Here’s new local queer music to enjoy

Christopher Vourlias When Joel Phiri and his partners at Known Associates Entertainment began financing “uBettina Wethu,” the South African remake of the megahit Colombian telenovela that inspired the ABC series “Ugly Betty,” the Johannesburg-based producer says, “We talked to anybody that would listen.”That those talks would involve both local and global streaming services was a given.

District 9 is on the way, with a new screenplay confirmed to be in the works.The 2009 sci-fi film, which chronicled the events after an alien spaceship landed in 1982 South Africa, was acclaimed by critics – and nominated for five Oscars including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.Addressing topics including xenophobia and social segregation, the film starred Hardcore Henry actor Sharlto Copley, Dredd‘s Jason Cope, and Riverdale‘s Nathalie Boltt.Now, Blomkamp has announced that he’s

We all know that studios love franchises and sequels. So, when “District 9” was released more than a decade ago and ended scoring pretty solid box office (the biggest worldwide gross for a South African film ever) and multiple Oscar nominations (including Best Picture), the fact that a sequel to Neill Blomkamp’s film was never produced is pretty shocking.

Neill Blomkamp has revealed that the long-anticipated sequel to his hit sci-fi District 9 could be moving closer, with the director posting a tweet stating that the project’s screenplay is now being written by himself, Terri Tatchell and Sharlto Copley.

Celebrated for his 2000 film The Great Dance, South African documentary filmmaker Craig Foster found himself, a decade later, exhausted from the pressures of trying to survive as a documentarian. Feeling a sense of detachment from the outside world as well as the people closest to him, Foster attempted to rekindle his passion for life by free-diving in the freezing temps of the Atlantic, vowing to do so every day for a year.

Miss Drag South Africa 2019 Belinda Qaqamba Ka-Fassie

Jamie Lang In today’s Global Bulletin, Vice Distribution announces its spring slate; Manchester United’s Sir Alex Ferguson doc gets theatrical launch dates ahead of its Amazon Prime Video premiere; Channel 4 commissions COVID lockdown-inspired docu-series “Sex Odyssey” with Alice Levine; South African streamer Showmax commissions a local version of “Temptation Island” and Fremantle promotes several execs in EMEA.Following its launch in summer 2020, Vice Distribution has announced its first

direct to your inboxScientists have identified another new variant of coronavirus which has potentially concerning mutations.The new strain, known as B.1.525, contains the E484K mutation, which is also found in the Brazilian and South African 'variants of concern'.Scientists say the E484K mutation can escape human defences, making them more efficient at evading natural and vaccine-triggered immunity.Public Health England (PHE) has said there is no evidence that the mutations in the new variant

No Hiding Here, a new feel-good South African gay rom-com, has arrived to touch the hearts of audiences on Showmax from 18 February.

BritBox To Launch In South Africa BritBox, ITV and BBC Studios’ joint-venture UK streamer, is to expand into South Africa in the second half of 2021. It follows previous launches in the U.S., Canada, and Australia, as the Spitting Image streamer targets a presence in 25 territories.

direct to your inbox Three new areas in the UK are to have door-to-door testing due to the South African variant of coronaviurs being detected.

Andrew Hampp Growing up in Africa, one of the first Hollywood movies to make an impact on Sipho Dlamini was Eddie Murphy’s 1988 comedy “Coming to America,” in which the comedian starred as a prince from the fictional African country of Zamunda.“I know how significant a movie it was to people living in Africa or Africans in the diaspora,” says Dlamini, a veteran music executive who in January was promoted to CEO of Universal Music South Africa and Sub-Saharan South Africa.

33 countries on the UK's 'red list' will need to self-isolate for a minimum of 10 days in a government-approved facility from Monday (February 15).