(Left: Thobani
Nzuza)
MAD solutions boards second South African film God’s Work for worldwide
sales.
MAD World, the global sales arm of Cairo-based MAD Solutions, has boarded South African feature God’s Work, written and directed by Durban-based filmmaker Michael James, for worldwide sales.
The deal marks the second South African title represented by MAD World in collaboration with Mojo Entertainment, following the company’s partnership on Zamo Mkhwanazi’s Laundry (Uhlanjululo). The latter marked MAD Solutions’ first acquisition of a non-Arab title, as the company continues to expand its international activities and build relationships with filmmakers and production companies beyond the Arab world.
Produced by Sithabile Mkhize under Maverick Resistance, God’s Work is a 2025 South African feature set in the streets of Durban, where six unhoused men find fragile refuge in a crumbling building while navigating violence, indifferent authorities and a society that has pushed them to its margins.
Blending social drama with psychological and surreal elements, the film moves between the characters’ external reality and their memories, visions and inner worlds. Through this shifting perspective, James explores the ways in which imagination, myth and memory can become intertwined with the experience of survival.
The film had its world premiere at the Durban International Film Festival and subsequently screened at the Luxor African Film Festival, marking its Arab-world premiere.
Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab, Co-Presidents of MAD World, said: “God’s Work is exactly the kind of bold and distinctive filmmaking that we believe deserves to travel beyond its country of origin. Michael James has created a socially urgent yet formally adventurous film, using surrealism and fiction to take us inside the realities, memories and inner worlds of people living on the margins. Our collaboration with Mojo Entertainment on Laundry introduced us to a South African filmmaking ecosystem that we found incredibly exciting, and God’s Work allows us to continue that relationship while taking on a film whose voice is deeply rooted in its local reality yet speaks to universal questions of inequality, power, dignity and survival. We are very pleased to bring this second South African collaboration with Mojo to the international market.”
Sithabile Mkhize, Producer of God’s Work, said: “We are thrilled to have MAD Solutions come aboard. Their understanding of and enthusiasm for the film give us great confidence as God’s Work begins this important journey to audiences around the world. We believe MAD’s international reach and commitment to distinctive cinema will help the film connect with audiences and partners far beyond South Africa.”
For James, the film grew out of his experience working with unhoused communities in Durban during the COVID-19 lockdown. Invited initially to document people living in government-established camps, the filmmaker began participating in weekly workshops with a group of young people who identified themselves as filmmakers. The experience ultimately led him away from a conventional documentary approach and toward a fictional narrative that could explore the intersection of lived experience, imagination and memory.
James is a filmmaker, writer, academic and artist based in Durban whose work explores the intersections of myth, history, identity, race, gender, class and religion across film, theatre and academia. His previous feature, Dreams of Gomorrah, won three Simon Sabela Awards and two African Rising Star Awards in 2020. His documentary Free Education: The Story of Bonginkosi Khanyile premiered at the Encounters Documentary Film Festival in 2018 before receiving three awards at the African Diaspora Cinema Festival in Italy.
Producer Sithabile Mkhize is a screenwriter and creative producer based in Durban. Her previous feature, Dreams of Gomorrah, was acquired by MultiChoice/M-Net and received several award nominations. She has also produced documentaries for South African broadcaster e.tv and participated in international film-industry programmes including the Berlinale, Cannes Film Festival and the Trajectory training programme.
The film features Thobani Nzuza, Mbulelo Radebe, Zenzo Msomi, Nduduzo Khowa, Omega Mncube and Siya Xaba. Cinematography is by Jared Hinde, editing by Dionysios Xenos, with an original score by internationally-acclaimed composer and musician George Acogny.
God’s Work is produced by Maverick Resistance, with co-production by Marco Orsini and executive production by Toni Monty and Gary Springer. The film was made in association with the KwaZulu-Natal Film and Tourism Authority, the National Film and Video Foundation of South Africa, Amafrika Films and Mojo Entertainment LLC, with support from the Durban Film Office, MAD World is handling worldwide sales.