Jerusalema

From his mischievous adolescence, Lucky Kunene (played as an adult by Rapulana Seiphemo of “Tsotsi,” 30th CIFF) has lived by the philosophy that “great things have small beginnings.” A self-proclaimed follower of both Karl Marx and Al Capone, Kunene lives in the slums of Soweto, South Africa. When he decides he can't afford college, he and his best friend Zakes take up a life of petty crime. Still, Kunene is an ambitious youth: he wants a BMW and an ocean-view house. Under the tutelage of big-time gangster Nazareth Mbolelo, Kunene quickly learns that the bigger the crime, the bigger the payoff. From carjacking (commonly known as “affirmative repossession”) to robbing banks, he effortlessly ascends the crime ladder. Soon enough, he is a budding real estate mogul with a Robin Hood reputation. But fortune is fickle in the streets of Soweto. Ralph Ziman's JERUSELEMA, is a brutal, stunning depiction of the inescapable world of corruption in the “new Jerusalem.” – E.J.B.