Famous South African Directors

South African filmmaker, Tosca Musk, has produced and directed several TV programs, films, and web series. Beginning her career in the early 2000s, she teamed up with Jeff Macpherson to produce the web series, Tiki Bar TV. Her movie, Simple Things, received the California Independent Film Festival Slate Award. She is also the founder of the streaming service Passionflix.

Sharlto Copley is a South African actor best known for playing important roles in science fiction films, such as District 9, Elysium, Europa Report, Chappie, and Hardcore Henry. His portrayal of Wikus van der Merwe in District 9 earned him several accolades including a couple of IGN Movie Awards.

John Kani is a South African actor, playwright, director, and author. He is best known for playing T'Chaka in American superhero films, such as Black Panther and Captain America: Civil War. One of the few South African actors to achieve international recognition, John Kani was included in the Top 100 Great South Africans list, which was published in 2004. 

South African filmmaker Richard Stanley is best known for his horror films, such as Dust Devil. His signature style includes the use of red and sepia filters, the portrayal of South African deserts, and the inclusion of violence and occultism. His Color Out of Space was praised by critics.

Gavin Hood is a South African actor, filmmaker, producer, and screenwriter. Hood garnered international recognition when the crime drama film Tsotsi, which was written and directed by him, won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Gavin Hood has also directed American and British films like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Official Secrets, Eye in the Sky, and Ender's Game.

Brian Murray was a South African theatre director and actor. Over the course of his career, which spanned more than five decades, Murray received several awards nominations including three nominations for the prestigious Tony Award. In 1998, he was honored with the Lucille Lortel Award for his contribution to the arts. He also won a couple of Drama Desk Awards.

A South African Zulu, Mbongeni Ngema worked as a manual laborer and a guitarist before venturing into theater and then becoming a playwright and a director. While he created controversy with his play Asinamali!, he gained international repute with Sarafina! He was also a choir director for The Lion King.

South Africa-born novelist and screenwriter Noel Langley began his career in London with his play Queer Cargo. Concurrently with writing plays, he also started publishing novels like Cage Me a Peacock, and There's a Porpoise Close Behind Us, very soon gaining recognition in Hollywood with screenplay Maytime.  His other popular screenplays include The Wizard of Oz, Tom Brown’s Schooldays etc.