ONLINE & IN CINEMA | JUNE 21 - JULY 26
knuckle city poster

Knuckle City

  • 124 mins
  • Drama, Feature
  • 2019

Opening in 1994, Knuckle City shifts between the childhood and adult lives of the legendary boxing champion turned gangster Art Nyakama. Cut to 2019 and his two sons have grown up to follow closely in the footsteps of their father. Dudu Nyakama has become a womanizing professional boxer and Duke Nyakama is now a career criminal, chasing money and thrills at every turn. But Dudu is about to age out before he’s had his chance at fame, and the fight promoters have a lot more faith in the young talent coming up behind him than they do in his comeback chances. With Duke set to be released after a three-year stint in prison, Dudu enlists the help of his brother’s criminal connections to try to get himself one last shot – but both end up with a much bigger fight than they bargained for.

DIRECTOR & WRITER

Jahmil X.T. Qubeka

PRODUCER & EDITOR

Layla Swart

CAST

Zolisa Xaluva, Angela Sithole, Sivuyile Ngesi

Bonus Content

Not to be missed! Capetonian writer-producer Kaye Ann Williams interviews the extremely talented team behind ‘Knuckle City’. World renowned director Jahmil X.T. Qubeka (producer-director) and Layla Swart (producer-editor).

Watch NOW

you may also like

Short

A Karoo Odyssey

Wheelchair bound Multiple Sclerosis sufferer Theo Voss-Price undertakes the Nieu-Bethesda Camino – an over 80km ‘walk’ through the rugged landscape of the Karoo in South Africa.

Short

Loom Body

Set in contemporary South Africa, Loom Body traces an intimate dialogue between body and machine. As dancers and looms echo one another’s rhythm, the film becomes a meditation on how movement and making intertwine – weaving labour, ritual, and memory into a living tapestry of resilience and renewal.

Feature

The Heart Is a Muscle

At a barbecue, Ryan’s five-year-old son briefly goes missing. Ryan’s violent reaction to this scare sets off a chain of events and unearths secrets from the past. A journey of self-discovery and forgiveness begins.

Feature

Runs in the Family

A modest tailor and single Indian dad, Varun (Ace Bhatti) and his transmasculine son, River (Gabe Gabriel), take a road trip across South Africa to break River’s estranged mother, Monica (Diaan Lawrenson), out of a rehab clinic.

Feature

Die Dekonstruksie van Retta Blom

Retta Blom has the perfect life. Or so it seems. A loving husband, a son, her beloved dog and a dream house in a leafy Johannesburg suburb. When her perfectionist eye spots a tiny crack in the varnish of her flawless life, doubt seeps in. She starts investigating. Perhaps her husband, Tobias, isn’t all he […]

Doco

Womxn: Working

Against the backdrop of South Africa’s femicide crisis, a fearless group of activist women wages a historic battle for decriminalization while protecting their vulnerable community through groundbreaking initiatives and unwavering solidarity.

View SAFF 2026 pass sales.