A Durban-made film, God’s Work, directed by Michael James, produced by Sithabile Mkhize, with Executive Producer, Toni Monty of A.M. Afrika Film, has demonstrated the powerful value chain and enabling role, the Durban FilmMart provides filmmakers on the African continent.
God’s Work, which is currently in post-production is described as a “surrealist meta-adventure into the interior lives of four homeless men that explores the boundaries of cinema and breaks the fourth wall of reality. Set on the streets of Durban, where absurdity and hope walk hand-in-hand, a group of homeless friends face a daily struggle to exist on the margins of society.”
The film was initially selected for the DFM / Produire au Sud Jumpstart programme in 2021 where James and Mkhize worked with Guillaume Mainguet and Jérémie Dubois. In 2022 it was selected as an official project for the DFM where it was pitched to financiers, investors, broadcasters. With main funding secured through local funders, National Film and Video Foundation, KwaZulu Natal Film Commission, Durban Film Office and the PESP Fund, production began in Durban in May and June 2024. Now in post-production, the filmmakers aim to complete it in November 2024, in time to submit to important international festivals for 2025.
“God’s Work delves deep into the lives of a group of marginalized men in Durban, each grappling with personal demons amidst the city’s harsh realities,” explains director Michael James. “A group of homeless men navigate a world defined by poverty, evading authorities, hustling for survival, and confronting an epidemic targeting the hopeless. At its core the film is an exploration of perception and reality, drawing inspiration from Mathieu Kassovitz’s La Haine and Alejandro Iñárritu’s Birdman. Through an avant-garde lens, the film merges gritty realism with surrealism to unveil the depths of human experience on society’s margins.”
Key cast include Thobani Dlomo Nzuza as lead, and Siya Xaba, Mbulelo Radebe, Omega Mncube, Zenzo Msomi, Nduduzo Khowa, Emmanuel Mkhize with cinematography by Jared Hinde.
Sithabile Mkhize, Producer
Toni Monty, Executive Producer
Michael James, Director
First assistant director Lungani Malo with Michael James, Director of God’s Work, shooting on location on Durban’s beachfront. Photo : Sphe Zondi
“The film is an exploration into what it means to be human in an unjust world,” says Producer Sithabile Mkhize. “It is an essential addition to the current conversations within the zeitgeist regarding income inequality, the failures of capitalism, racism, police brutality, class consciousness, and ultimately how all these ideas intersect with the existential realities of life within the African context. We are very grateful to the Durban FilmMart for supporting us through this journey. We met several of the film’s supporters during DFM 2021 and 2022, which has played a huge role in getting us to this point. DFM, together with the financial support of our funders has been instrumental in bringing this story to life.”
Executive Producer Toni Monty says, “I was deeply inspired to collaborate with the talented Producer and Director of God’s Work after meeting the team in late 2020. The film’s artistic ambition is perfectly complemented by its profound social relevance, addressing issues of societal neglect and personal redemption with unflinching honesty. The film challenges conventional storytelling norms, inviting viewers to question their own perspectives on reality and empathy. The journey of the film truly began at the DFM in 2021, and we have come full circle, completing production just before DFM 2024. Now in post-production, with a target completion date in November 2024, we have been fortunate to engage in a series of strong meetings during DFM 2024. We are confident that God’s Work will emerge as a cinematic milestone, pushing the boundaries of African cinema onto the global stage.”“This is very much the journey we envisage filmmakers embarking on when they bring their story ideas to the Durban FilmMart,” says Magdalene Reddy, Director of Durban FilmMart Institute. “God’s Work is one of countless projects that demonstrates how the model of the market works – where the opportunity to pitch and connect to the relevant industry stakeholders is a catalyst for the value chain for a film project. This year we hosted over 1400 investors, funders, financiers, filmmakers, festival programmers, broadcasters as well as film professionals in one space to do the business of film and countless meetings were held, and connections made. We are really delighted that God’s Work is one such example of the power of the DFM in connecting filmmakers, and the enabling role the DFM plays in the development of film on the continent.”
