Three fabulous South African films have won top awards at an international film festival in Viseu, Portugual. The three films are: ‘Mzansea’ which won TWO first prizes, ‘Welcome to Khayelitsha’ which won a second prize, and ‘Love Hermanus’ which came second in the Locations category. The SA films were competing amongst 300 films from 45 […]

Popular Expresso Morning Show host Katlego Maboe will not be appearing on the show until legal proceedings have been fully investigated, and pending the outcome,  Cardova Productions said in a statement on Friday. The statement said: “Certain serious allegations have been posted on social media about Mr Katlego Maboe and, last night, a video was leaked […]

A young South African expat living in Los Angeles, California, has written and produced a song with a voice that will tear at your heart and lyrics that will stir your soul, set to a backdrop of visuals highlighting the spectacular, heartbreaking beauty of South Africa. Edward Smith – whose real name is Dewald Smit […]

South African student Talia Smith, who is currently studying at New York University (NYU) in the USA, has won GOLD in the prestigious 2020 Student Academy Awards for her poignant short film ‘Umama’, based a true life account of her ‘domestic worker’. Talia received the news of her incredible achievement from none other than legendary […]

A well-known midwife in Gauteng, who runs her own private birthing home in the South African province, has allegedly been administering drugs to induce and speed up labour without her clients’ consent. Tonight Carte Blanche investigates this and more. Infant Deaths, Brain Damage and a Popular Midwife She was a popular pick for expectant parents […]

Within the media and popular culture of the global north, cities like Johannesburg are often presented as a site of trouble. They’re the source of the immigrants, drugs, violence, poverty, disease and environmental crisis that worry nervous citizens of more “developed” cities. Even when they take centre stage in international media production, global south cities […]

A 22-year-old from Pretoria, Juandré Nortje, has turned into a sensation on TikTok after he posted numerous videos of himself dancing, his most recent where he is dressed in a khaki outfit, with extremely tight shorts, which has been viewed 1.7 million times in several days. Clearly one of his favourite songs to dance to, […]

This Sunday Carte Blanche investigates what it means to be able to cross a borderline with no passport controls or customs checks. South Africans living in small towns along the eastern Free State’s highly porous border with Lesotho are under severe pressure as farm attacks, stock theft and violence escalate. You can watch the show […]

Almost exactly eight years ago, I found myself stalled on the steep slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro for our group’s final ascent to the highest point on the African continent, writes Sine Thieme. It was the darkest of nights, my hands and feet were frozen solid, and I could hardly breathe. I was sure I couldn’t […]

Tuck and roll into October with these action-packed movies, series, talk shows and kids’ shows, all brand new on Showmax. Here are the highlights of what’s coming this month.  International Series   Condor S2  Based on the James Grady novel and the 1975 film adaptation Three Days of the Condor, Condor follows young CIA analyst […]

You’ve probably watched more than enough Jerusalema Dance Challenge videos by now… but this beautiful performance by the community of Oudtshoorn in Klein Karoo, South Africa, is sooo worth the watch – uniting people of all shapes and sizes, colours and creeds for a wonderful uplifting dance challenge that involved the whole town. Filmed last […]

It was a gift that Trevor Noah, a nonfan of Donald Trump if ever there was one, couldn’t have hoped for in his wildest dreams to celebrate his five-year anniversary on the “Daily Show”: the first debate between Donald Trump and the Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden. The debate last night – there are meant […]

This October Netflix has the new season of Star Trek, the second addition to The Haunting anthology series, “The Haunting of Bly Manor,” and Season 4 of “Somebody Feed Phil.” See the full list of Netflix shows available in South Africa this October 2020 below: Love streaming? Check out what’s new on Showmax this month. (Available for […]

South African singer Belinda Davids flew the flag high for SA, making it to the semi-finals of Britain’s Got Talent. On Saturday night she blew the nation away with her rendition of Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing” on BGT. BGT said: “Not many people can take a Whitney Houston song and make it sound even […]

This Sunday Carte Blanche digs into murky waters to find out The Truth About 5G. You can watch the show on Sunday 27 September in South Africa on DStv Now or stream it overseas in most countries from Tues 29 September if you’re abroad. The Truth About 5G Fifth-generation cellular technology is the next frontier […]

Biltong and Chappies, Mrs Balls and Bobotie. These are a few of our favourite things. Celebrating South African Heritage Day today, The Kiffness has produced a song about his (and most South Africans’) lekker-ist things to eat. He says: “Happy Heritage Day! ?? … Here’s a song about some of the South African things I […]

While President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged South Africans to proudly celebrate Heritage Day – on Thursday 24 September – by taking on the Jerusalema Dance Challenge, SA will actually not be the first country to use the gospel hit song for national celebrations (watch video below)… In Papua New Guinea, which marked its 45th Independence […]

Step aside, Bear Grylls – South African adventurist Riaan Manser is bigger, badder and better at nature. And you can stream his travels on Showmax now. When it comes to roughing it, almost no one matches Riaan:  He was the first person to cycle around Africa – 37 000km. During his trip in 2006, he […]

Singing on the Last Night of the Proms, aka the BBC Proms, the summer festival of orchestral highlights, two days ago, South Africa’s fantastic opera singer Golda Schultz gave a moving rendition of “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” from the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical “Carousel.” Watch (and listen to) Golda Schultz sing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” […]

Gentle giant, George Bizos who passed away earlier this week was a passionate human rights advocate, life long friend and legal representative for Nelson Mandela. He leaves behind a lasting legacy and will be remembered as someone who contributed immensely to South Africa’s democracy. Watch this and more on Carte Blanche this Sunday. You can […]

The clichéd adage “boys will be boys” has, over the ages, normalised unbecoming behaviours. It has also socialised young men into thinking that being a man could entail getting away with reckless behaviour, even the use of violence and aggression to assert power. In her analysis of violent masculinities in post-apartheid South Africa, feminist scholar Pumla […]

In a debut novel that has been called “stunning,” “sparkling,” “compelling” and “engrossing” by reviewers in England, South African Helen Moffett has taken a minor character from Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” and breathed life into her, creating “an enjoyable, even racy addition to the drawing-room industry of novels riffing off Austen.” The novel is […]

The shocking death of Nateniël Julies, an innocent 16-year-old boy with Down Syndrome who was brutally gunned down on the streets of Eldorado Park – during a clash between police and suspected gang members – could herald a turning point in the manner in which South Africa’s police are trained. This week current affairs show […]

After announcing four other original productions in July, Showmax has said it will be involved in another two new international co-productions: an epic African mythology series “Blood Psalms,” with Canal+ International, and the Megan Fox action movie “Rogue.”   “This continues a move towards co-productions from Showmax’s parent company, MultiChoice, which partnered with HBO on […]

To commemorate the legacy of phenomenal Hollywood star Chadwick Boseman, who sadly passed away on Friday (28 August), M-Net Movies has acquired the rights from The Walt Disney Company Africa for a special screening of Marvel Studios’ Black Panther, the film that engraved his name in movie history – and in the hearts of millions […]