Celebrating our heritage through South African films
Heritage Day reminds us that our history, languages, cultures and stories are more than just dates on a calendar - they are alive in our collective memory.
Image: IOL Ron AI
Heritage Day reminds us that our history, languages, cultures and stories are more than just dates on a calendar - they are alive in our collective memory.
And one of the most powerful ways we experience that heritage is through local film: movies that show who we are, where we come from, and sometimes who we might become.
Here are a handful of classic South African films that do just that, each in its own way, and why watching them is one of the best ways to celebrate who we are.
These are a few of the films that tell our stories.
The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
Directed by Jamie Uys, this comedy became an international cult classic. It follows a San / Bushman named Xi, whose peaceful life in the Kalahari changes when a Coke bottle is dropped from a plane. To him, it is a gift from the gods, until it becomes a source of conflict among his people.
The film presents a humorous clash between traditional and modern life, and it reaches far beyond laughs to question how “civilisation” is defined. It sparked both admiration and critisism, particularly around its use of stereotypes about Indigenous people.
District 9 (2009)
Directed by Neill Blomkamp (in his feature-film debut), and produced by Peter Jackson among others, District 9 uses sci-fi to probe real South African issues: segregation, xenophobia, displacement.
While aliens (“the Prawns”) are confined in a slum over Johannesburg, the human characters’ treatment of them mirrors the country’s own history of apartheid and forced relocations.
The film went on to be hugely successful globally.
Mr Bones (2001)
One of South Africa’s most successful comedies, directed by Gray Hofmeyr and starring Leon Schuster, Mr Bones mixes traditional African myth, satire, and slapstick.
In it, a tribal seer is sent to find a missing prince, which leads to a chain of absurd adventures including an American golfer, gangsters, and comic reversals.
It was a box-office hit locally and reflects how humour can be used to negotiate identity, stereotypes, and cultural expectations.
Material (2012)
Directed by Craig Freimond and starring Riaad Moosa, Material explores the tensions in a Muslim Indian-South African family in Fordsburg, Johannesburg.
Cassim wants to be a stand-up comedian, but his traditional father expects him to take over the family fabric shop. The film is intimate, warm, and humorous, and offers insight into the coexistence of tradition and modernity, faith, and personal ambition. It resonated widely and won several awards, recognising its original voice in our cinematic landscape.
Fiela se Kind (1988)
Directed by Katinka Heyns, based on the novel by Dalene Matthee, this Afrikaans film is a powerful family and social drama. Fiela Komoetie, a Coloured woman, finds a white baby on her doorstep and raises him. Years later, white authorities force the child to return to his “biological” white family, legal systems enforcing racial divisions and colonial inheritance become central.
The film examines identity, belonging, motherhood and the injustices of systems that define people by skin. It remains one of South African cinema’s deeply emotional and thought-provoking works.
Skin (2008)
This biographical film, directed by Anthony Fabian, tells the true story of Sandra Laing, who was born in the 1950s to white Afrikaner parents but later reclassified as “Coloured” under apartheid due to her skin appearance.
The film follows her battle with identity, legality, family, and race, illustrating the cruelty and contradictions of apartheid’s racial classification system. Sophie Okonedo and Alice Krige star in this deeply moving portrayal.
Why these films matter
Preserving our past
Many of these films offer windows into South Africa’s history of colonialism, apartheid, racial classification, cultural displacement in ways that textbooks cannot. They show us the human stories.
Reflecting diversity
Our nation has many layers: multiple languages, religions, traditions. Films like Material or Fiela se Kind show the less-visible complexities of culture and identity, reminding us that heritage isn’t just about big national moments, it’s also the day-to-day stories of families and communities.
Challenging stereotypes
Through comedy, drama, and satire they allow filmmakers to question harmful narratives (about race, about class, about “civilisation”) in ways that provoke thought and dialogue. District 9 and Skin do this explicitly; The Gods Must Be Crazy more subtly is now also critiqued.
Inspiring new storytellers
South Africa’s film industry has grown, and these classics are the shoulders new filmmakers stand on. They set standards, themes, and show that our stories are valued at home and abroad.
IOL Entertainment