Cinema of South Africa - wikipedia Cinema of South Africa Cinema of South Africa No. of screens 857 ( 2010 ) Per capita 1.9 per 100,000 ( 2010 ) Main distributors Ster - Kinekor 38.8 % Nu - Metro 35.7 % Uip 21.7 % Produced feature films ( 2016 ) Total 28 Number of admissions ( 2011 ) Total 22,400,000 Gross box office ( 2016 ) Total R1. 14 billion National films R69 million ( 6 % ) The cinema of South Africa refers to the films and film industry of the nation of South Africa. Many foreign films have been produced about South Africa ( usually involving race relations ). One South African film to achieve international acclaim was The Gods Must Be Crazy in 1980, set in the Kalahari. This is about how life in a traditional community of Bushmen is changed when a Coke bottle, thrown out of an aeroplane, suddenly lands from the sky. The late Jamie Uys, who wrote and directed The Gods Must Be Crazy, also had success overseas in the 1970s with his films Funny People and Funny People II, similar to the TV series Candid Camera in the US. Leon Schuster 's You Must Be Joking ! films are in the same genre, and hugely popular among South Africans. Another high - profile film portraying South Africa in recent years was District 9. Directed by Neill Blomkamp, a native South African, and produced by Peter Jackson, the action / science - fiction film depicts a sub-class of alien refugees forced to live in the slums of Johannesburg in what many saw as a creative allegory for apartheid. The film was a critical and commercial success worldwide, and was nominated for Best Picture at the 82nd Academy Awards. Other notable films are Tsotsi, which won the Academy Award for Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy Awards in 2006 as well as U-Carmen eKhayelitsha, which won the Golden Bear at the 2005 Berlin International Film Festival. Contents 1 Silent Era 2 Sound Era 3 The 3 major South African film distributors 4 See also 5 References 6 External links Silent era Open - Air - Cinema in Johannesburg. Part of a series on the Culture of South Africa History People Languages Afrikaans English Ndebele Northern Sotho Sotho Swazi Tswana Tsonga Venda Xhosa Zulu Cuisine Festivals Public holidays Religion Art Literature Writers Poets Music and performing arts Music Musicians Media Television Cinema Sport Monuments World Heritage Sites Symbols Flag Coat of arms South Africa portal Cinema of South Africa List of South African films pre 1910 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s By language Afrikaans The first film studio in South Africa, Killarney Film Studios, was established in 1915 in Johannesburg. During the 1910s and 1920s, many South African films were made in or around Durban. These films often made use of the dramatic scenery available in rural KwaZulu - Natal, particularly the Drakensberg region. KwaZulu - Natal also served as the appropriate location for historical films such as De Voortrekkers ( 1916 ) and The Symbol of Sacrifice ( 1918 ). American filmmaker Lorimer Johnston directed several films in the area in the late 1910s which starred American actresses Edna Flugrath and Caroline Frances Cooke. Despite the participation of Johnson, Flugrath and Cooke, these were South African productions featuring local actors and stories. Sound era Sarie Marais, the first Afrikaans - language sound film, was released in 1931. Subsequent sound releases such as Die Wildsboudjie ( 1948 ), a 1949 Sarie Marais remake, and Daar doer in die bosveld ( 1950 ) continued to cater primarily to white, Afrikaans - speaking audiences. The 1950s saw an increased use of South African locations and talent by international filmmakers. British co-productions like Coast of Skeletons ( 1956 ) and American co-productions like The Cape Town Affair ( 1967 ) reflected the a growing trend of shooting in real locations, rather than using backlots. The 3 major South African film distributors Listed alongside each distributor are the studios they represent : Times Media Films : 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks Animation SKG. Ster - Kinekor : PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Focus Features, Walt Disney Pictures, Columbia Pictures United International Pictures : Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, VideoVision Entertainment See also List of South African films Media of South Africa Cinema of the world World cinema African cinema References ^ Jump up to : `` Table 8 : Cinema Infrastructure -- Capacity ''. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 5 November 2013. Jump up ^ `` Box Office Report : South Africa ( January -- December 2013 ) '' ( PDF ). National Film and Video Foundation South Africa. Retrieved 14 August 2014. ^ Jump up to : `` South African Box Office 2016 '' ( PDF ). National Film and Video Foundation. Retrieved 15 January 2018. Jump up ^ `` Table 11 : Exhibition -- Admissions & Gross Box Office ( GBO ) ''. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 5 November 2013. Jump up ^ Anonymous ( 2011 - 03 - 21 ). `` A History of the South African Film Industry timeline 1895 - 2003 ''. South African History Online. Retrieved 2017 - 11 - 04. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cinema of South Africa. The Latest News, Job Offers and Opportunities in the South African Film Industry South African movie website South Africa 's film industry Focus on the industry -- SouthAfrica.info African Media Program. Comprehensive database of African media Timeline : 1895 -- 2003 A History of the South African Film Industry The South African Movie Database Showcasing the South African industry The Callsheet Newspaper Monthly South African film industry trade publication This film - related list is incomplete ; you can help by expanding it. 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Question: what was the first sound film in afrikaans
Answer: 1931