In 2000, a Special Assignment program was aired that exposed the vicious dog training techniques used by the North East Rand dog unit.

In the program we are shown a video captured by the officers themselves, one that the dog unit took so much pride in that they would screen the footage for their fellow policemen and friends at a braai. The footage itself is from 1998 and portrays 6 policemen who wanted to train 2 young police dogs to be vicious and aggressive. 2 older dogs were to be used to teach the new dogs how to attack and bring down a human target. Those human targets were 3 immigrants that had been picked up, without any charges, for the sole purpose of this dog training

Hyperreality refers to the condition of being unable to distinguish and differentiate between reality and simulations thereof. This is exemplified more intensively by social media. At the genesis of the 21st century, hyperreality was perpetuated primarily by basic modern media. TVs, magazines and movies were the primary advocates of hyperreality. Unrealistic standards of existence were illustrated through these forms of media. In today’s atmosphere, the primary advocate of hyperreality is social media. It heavily blurs the lines separating reality and simulations portraying reality. 58,4% of the world’s population is active on social media. This implies that the advancement of hyperreality is perceived by over half of the world’s population. No wonder we hate ourselves so bad.

Black cinema has historically been oversaturated with depictions of struggle and suffering, and although I can recognise the importance of such representations, I find portrayals of blackness wherein black people occupy typically white spaces, through depictions of the ordinary, to be a more powerful resistance to the restrictions of white cinema.

Wong Kar-wai is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter and producer who is often lauded as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time for his atmospheric and non-linear narrative films. But what separates his work from the rest of the artsy films that have beautiful images of sunsets but lackluster stories? The pure and raw emotion. 

THE ACT OF WATCHING OTHERS ENGAGING IN SEXUAL OR NUDE ACTIVITY HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE THE DAWN OF FUCKING.

The recent developments around AI generated imagery/artwork has brought up a lot of discussion around how it can be integrated into the current artistic ecosystem and what that could mean for artists.

Katsu is a graffiti artist most know for his innovative tech-driven style within the digital space. The narrative around his work has evolved through out the past years, a lot of his artworks speak on consumerism, social action and commentary on the social space; internet.

TATTOOS HAVE EXISTED ALMOST AS LONG AS THE HUMAN RACE, HAVING BECOME SO POPULARISED IN RECENT YEARS, IT IS EASY TO FORGET THE LONG AND OFTEN SPIRITUAL REASON BEHIND TATTOOING IN MANY CULTURES.

A city: 170km long, 200 metres wide, completely encased in mirrors and built in the Saudi desert. Although it may seem like the description of a fictional post-apocalyptic city, the plan is real and the vision of His Royal Highness Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

OVER RECENT YEARS, FILMS IN AFRICA, ESPECIALLY IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN FILM MARKET, HAVE BEEN DISCREDITED AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THEIR ATTEMPTS TO MIMIC TRIED AND TRUE HOLLYWOOD FILM TECHNIQUES, INSTEAD OF DEPICTING STORIES UNIQUE TO THE AFRICAN LANDSCAPE. I HAVE, HOWEVER, RECENTLY COME TO UNCOVER A GOLDMINE OF INDEPENDENT AND CINEMATICALLY IMPRESSIVE, UNIQUE AFRICAN FILMS IN A SPACE THAT I WOULD HAVE LEAST EXPECTED TO.