City Johannesburg Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Following a three year shoot, award-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney has just completed production on In Restless Dreams: The Music Of Paul Simon, the documentary about Paul Simon’s legendary Grammy Award-winning career. The film also follows Simon’s journey creating his new album Seven Psalms, which poses questions about faith and mortality, during the pandemic and while dealing with his hearing loss. The film is expected to be part of the fall film festival circuit.

Callum McLennan Comedy docuseries “The World’s Strangest Jobs,” from Johannesburg-based Mannequin Pictures, one of South Africa’s key production, finance, and distribution companies, has sold to Prime Video the rights to the African continent. Mannequin is now pursuing sales in all other territories. The eight-part series is hosted by comedian and actor Schalk Bezuidenhout.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Indie streamer Mubi has acquired worldwide streaming rights to South African artist William Kentridge’s prestige series “Self-Portrait As a Coffee Pot” which explores how art is made in the digital age. The nine-episode series by Kentridge – who is celebrated around the world for his influential works comprising animation, installations, theater, opera and films – first previewed as a rough cut at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival.

Christopher Vourlias The anticipated goldrush for African creators sparked by Netflix’s 2016 entry into the market hasn’t entirely come to fruition, though the influx of investment from local and global streaming platforms has nevertheless been transformative for Africa’s screen industries. Budgets, production values and outputs are rising, and breakout hits — such as Netflix’s Nigerian thriller “The Black Book” and South African teen drama “Blood & Water” — highlight the power of global streaming services to deliver African stories to audiences around the world.

Christopher Vourlias The sixth edition of the Joburg Film Festival wraps Sunday, putting a bow on a week that saw many in the host nation reflecting on South Africa’s long journey in the three decades since the end of apartheid. But among the filmmakers and executives taking part in the second JBX content market the focus was squarely on the future, as Africa’s streaming wars and an eye toward global dealmaking highlighted how the tide has begun to shift in how the world perceives the continent.

Christopher Vourlias Wendy Bednarz’s “Yellow Bus,” which follows a mother’s quest for justice after suffering an unthinkable tragedy, won the prize for best film at the Joburg Film Festival during an award ceremony Saturday night at the Sandton Convention Center in Johannesburg. The film, which world premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, is set in an unnamed Arabian Gulf country and follows an Indian family that endures a tragedy when their daughter is neglected on a school bus in the sweltering desert heat.

Christopher Vourlias South Africa’s Known Associates, the fast-growing parent company of Johannesburg-based Known Associates Entertainment (KAE) and Cape Town-based Moonlighting Films, is launching into unscripted programming, Variety can reveal. The company has acquired a 60% stake in Zero Gravity, a production outfit founded in 2017 by former Endemol Shine Africa and Trace Studios CEO Sivan Pillay, and will team up with South African media giant Primedia to “relaunch multiple new high-end unscripted formats,” according to Pillay.

Christopher Vourlias Akin Omotoso, the filmmaker behind Disney Plus’ Giannis Antetokounmpo biopic “Rise,” has been attached to direct “The Plot to Save South Africa,” an adaptation of Justice Malala’s gripping book about a 1990s white supremacist plot that almost plunged the young democracy into civil war. “The Plot to Save South Africa” will be produced by Johannesburg-based production outfit Ochre Moving Pictures, which signed a deal with Netflix last year to adapt multiple books for the streaming service alongside Omotoso.

Christopher Vourlias Following on the heels of a successful post-pandemic reboot one year ago, the Joburg Film Festival kicks off its sixth edition on Feb. 27, with the glitzy capital of South Africa’s media and entertainment industry showcasing a selection of top talents from the host country and across the African continent.

Adam Levine is staying fit during the winter!

A man has opened up on his heartbreak after his fiancée died just four days after they got engaged. It was the happiest day of Craig McKinnon's life when Jess Prinsloo agreed to marry him.

Joseph Lelyveld, who won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction for his book, Move Your Shadow: South Africa, Black and White, and was a former executive editor and foreign correspondent for The New York Times, died on Friday at his Manhattan home.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Mbongeni Ngema, a distinguished South African musician and creator of the musical “Sarafina!,” died on Wednesday in a car accident. He was 68. “Ngema was killed in a head-on car accident while returning from a funeral he was attending in Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape this evening,” his family said in a statement to the Associated Press.

EXCLUSIVE: Former RX France execs Liliane da Cruz and Samira Haddi have launched Indicium Consulting, an events management biz for the entertainment industry.

Oscar Pistorius is set to be released from prison soon, almost ten years after he was found guilty of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.The Olympian and double amputee has been in a South African prison since Valentine's Day 2013 when he shot his model girlfriend four times, claiming he thought she was an intruder. Despite being originally sentenced to five years, this was later increased to 13 years and five months after his conviction was upgraded to murder.

Before the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes shut down Hollywood and the production of Gladiator 2, Ridley Scott was able to shoot 90 minutes of the film, which he had been editing amid the strikes.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Ridley Scott revealed in a recent New Yorker profile that he has been editing the 90 minutes of footage he was able to capture for “Gladiator 2” before the Hollywood strikes shut down production. Scott was shooting the long-awaited “Gladiator” sequel in Morocco when filming stopped indefinitely. He can’t resume production until the SAG-AFTRA strike is resolved.

A British Airways pilot has been grounded after he is alleged to have bragged of snorting cocaine off a woman’s breasts before he was due to fly a passenger plane.

