Jahmil X.T. Qubeka

Jahmil X.T. Qubeka (born 26 March 1979)[1] is a South African film director, screenwriter, and producer.

Jahmil X.T Qubeka
Qubeka at the 2019 African Films Festival
Born
Jahmil Xolani Thandikhaya Qubeka

(1979-03-26) 26 March 1979
Mdantsane, Eastern Cape, South Africa
OccupationFilm director, screenwriter, producer
Years active2000–present

He has most worked on actions, crime, and drama films that tell the story of post-apartheid South Africa, and has won multiple awards, including best director at the 2019 Africa Movie Academy Awards.

Personal life

Quebeka was born in a Xhosa family in what use to be the nominally independent state of Ciskei. Although he was born during the apartheid era, Quebeka grew up in a relatively elite Black neighborhood, and stated that he "doesn’t have the weight of apartheid on his shoulders." He describes his father as a cinephile who constantly watched movies.[2]

He states that Stanley Kubrick and Fritz Lang are among his biggest cinematic influences, but that he also enjoys comedy, especially Eddie Murphy and that 48 Hrs. is one of his favorite films.[2]

Cinematic career

Quebeka's 2013 film Of Good Report was originally chosen to open the Durban International Film Festival, but it was announced to have been banned by the National Film and Video Foundation of South Africa for containing romance between a teacher and a student,[2] constituting what the board said was "child pornography", this decision was later overturned after an appeal by the producers of the film.[3] The film later won the 2014 Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Film.[4]

He won the award for Best Director for his action thriller Sew the Winter to My Skin at the 15th Africa Movie Academy Awards hosted in Lagos, Nigeria.[5]

Speaking on his 2019 film Knuckle City, Quebeka says that he looks forward to mixing genres in his future films, and also talked about the "toxic masculinity" that exists in South African culture.[6]

Reception

Guy Lodge for Variety praised Qubeka's unique attempts of telling post-apartheid South Africa's story in film making that is not solely based on racial segregation, but violence and patriarchal sexuality. The adoption of black and white sequence of images, as opposed to coloured was also highlighted as adding a positive uniqueness to the film Of Good Report. He summarized its review by stating "Jahmil X.T. Qubeka's striking but grisly feature swerves wildly from obsessive student-teacher romance into splattery horror."[7]

Filmography

References
  1. "5 Questions for Filmmaker Jahmil XT Qubeka". africasacountry. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  2. Rorich, Dezi (July 22, 2013). "South Africa Banned Film Director Jahmil Qubeka Speaks Out". Variety. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  3. "Of Good Report: The serial killer movie they tried to ban". CNN. August 21, 2013. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  4. "SA's 'Of Good Report' scoops 13 Africa movie award nominations". May 8, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  5. Gbenga, Bada (27 October 2019). "AMAA 2019: Here are all the winners at the 15th edition of award". Pulse NG. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  6. Vourlias, Christopher (July 18, 2019). "Jahmil X.T. Qubeka on Durban Opening-Night Film 'Knuckle City'". Variety. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  7. Lodge, Guy (November 5, 2013). "Film Review: 'Of Good Report'". Variety. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
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