Joburg Film Festival announces opening and closing films

The Joburg Film Festival, presented in partnership with MultiChoice Group, a CANAL+ company, will be taking place from March 3–8, 2026.

Opening the festival on March 3 is “Laundry (Uhlanjululo)”, the debut feature from acclaimed South African filmmaker Zamo Mkhwanazi, fresh from its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it was hailed by Film Fatale as “thrilling African cinema”.

Although attendance on the opening night is by invitation, the second screening takes place at 3.15pm on March 7 at Hyde Park, Nu Metro, and is open to the general public. 

The festival closes with the South African premiere of “The Trek”, a bold western-horror by first-time director MeekaeeI Adam, screening at 4:30 on March 8 at Theatre On The Square, Sandton. 

Together, these films form a powerful statement: South African filmmakers are telling world-class stories rooted in local history, myth, and memory with global resonance. 

“Both ‘Laundry’ and ‘The Trek’ delicately balance texture with technique, and navigate their subject matter with real confidence,” says Joburg Film Festival Curator Nhlanhla Ndaba. 

“These are stories rooted in uniquely South African contexts that invite audiences to think, feel, and actively journey with the characters.”

About “Laundry (Uhlanjululo)”

“Laundry (Uhlanjululo)” is a deeply personal work that confronts the long shadow of apartheid through the lens of family, labour, and stolen inheritance. 

Set in 1960s South Africa, the film follows a Black family operating a laundry business under rare and fragile permission to trade in a whites-only district. As patriarch Enoch (played by Siyabonga Shibe) fights to protect his family’s precarious livelihood, tensions arise between survival and self-expression, particularly through his son’s (played by Ntobeko Sishi) artistic dreams. 

When the threat of imprisonment arises, the family is forced to reckon with the cost of enduring a system designed to exclude them. The film features a strong cast including Bukamina Cebekhulu, Tracy September, and Justin Strydom.

Mkhwanazi draws directly from her own family history. “My grandfather had a laundry and when apartheid came in, he lost his business,” she told Variety. “That loss was always there in the back of my mind as a place where my intergenerational wealth was taken. I knew it had to be my first film.” 

Mkhwanazi began her career as a scriptwriter on “Isidingo”, and her third short film, “Gallo Rojo”, premiered at Cannes Film Festival Directors' Fortnight in 2016, marking her early arrival on the international stage. 

About “The Trek”

Closing the festival, “The Trek” plunges audiences into the vast and unforgiving Kalahari Desert in 1846, following a Dutch-Afrikaans family and their British benefactor on a perilous journey to claim land. 

Guided by a mysterious Khoen traveller, the expedition slowly fractures under the weight of hunger, exhaustion, and mistrust. 

Hovering over the journey are two spectral figures drawn from Southern African folklore, silent witnesses as the group’s fragile social order begins to collapse. 

Blending historical realism with mythic storytelling, “The Trek” reimagines the western survival film through a distinctly Southern African lens, challenging colonial narratives while embracing the power of genre cinema. 

Adam has already earned a nomination for Best First-Time Director at the Directors Guild of South Africa’s Creatives Awards, with a cast that includes Morné Visser, Maurice Carpede, Camilla Borghesani, Trix Vivier, and Rob van Vuuren.

“These selections and the festival programme as a whole reflect our deep commitment to the audience experience,” adds Nomsa Philiso, spokesperson for MultiChoice Group, a CANAL+ company. 

“From the outset, our partnership with the JFF has been about democratising access to bold, meaningful cinema. This year, we are proud to showcase two exceptional South African films that are as entertaining as they are illuminating.”

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