2026 program

SAFF brings the very best of South African films to your home, proudly presenting features, documentaries, and short films that explore the rich culture, history, and politics of South Africa.

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.

Feature

AIDA

Cape Town Opera brings Verdi’s powerful Aida to life with an all-South African cast, presenting a futuristic reimagining of this beloved opera. Set against a backdrop of war, forbidden love and cultural conflict, this timeless opera is brought into an era of African futurism. The story follows Aida, an enslaved Ethiopian princess, and Radamès, an […]

Short

Amazeze (Fleas)

Tonderai, a young Zimbabwean boy living in a South African township, watches as a xenophobic mob runs rampant through his neighbourhood. He watches over his gravely ill younger brother, who becomes desperate for drinking water.

Short

Are Your Eyes Nicely Open?

Are Your Eyes Nicely Open? is a documentary that examines the modern world, sustainability, climate change, and what we can learn from the ancient culture of the Bushmen that could help us live in harmony with our planet. The documentary also focuses on the dispossession of the Bushmen people of Southern Africa, and how Western […]

Short

B(l)ind the Sacrifice

Based on the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac, from Genesis: “God promised Sarah and Abraham they would have a son, even though she was past childbearing age.” After Isaac is born, to test Abraham’s obedience, God instructs him to sacrifice his only son. As the pious Abraham begins to prepare for the ritual sacrifice, […]

Feature

Barakat

An aging matriarch aims to bring together her fractured, dysfunctional family over Eid-al-Fitr to break the news about her new romance.

Short

Being You

Being You follows Sheila, a 37-year-old Oscar-winning filmmaker who attempts to take her own life during a panic attack triggered by a question about her deeply personal film, The Barren. Instead of dying, she wakes up 20 years earlier in a club bathroom in Melville, Johannesburg, where she encounters her 16-year-old self, Shishiliza, confident, carefree, […]

Doco

Capturing Water

Capturing Water delves into Cape Town’s escalating water crisis, a growing emergency in recent years. As pollution of natural water sources worsens and industrial and urban developments threaten access to clean water, government responses remain inadequate.

Feature

Carissa

In a quiet village, a young woman is pushed by her grandmother to apply for a job opportunity on a new golf estate being developed in the mountains. However, when she learns that the estate will be built over her estranged grandfather’s rooibos tea lands, she is confronted with a difficult choice.

Short

Dears In The Headlights

While Philli works in silence, her mother Caro takes to the streets, founding South Africans Against Drunk Driving (SADD), determined that no other mother should know her pain. Together, mother and daughter embody two polar expressions of mourning: one intimate, one galvanizing. Yet both with one mission: to turn sorrow into meaning.

Doco

Diary of an Elephant Orphan

The Jabulani herd is unique in that it is mostly comprised of elephants that were also once orphans. This makes the herd more accepting of other orphans, offering a unique solution for orphaned baby elephants who seldom survive outside of an elephant family structure.

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 […]

Feature

Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight

“Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight” thrusts us into the tumultuous world of 8-year-old Bobo, whose childhood unfolds on her family’s Rhodesian farm, now Zimbabwe, as the Bush War rages to its bitter end. Set against this violent backdrop, and seen through her eyes, we witness the family’s desperate attachment to Africa’s soil and […]

Doco

Fitting In

Young South Africans from all walks of life begin their student experience at the elite University of Stellenbosch. Within the walls of a prestigious student residence called “Eendrag“, the newcomers are confronted with colonial structures. They try to navigate between personal growth, cultural differences and a past that has not been forgotten.

Short

King George

After being handed an eviction notice, a wily strip club owner goes to war with a ruthless property developer.

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

Lucky Fish

With heavy competition from much larger companies and his own bad management of finances, Sanjay Pillay’s tinned fish company is circling the drain. After being inspired by all the publicity that the local Miss Chatsworth beauty pageant is getting, Sanjay decides to rope his sister, Samantha, into helping him organize and sponsor his very own […]

Feature

My F*k, Marelize!

My F*k, Marelize! tells the story of Heidi, a strong-willed woman who hides her cancer from her family, and Marelize, her ill-fated daughter who must learn how to ride a bike so she can become an au pair in the Netherlands. What could go wrong? Based on a true story that inspired a nation.

Doco

Normal To Me

Normal To Me is an engaging feature documentary that intimately explores the lives of individuals with special needs, all employed at a protective workshop in the charming seaside town of Fish Hoek, South Africa. The film delves into the unique stories of selected individuals, showcasing their resilience and triumphs as they challenge societal expectations and […]

Doco

Pangolin – Journey to Freedom

The inspiring story of Kosha, a pangolin rescued from the illegal wildlife trade in Zimbabwe, whose extraordinary journey challenged everything we thought we knew about her species and redefined the future of pangolin conservation.

Doco

Pigcasso: Million Dollar Pig

In Franschhoek Valley, South Africa, a piglet destined for slaughter is given a second chance at life. Pigcasso, rescued by animal rights activist Joanne Lefson, becomes the world’s first painting pig, creating artworks that challenge perceptions of animal intelligence and artistic expression.

Short

PUNTER

Young Brett must navigate the underbelly of the Johannesburg gambling world as a seemingly harmless horse-racing bet jeopardizes the surprise he’s prepared for his father’s birthday.

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.

Doco

Sam Nzima: Journey Through His Lens

When Sam Nzima captured the haunting image of Hector Pieterson during the Soweto Uprising, his photograph helped expose the brutality of apartheid to the world—yet the man behind the lens was thrust into a life of exile, sacrifice, and resilience; Journey Through His Lens uncovers the untold story of the photographer whose single frame changed […]

Short

Shap Shap

After a challenging childhood with his grandmother in a remote village, 13-year-old Mmusi sets off to the township in search of his father. Instead, he’s taken in by a strict Jehovah’s Witness, whose unyielding beliefs leave him feeling out of place. Struggling to fit in, Mmusi ends up homeless, rejected by society. Determined to reunite […]

Short

Squashbox

SQUASHBOX is a short poetic documentary that tells the story of the history, meeting, and work of Qadasi & Maqhinga, a SAMA (South African Music Award) Award-winning South African maskandi duo.

Short

Sundown Syndrome

From the gentle chaos of a warm family kitchen where the weight of motherhood once consumed her, to the cold stark present where memory no longer holds. Haunted by the relentless ticking of a clock and the ghost of a ringing phone, Elsie is caught in the haunting beauty of a life she once longed […]

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.

Short

The House That Never Sleeps

When a once-prolific novelist, now reclusive and no longer writing, is interviewed by a fan podcaster about his process and first short story, he must confront the secret behind his prolific work and be reborn as an artist.

Feature

The Shakedown

“The Shakedown” follows the story of Justin Diamond, a well-respected medical aid broker who finds himself entangled in the Cape Town underworld after his mistress threatens to reveal the secret of their affair. The plot thickens as Justin’s desperate attempts to maintain his golden boy reputation, lead him down a path filled with dangerous criminals, […]

Short

Vet vannie Land (Fat of the Land)

In the harsh, mysterious landscape of the Richtersveld, a passionate botanist battles against time and organised crime to save South Africa’s rare succulents – revealing an underground world of greed, resilience and hope.

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.

Festival with a conscience

Our commitment to supporting those most in need through Education without Borders has seen us adapt to the times and reinvent this years festival. All net proceeds go to benefit Education without Borders.