Joe Bullet


Ken Gampu
Joe Bullet by Louis de Witt
ZAF 1971, Forum
© Gravel Road Entertainment Group.

Dan Poho, Abigail Kubeka
Joe Bullet by Louis de Witt
ZAF 1971, Forum
© Gravel Road Entertainment Group.
In making the film, businessman-turned-producer Tonie van der Merwe, hoped to reach a new market. In step with 1970s black popular culture, the film was indebted to Blaxploitation cinema and was importantly, one of the first with an all-black cast that included stars like Gampu and Abigail Kubeka. Not only did Joe Bullet offer a thrilling new hero to audiences, but also a wholly different vision of black life than known at the time. This was an image of agency, aspiration and power, at odds with the realities of most non-white South Africans under apartheid. Despite having no overt oppositional politic, the film was quickly banned and remained unseen for decades.
Recently restored, Joe Bullet is a compelling, complex piece of South African cinema history and one which deserves a contemporary reappraisal.
Additional information

Dorothee Wenner, Tonie van der Merwe, Benjamin Cowley
Tonie van der Merwe wrote the script for Joe Bullet and directed the second film of the afternoon Umbango. At his side Benjamin Cowley, who rediscovered him as a filmmaker.
Joe Bullet · Forum · Feb 06, 2015