Jump the Gun

Clint is a moustachioed sparkie who comes from an oil rig to celebrate his birthday in Johannesburg and finds South Africa “getting very African”. In a bar, he meets up with ‘actress’ Minnie, a hapless hooker with a habit of changing her clothes in public, and an unexpected romance flowers. Another newcomer to the big city is Gugu, who falls in with a wheelchairbound ‘businessman’, but has ambitions to sing in a group being managed by Thabo, a moonlighting accountant. A wry comedy brings this motley crew together in British documentarist Les Blair’s improvisational South African feature, which recently won at the All African Film Awards. A jolly time should be had by all. (Phillip Bergson)