South Africa / 2011 / 50mins / Documentary / Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans and English

Commissioned by the Apartheid Museum, in Johannesburg, South Africa, to make a 5-channel video installation, Mahlatsi travels throughout the country to ask South Africans of all colors, religions, and walks of life to free-associate with each letter of the alphabet. From hundreds of interviews, he has cut together a collage that illuminates the many faces of the new South Africa.

Teboho Mahlatsi

Born in 1974, Teboho Mahlatsi graduated from the Africa Cultural Centre Film & Television Course and then spent five years working as a screenwriter. He has written, produced and directed many projects, including the documentary Ghetto Diaries for the South African educational channel SABC Education TV, and the highly controversial television series Yizo Yizo, winning Best Director and Best Drama series at the Avanti awards (South Africa’s equivalent to the Emmys). His short film Portrait of a Young Man Drowning won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1999. The following year he completed a short television series, Ungshaya Ding Dong. Mahlatsi’s other works include A-Z – A Commentary on Post-Apartheid South Africa (2001) and Meokgo and the Stick Fighter (Sekalli le Meokgo – 2006). In addition, he has directed numerous music videos. In 2018, at the USIBA Awards, hosted by arts and culture minister Nathi Mthethwa, Mahlatsi was honored for groundbreaking work in the Audiovisual and Creative field. He is a company director of The Bomb Shelter Film Company (Pty) Ltd. Learn More