South Africa / 2004 / 25mins / Drama, TV Series / English, Zulu and other languages

Yizo-Yizo is a gritty, uncompromising television drama series set in a township school about rape, murder, prostitution, abuse, HIV/AIDS. It follows the story of students in a township school trying to make the most of a difficult situation. Surrounded by drugs, a struggling government administered school and the difficulties of teenage life, Yizo-Yizoo captures the complex and volatile energy of a new South Africa.

Andrew Dosunmu

Raised and educated in Nigeria, Andrew Dosunmu began his career as a design assistant at the fashion house of Yves Saint-Laurent. He has subsequently worked as a Creative Director and fashion photographer, whose images have appeared in a variety of international magazines. Besides a flourishing career in photography, Dosunmu is also active in film and television. His award-winning documentary Hot Irons (1998) won best documentary at FESPACO and the Reel Award at Toronto International Film Festival. In South Africa, Dosunmu has directed episodes of the widely acclaimed television series Yizo Yizo which dramatizes the policy debates around education in post-apartheid South Africa through a frank presentation of the social crises and conflicts at a Johannesburg high school. Dosunmu has also served as creative director for album covers (for such artists as Erykah Badu and Public Enemy), and directed music videos, including his first for Isaac Hayes, Angie Stone, Common, Wyclef Jean, Kelis, Aaron Neville, Maxwell, Tracy Chapman and Talib Kweli. Dosunmu was selected to participate in the photography exhibition Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary Photography at the International Center of Photography. In 2007, Dosunmu was honored with the request to speak at the TED Global conference. Restless City (2010) was Dosunmu’s first feature film endeavor. It was followed in 2013 by Mother of George, listed as a USA National Board of Review Top Ten Independent Film in 2013 and winner of the Cinematography Award for Bradford Young at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. His 2017 drama, Where Is Kyra? starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Kiefer Sutherland, had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2017. Learn More