Opinion
09 Dec 11

Jo’burg Uncovered

It’s one of the world’s most exciting and dangerous cities. Now a local filmmaker aims to construct an accurate portrayal of the misunderstood metropolis of Johannesburg.

Unhinged: Surviving Jo’burg is a quirky, independent documentary exploring the many contradictions of Johannesburg. Writer, director and Jo’burg native Adrian Loveland believes it is the most misunderstood city in the world, and takes the viewer on a somewhat eccentric, personal tour of the city, highlighting the good and the bad in equal measure.

Johannesburg is a city of over ten million people where great wealth and extreme poverty nestle uneasily side by side. Founded during the goldrush of the 19th century, it has been a beacon for those seeking to make their fortunes ever since. Known as Jo’burg, Jozi or Egoil – the place of gold – to locals, it is a city with a reputation as both the economic powerhouse of Africa and as one of the most dangerous places in the world. Until the 2010 Soccer World Cup, during which Jozi hosted the opening and final games, it was a place almost always avoided by tourists and treated as a stop-off point on the way to the Cape or the Kruger National Park.
It is almost impossible to do Jo’burg justice, and Unhinged doesn’t quite get there. Loveland does not orientate you geographically around the vast and sprawling city, and there issues such as the poverty, the crime rate, racial integration and the city’s history which could have been more fully explored.
However, for an independent production made on a shoe-string budget, Unhinged is impressive and offers an insider’s guide to what it is like to experience Jo’burg’s life on the streets. Insight into the city is provided through interviews with high flying residents such as entrepreneur Victor Kgomoeswama, newspaper editor Ferial Haffajee and CEO of Nando’s Robbie Brozin as well as taxi drivers, immigrants and locals.
Loveland offers a sense of the city’s great energy, vibrancy, friendliness and multiculturalism. Winner of the Silver Palm Award at the 2011 Mexico International Film Festival, Unhinged is a love letter to the city, which is in turn uplifting, depressing, funny, manic and slightly mad – much like Johannesburg itself.

Unhinged is independently distributed and can be purchased at unhingedsurvivingjoburg.com.