Crime · Drama
South African
2005 · Directed by Gavin Hood · 94 min
Tsotsi, a nickname meaning thug, leads a small gang through the townships and shacks of Johannesburg and allows himself no questions about who he is. One night of crime sets off consequences he cannot shrug off.
Why it matters in cinema history
A defining film of post-apartheid South African cinema, and one of the first from the country to reach a worldwide audience and an Oscar. It belongs to the mid-2000s wave of street-level crime dramas from the global south.
Watch with intention
Watch it as a study of a young man who has trained himself not to feel, and look for what the camera notices that he does not.
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