Shifty is hosting the “LOCKDOWN VIRAL PICTURE SHOW”
a FREE ONLINE FILM FESTIVAL where we’ll be showing all the documentaries, movies and also some of the music videos we’ve released … so stay tuned until the end of lockdown.
#shiftylockdownviralpictureshow
PLUCK - THE MOVIE
(74 Minutes)
An alternative history of the New South Africa told through the lens of Nando's ad campaigns, which have kept a nation both reflective and amused through the growing pains of its young democracy.
WILD LANDINGS - NAMIBIA
(72 Minutes)
Mike Blyth & James Pitman, two aviators renowned for death-defying adventures in aircraft of their own design and build. Twice they have staked their lives as they flew them around the world. Now, the stress of running an ever-expanding aviation business is getting to them and adventure is calling...
FAMOUS FOR NOT BEING FAMOUS
(52 Minutes)
A movie about James Phillips, who died age 36 on the 31st of July 1995. He was a composer, musician, bandleader and the voice and conscience of a generation of white South Africans.
SOWETO BEACH PARTY
(22 Minutes)
Author/journalist Rian Malan gets tricked into performing with his band, Radio Kalahari Orkes, at the biggest entertainment event on the Soweto calendar - the Soweto Beach Party ... but that is just the subplot!
SINGERS & SWENKAS
(48 minutes)
This film follows the Ladysmith Hlanganani Brothers over a 36 hour period as they compete in the vibrant Joburg isicathamiya scene. Also featured are the Swenkas, finely dressed gentlemen who compete to see who is the swankiest.
THE SILVER FEZ
(86 minutes)
Once upon a time in a city at the end of Africa, two men were possessed by a dream that could come true for only one of them. Kaatji Davids was a house painter with barely two cents to rub together…but he did have an old banjo, some loyal friends and the audacity to imagine he might be the one to topple Hadji Bucks, undisputed champion of Cape Malay music ...
POESBOEKIES
(13 minutes)
This celebration of the defunct South African 'picture story' culture (aka poesboekies) was made by Robbie Thorpe and Lloyd Ross in the late 90's. Conrad Botes holds forth. Tessa wouldn't give us an interview, but Beau Brummel was dying to.
THE SEVEN DAY AEROPLANE
(52 minutes)
5 boys. 5 girls. 7 days to build an aeroplane. 7 days to fly it to Europe.
Our two adventurers last seen in the Wild Landings film already screened in our little viral film fest, lead a team of 8 others in attempting to build one of their self designed Sling aircraft from scratch...
FRIENDS AND OPPOSITES
(28 minutes)
Vusi Mahlasela shows us his hometown of Mamelodi and introduces us to his friends that helped shape his music. He then spends some time hanging out with poet Lesego Rampolokeng. They once had a show called The Devil & The Saint... see if you can guess who was who.
10 GEARS OF CHANGE
(52 minutes)
Marking 10 years of the New South Africa, this film tells the story of a group of unemployed men from a farm in the landlocked Free State province as they are formed into a team by the farmer to compete in the largest timed cycle event in the world.
WALTER MEYER
(17 minutes)
Having just bought my first camera in 1995, I went and hung out with Walter for a week at his home in Bethulie. I wanted to see how difficult it was to make a film, doing everything myself, including the music. To my knowledge, this remains the only film made about this extraordinary man...
VOËLVRY: THE MOVIE
(70 minutes)
1989, South Africa. The apartheid regime is teetering. A final push is given to the Afrikaner monolith by it's own children who demand the right to choose peace over war. The film centers on the controversial two-month music tour that burned a swathe through the country...
NOTE: FREEBIE code is embedded in the link.
KITCHENBOY WESKUS
(19 minutes)
The greatest South African cooking show never made. This promo was shot with the inimitable Braam Kruger on the West Coast, and then on the East Coast in St Lucia & Durban in 2000. Couldn't get any of the local broadcasters interested. Maybe it was the nail polish?
SPLINTERING RAINBOW
(45 minutes)
A wry journey through the state of South Africa just prior to the 2009 elections when Jacob Zuma came to power, asking if Nelson Mandela’s Rainbow Nation is sinking into a typical African dysfunctionality. Rian Malan – one of the country’s foremost literary talents – discovers that modern South Africa’s best weapon is its ability to laugh at itself.
AROUND THE WORLD IN 40 DAYS
(52 minutes)
South African adventurers, Mike Blyth and James Pitman's design and build their own light sports aircraft and then fly it around the world, completing the longest straight-line flights ever flown in such a small aircraft.
ON THE ROAD WITH URBAN CREEP
(28 minutes)
We follow probably the hardest working band in SA at the time the film was made as they take their crusade for original homegrown music to a galaxy where none has been before. More a performance film than anything else, the bands' workload reflects in the tightness and vibrancy of the music.
DIE GEHEIM VAN SLANGFONTEIN
(65 minutes)
A desperate man searches for Slangfontein, a mysterious town in the Kalahari outback. To find it, he follows the signal of the phantom Radio Kalahari to the heart of a boeremusiek Utopia that's "...honderd jaar agter the tye, maar steeds op die spoor".
NOTE: FREEBIE code is embedded in the link.
SYLVAINE STRIKE'S "TARTUFFE"
(46 minutes)
A "making of" this beautiful Fortune Cookie Theatre Company production. Using physical theater techniques new to many of the actors, Sylvaine coaches a fabulous ensemble cast to perfection in this 2017 version of Molière's famous play. Directed by Joëlle Chesselet.
CONCERT FOR JAMES
(80 minutes)
During September 1995 more than 30 bands and artists gathered at concerts in Cape Town and Johannesburg to pay tribute to James Phillips!