Burna Boy‘s scheduled live show in South Africa has been cancelled due to a fraud claim against one of its organisers.The Nigerian artist had been set to perform at the 90,000-capacity FNB Stadium in Johannesburg last Saturday (September 23), but the gig was shelved in the days leading up to it amid rumours of poor ticket sales (via IQ).But promoter Ternary Media Group has since claimed that it called off the concert after CEO Sedote Nwachukwu was accused of stealing R10m (£435,000) from the company.“Due to pending legal proceedings relating to an upcoming Burna Boy concert in Johannesburg, the event has been postponed,” a spokesperson for the firm said, per Times Live.Ternary Media Group said it has relieved Nwachukwu of his duties “until further notice” amid the allegations made by his business partner Gregory Wings.Nwachukwu has denied stealing the money, and has made a counter-claim against Wings.Speaking to Sowetan Live, Nwachukwu claimed: “The event in total sold almost over 20,000 tickets but Greg took 6,000 of the 11,000 tickets sold by Ticketpro.“I am being told that he went around selling and distributing them at night clubs and campuses.

who hosted the Daily Show for seven years before quitting in 2022, was due to appear on the 947 radio station in Johannesburg for a morning chat, but bad traffic and an argument between a bike and a taxi driver left the comic late for his appearance on the show.“There’s a bicycle fighting with a taxi driver,” Noah shouted down a phone line to the show’s hosts (via BBC) as he described his nightmare journey into the studio.“That’s not in your traffic report,” Noah added, before saying that he was “gonna get in with some guy,” in an attempt to get to the station.“Can I just say, whoever is in this traffic, I feel you. We are together,” he laughed while explaining the ordeal after eventually getting to the station with the help of a fan.“The driver I’m with doesn’t know where we’re going,” he recalled.

Netflix has unveiled a swathe of South African content including the first feature from Mandla Dube’s high-profile talent deal and a rom-com titled Soweto Love Story.

The weekend is upon us once again, and with it comes a host of exciting new films and TV shows dropping on streaming services. If you’re gearing up for a good old streaming binge this weekend, Netflix has some great content on offer.

Global audiences have been gaga for Baba Yaga with Lionsgate/Thunder Road Films/87 Eleven’s John Wick: Chapter 4 now having passed the $400M mark worldwide.

Christopher Vourlias Set to make history as the first African show to take part in Canneseries’ main competition, South African extreme sports action drama “Spinners” offers a gripping portrait of life in Cape Town’s hardscrabble Southside — and the latest sign of a growing push for shows from the Global South in the international TV industry. The series follows 17-year-old Ethan (Cantona James), who’s looking for a way out of the Southside’s bloody cycle of gang violence through spinning, a South African extreme motorsport that features drivers performing daredevil stunts — such as leaning out of windows or standing on the roof — while driving at high speeds.

OUT LGBT Well-being and MambaOnline publish a monthly overview of reported LGBTIQ+ rights  violations, including hate speech, in South Africa. We also look at the status of cases making their way through the criminal justice system. Here is our summary for February 2023.

The so-called Grindr Gang has been targeting gay, bisexual and queer men in Gauteng for years

Baaba Maal has released ‘Freak Out’ featuring the Malawian duo The Very Best, ahead of his 14th studio album, ‘Being’.The new worldbeat track is mysterious as the Senegalese musician draws on the idea of privacy.“There are things you should keep to yourself,” he said. “Mystery is important in life; you don’t need to shine a light on every little thing you do.

After many years of hosting the legendary Legrand Balls all over Johannesburg, including the recent Boiler Room extravaganza in Soweto, the LeGrand brand is back with its inaugural queer arts festival on Saturday, 4 March 2023 at Tshimologong Precinct in Braamfontein.

EXCLUSIVE: Christine Horn (The Fallout, Snowfall) and Sule Rimi (Andor, The English) have been tapped to star in Kagiso Lediga’s newly titled Amazon Freevee series Classified (fka Untitled Kagiso Lediga), a coming-of-age drama from Skybound Galactic, a joint venture between Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment and Sony Pictures Television, and Johannesburg-based producer Diprente. Horn and Rimi join previously announced lead Imani Pullum. The series will premiere in the U.S. on Amazon Freevee. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent AC Independent, Anonymous Content’s new sales and finance division, is set to introduce Pippa Ehrlich’s anticipated follow-up to her Oscar-winning “My Octopus Teacher,” as well as Walter Salles’ “Sócrates,” to buyers at the Berlin Film Festival. Ehrlich’s untitled new project and Salles’ “Sócrates” are part of AC Independent’s robust slate of documentary features from celebrated filmmakers. In her upcoming project, Ehrlich will shed light on the secretive and endangered world of pangolins, a species viewed as mythological creatures. When Stevie, a baby pangolin, is rescued from death at the hands of poachers in Johannesburg, an investment manager pivots his life to become the animal’s caretaker, teaching him to trust the world again and, in doing so, rediscovers his own purpose. Hand-reared until his release back into the wild, Stevie takes Gareth into his dragon world and together they find freedom and healing in the wild.

Nando’s has been given the go-ahead to serve up its first ever restaurant in Perth.

A man has spoken of his heartbreak after his partner died just days after his proposal when she used the wrong spoon to stir a cup of tea. Craig McKinnon, 24, had whisked his girlfriend Jess, 24, away to South Africa for a romantic holiday when she suffered a fatal allergic reaction.

Johannesburg Pride will host its annual Pride event on Saturday 29 October to celebrate the LGBTIQA+ community in South Africa and around the continent.

She’s vaxxed, she’s waxed, and she has more attitude than ever. Bianca Del Rio, everyone’s favourite “queen of mean” is returning to Cape Town and Johannesburg this October with her new comedy tour, Unsanitized.

OUT LGBT Well-being and MambaOnline publish a monthly overview of violations of the rights of LGBTIQ+ people in South Africa. We also look at the status of cases making their way through the criminal justice system. Here is our summary for September 2022.

Delegates from around the world have started arriving in Cape Town as they prepare to compete for the coveted Mr Gay World 2022 title.