the extreme horror of rape and brutal murders of women that make our country number two for rape and five for femicide, in the world. Thus the purpose of this film is an attempt to start talking across these divides amongst the victimised.
It is clear that South African women like Mkhwanazi want their voices to be heard. The selection of Sadla at a platform like Sundance means the world is ready to listen however attending Sundance is a costly exercise. Furthermore, the announcement of the final line-up comes at a time when most of the film funding bodies have exhausted their 2019 budgets. A crowdfunding campaign has been launched to cover Mkhwanazis flights, accommodation and living expenses. To make a financial contribution, all you have to do is visit Zamos Backabuddy crowdfunding campaign page: https://www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/zamo-mkhwanazi
For more updates, follow the Sadla page on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Sadlashortfilm/
Film Festivals
Africa South Africa
Zamo Mkhwanazi, zamobleach@gmail.com
Most recent headlines
24/12/2025
What is AI good for? Posted by MTI Film on December 24, 2025
What is AI good for?
What is AI good for?
It's been three years since ChatGPT first cap...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
Love, Fights, and Everything in Between: Badly in Love' Returns for Season 2
Entertainment
24 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied t...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today! By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's The Great Flood and Culinary Class Wars 2 Top Gl...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things By the Numbers: How the Global Phenomenon Shap...
23/12/2025
Experience the power of WO Automation for Radio's newest service, the System Effectiveness Review. Designed to help you achieve more, a System Effectiveness...
23/12/2025
23 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to A...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
How Steamy Can It Get? Single's Inferno' Season 5 Pre...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
33 Million Global Viewers on Netflix Watched Jake Paul vs. Ant...
23/12/2025
New technique lights up where drugs go in the body, cell by cell Scripps Research scientists developed a technique that maps drug binding in individual cells th...
22/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Presidio's Neerav Shah on the Role of Its Captiva...
22/12/2025
Hitting the bullseye: Sky Sports readies itself for the biggest PDC World Darts ...
22/12/2025
Unique skillset: Bringing new directors to the world of darts at The Worlds with...
22/12/2025
Gravity Media prepares for a flight of fancy with the PDC World Darts Championsh...
22/12/2025
One hundred and eighty: Gravity Media on hitting the production bullseye at the ...
22/12/2025
The Famous Group's Jon Slusser on Fascinating Fans Through Immersive Content...
22/12/2025
ESPN's Meg Aronowitz on Continuing High-Quality Broadcasts of Collegiate Spo...
22/12/2025
ESPN Takes Data-Driven Storytelling to New Heights with MNF Playbook with Next ...
22/12/2025
For a decade, popular German podcast Fest & Flauschig has hosted an annual Chris...
22/12/2025
Paramount Scores Largest Share Increase Among Distributors as Paramount and CBS...
22/12/2025
New multi-year deal integrates Roku's data to fuel Nielsen's measurement suite
Roku gains access to Nielsen's streaming ratings, showing The Roku C...
22/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
22/12/2025
Berklee Wrapped 2025: Our Top News and Stories A look back at a year highlighted by faculty milestones, major film and television projects, Bob Dylan's ho...
22/12/2025
The works of Plato state that when humans have an experience, some level of change occurs in their brain, which is powered by memory - specifically long-term me...
22/12/2025
Partnership integrates complementary satellite data and AI analytics to enhance security, infrastructure, and environmental monitoring solutions for global cust...
22/12/2025
Workflows allow you to create a sequence of planned events which may be added to your template(s) or inserted directly into your sequential or background playli...
20 December, 2019 - 07:53 
