South Africa, Germany, and UK / 2000 / 94mins / Crime, Drama / English

Hijack Stories is about Sox Morak, a young actor who is cast in the role of a gangster in a popular television series. He ventures into Soweto to research the role with Siphiwe, a childhood friend who is now a real hijacker. As he spends more and more time with the gangsters, he starts losing his sense of reality. In turn Siphiwe becomes more and more fascinated with the television world, setting the stage for a confusion of identity - leaving one wondering who is the actor and who is the gangster.

Oliver Schmitz

Oliver Schmitz (born 1960) is a South African film director and screenwriter. His film Mapantsula was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival. His 2010 film Life, Above All (Le Secret de Chanda) was selected as the South African entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards. It made the shortlist of nominations announced in January 2011. Growing up in Cape Town, Schmitz comes from a fine art and music background. With others, from 1981-1983 he ran a cult nightclub (Scratch), that successfully beat Apartheid segregation laws and nurtured a generation of creative and militant youth. Schmitz has made several films, four of which have screened in official selection in Cannes - one being the Parisian omnibus film Paris je t'aime (Place des fetes). Shepherds and Butchers, with Steve Coogan and Andrea Riseborough premiered at the Berlinale 2016, where it won an audience award and Best Directing at the South African Film and Television Awards. Learn More