The Bioscope is proud to launch its first DOC LOVE with a sneak preview of the much anticipated film by Adi Loveland Unhinged: Surviving Joburg. Remember DOC LOVE is the showing of a nearly completed documentary, and so this is the chance to see it first, and help make it better!

And to celebrate this film, and the evening, Joburg fashion label Love Jozi have come on board to make the evening even that much cooler!

Unhinged: Surviving Jo’burg is an honest, quirky (and sometimes manic) documentary-style film about Johannesburg, South Africa’s biggest city and the world’s gateway to southern Africa. With rapid narrative, dry black humour, trivial factoids, insightful observations and a highly enjoyable soundtrack, the film tells a slice-of-city-life story. It’s a personal video snapshot of today’s Jo’burg and provides a unique opportunity for viewers to get a glimpse inside a place that the world has a very fuzzy sense of.

Genre: Guided City Tour/Documentary

Duration: 52 Minutes

Writer & Director: Adrian Loveland

The aim of the film is to give the audience a small taste of Johannesburg, using the city itself as the principle character. Adrian Loveland, an entrepreneur who was born and raised in the city, is the slightly eccentric “tour guide”. It’s clear that, although he loves his hometown, it also frustrates and exhausts him – something that fellow Jo’burgers will easily relate to. Insights are provided through a selection of interviews with an engaging group of city residents, including Robbie Brozin (CEO of Nandos), Ferial Haffajee (Editor of the City Press Newspaper), Justice Malala (Political Analyst) and Victor Kgomoeswana (Africa Business Expert).

The main reason for making the film is that Johannesburg has generally either been portrayed in the world’s media as a death trap, or marketed from internally as the ultimate place of gold and opportunity. In reality it lies somewhere in between and although Surviving Jo’burg doesn’t dish up all the answers, it’ll get you closer to the truth than you would have been before watching it.

The film’s biggest attribute is that it reflects the character of Jo’burg, not only through it’s content but also as a product. It will leave you drained, frustrated, confused, excited, sad, angry, positive, hopeful & wanting more – pretty much the same effects that the city itself has on people.

In some parts it feels like a documentary and in others a travelogue. Then there are bits, such as when Loveland delivers his impressions of wild animal calls, including hyenas and hippopotamuses, which are pure comic relief. The city is unhinged and so is this film. Don’t be fooled, though, because the narrative has been meticulously crafted and whatever can be said about where the story doesn’t take you, it always makes its own kind of sense. Just like Johannesburg, Unhinged: Surviving Jo’burg is what it is and there are no other documentaries that have captured the feeling of the city in quite the same way.

After a rapid-fire voiceover introduction, the viewer experiences Johannesburg as if they had come to visit Loveland for a few weeks, with him talking to camera in the same way as he would chat to any curious tagalong. He talks about the dangerous elements first and some sad stories from recent years, like the xenophobic violence that broke out in 2008. He then moves on to the positive side and goes through a few of the things that add to its magic. To end off, the audience gets some basic tips that will help improve one’s percentages when it comes to “Surviving Jo’burg”. One of the most entertaining parts of the story is when Loveland and a friend decide to drive around for one week saying yes to every person who tries to sell them something. He then spends the following few weeks trying to make the money back.

A visual sense of the city is attained through a steadily inserted set of drive-by shots – showing the kind of sights that a car passenger would take in during a visit. Still photo’s, donated by award-winning news photographer, Alon Skuy, are used to augment the impact of certain stories, like the xenophobic riots and Lucky Dube’s death at the hands of hijackers.

The narrative uses voiceover for sections in which there are stories to be told that Loveland didn’t witness in person and, because most of his links are impromptu, it also serves to guide the overall flow with a concrete, scripted storyline.

Unhinged: Surviving Jo’burg does not shy away from the scary aspects of Johannesburg, yet it leaves the viewer feeling extremely positive and excited by the obvious energy and potential of a city that has a lot of work up ahead. In the words of Robbie Brozin, one of the most charismatic of the interview subjects: “You feel like, you’re here, so let’s, like, fix this place. You can’t fix Paris, you can’t fix London, you can’t fix Sydney, but you can fix Jo’burg”.