European Film Festival South Africa: 12-22 October in select cinemas and online

For its 10th birthday, the festival has nabbed a stellar line-up, including Oscar nominees, Cannes winners and other thought-provoking films from all over Europe. Screenings will take place in select cinemas in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban (you can find the schedule here) and to extend the festival’s reach beyond the city metropoles, an online programme of free screenings will also be available during the festival period. Look out for Daily Maverick Webinars on some of the high-profile films being featured.

Biopics of mysterious legends:

Dear Mama: 4 October on Disney+

A deeply personal five-part documentary series about an illuminating saga of mother and son, Afeni and Tupac Shakur, one of the most legendary rappers of all time. Among many other things, Dear Mama, named after his popular song, is about how his single mother shaped who he became. Their story chronicles the possibilities and contradictions of the US from a time of revolutionary fervour to hip hop culture’s most ostentatious decade.

The Pigeon Tunnel: 20 October on Apple TV+

A biopic on former British spy David Cornwell — better known as John le Carré, author of classic espionage novels such as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Constant Gardener. Our mysterious subject gives his final and most candid ever interview, allowing Academy Award-winning documentarian Errol Morris open access (mostly) to his secretive career and the story of his life, set against the backdrop of the Cold War.

For a laugh:

The Burial: 11 October on Prime Video

A feel-good David vs Goliath courtroom comedy drama inspired by true events. After getting screwed over in a handshake business deal, a funeral homeowner (Tommy Lee Jones) enlists the help of a charismatic, smooth-talking attorney (Jamie Foxx) to save his family business. The film blazes a familiar path, but the chemistry between Jones’ mild-mannered character and Fox’s antithetically energised lawyer, akin to that of Jones and Will Smith in Men In Black, is more than enough to carry you to the final verdict.

Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul: 26 October on Showmax

A mockumentary satirical comedy starring Regina Hall and Sterling K Brown as a power couple who head up a mega-church that’s just suffered a calamitous scandal (as they often tend to do). The pair set out to restore their lucrative institution by any means necessary. Sardonic laughs and biting one-liners make for a wonderful send-up of the hypocrisy of mainstream religious institutions.

Mystery thrillers:

Bodies: 19 October on Netflix

A police procedural psychological mystery series with a twist. Based on a mind-bending graphic novel by Si Spencer, Bodies follows the stories of four detectives in different times (1890, 1941, 2023 and 2053) who find the same body in Longharvest Lane in London’s East End. With elements of time-travel drama and political conspiracy, the challenge to our protagonists is to somehow collaborate on an investigation happening in four different periods of time.

Killers of Flower Moon: 20 October 2023 on Apple TV+

A highly anticipated Western by Martin Scorsese which was delayed several times due to Covid-19 and Paramount’s concerns about Leonardo DiCaprio’s switching roles during the production of the film, leaving Jesse Plemmons in the lead role. The film is adapted from a 2017 book of the same name about a series of real murders in Oklahoma in the 1920s which targeted wealthy members of a Native American tribe. 

Epic animation series:

Life on Our Planet: 25 October on Netflix

An epic prehistoric nature program with top-of-the-range computer-generated animation, directed by Steven Spielberg and narrated by Morgan Freeman. Today there are 20 million species on our planet – 99% of earth’s inhabitants are lost to our deep past. This series tells the story of survival on this planet through the lens of extinction; the rise and fall of the great dynasties of life on Earth.

Pluto: 26 October on Nertflix

A TV adaption of a renowned manga that reimagines the arc of an episode of Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy, one of the most famous early animated series, created in the 60s by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki. The series is a neo-futuristic science fiction drama depicting a seemingly utopian world in which humans and high-functioning robots have been coexisting harmoniously. It’s a highly philosophical parable of our technological trajectory, held together by stylishly animated robot fights.

Stick it to the man:

Lessons in Chemistry: October 13 on Apple TV+

Based on the 2022 Bonnie Garmus novel of the same name, Brie Larson (best known these days as the unstoppable Ms. Marvel) rises up against patriarchal ignorance in her role as Elizabeth Zott, an aspiring scientist who, after being fired from her laboratory job, uses her influences the host of a cooking show to educate and mobilise the housewives watching at home. Episodes premiere on Fridays until November 24. DM

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