Director: Sibusiso Khuzwayo
Starring: Bahle Mashinini, Nomalanga Shabane, Andile Gumbi
Writer: Sibusiso Khuzwayo
Watch Link: https://www.netflix.com/za/title/81287887
Genre: Drama
Description/Synopsis:
A young boy from Johannesburg arrives in KwaZulu-Natal and begins to read letters for villagers — then falls in love with one of the recipients.

The Letter Reader Trailer:

THE LETTER READER Official trailer [Source: Jana Erasmus-Youtube]

The 30-minute film which was released in late 2018 takes us through a journey of 12 year old boy named Siyabonga who’s forced to live with his grandmother while his parents try to resolve their marital disputes. Forced to adapt to his new rural environment, Siyabonga assumes his late grandfather’s role of being a Letter Reader in a community of illiterate dwellers who still use the old system of mail posting.

The short film won the Shnit Worldwide Short Film Festival Best Short (South Africa) in October 2019, as well as the Golden Horn Award for Best Short Film and a YouTube short film competition titled ‘I am Africa’ in Los Angeles. The engrossing short film touches on themes of city & village life, educational gap, love & empathy and connects all these between modern generation & the remote past. With this masterpiece, Sibusiso Khuzwayo has graced South African viewers with the perfect story worth watching.


Source: Netflix – https://www.netflix.com/za/title/81287887 | Youtube – Jana Erasmus