
8 September 2023
Watch: Director Mandla N’s inspiring masterclass
Mandla N is one of the most accomplished filmmakers in South Africa. His directing, writing and producing credits include the multiple SAFTA winner Diep City, the acclaimed movie Loving Thokoza and hit series Lockdown.
As part of the Actor Spaces x Showmax masterclass series on YouTube, he shares his secrets.
“We are mining the truth – believability is everything”
Mandla N
The art of directing is about bringing real life to the screen. Telling stories about the world and our people through the eyes of a camera. To be a director, it is your job to create, instruct and guide the stories that will be told as accurately and as authentically as possible. Here are some tools and tips for the art of directing.
- Know Your Audience
- Working with Actors
- Decode The Script
- Remember The Goal
- Don’t Limit Yourself
- Keep Learning! Keep Believing!
Keep doing! Shoot every day. Whether it is your phone or a film camera, go out and shoot. It is important to keep your director’s muscles moving and working.
Also watch the masterclasses with The Wife’s Bonko Khoza on Character Development and actor and casting director Ayanda Sithebe on The Art of the Audition.
The Mommy Club NBO, coming soon
The Chocolate Empire, now streaming
The best movies to stream

Would you join The American Society of Magical Negroes?
Writer-creator Kobi Libii cracks open his bag of tricks to reveal what’s really going on in The American Society of Magical Negroes. And we suggest 5 more Black comedies with culture.

Twisters and 5 other man-versus-nature nail biters
Tornado alert! A category F5 spin on the blockbuster 1996 movie Twister has just touched ground to sweep us up in the terrifying power of nature. Find out about how it was made, and what to watch next.

Which Mission: Impossible is it?
With Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning now in cinemas, we match each previous Mission: Impossible film to its most iconic scene. You know, it’s the one where…

Movie fight club: Gladiator II and more intense punch-ups
For their Gladiator II fight to stand up to rhinos, sharks and sea battles, Pedro Pascal and Paul Mescal had to do more than wave their swords at each other. We break it down along with 8 other films’ most intense punch-ups.