Gig of The Weekend – F-Stop Club

Back in 1998, Market Photo Workshop alumnus, Themba Hadebe found himself in a decrepit Hillbrow alley strewn with what perhaps in hindsight was to become the new South Africa. Four years into the democratic project, municipal services were deteriorating, and in that grimy alley, Hadebe trained his camera on a police detective. Black, blue shirt, black shoes, tie, and pants lined to a crisp.

Set in the poor, rural town of Mdantsane, known as the boxing mecca of Mzansi, Qubeka’s film follows the anarchical descent of the two brothers into a hellish life as they are driven to the brink by an all-too-familiar toxic masculinity that breaks them down. Over and above a tale of men and boxing, ‘Knuckle City’ is in fact the story of a family’s ability to maintain some sort of unity in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

Mandla Mlangeni has carved a name for himself in collaborating with strongly rooted titans both locally and abroad such as but not limited to, David Murray, Evan Parker, Feya Faku, Louis Moholo, Shabaka Hutchings (UK), Ganesh Geymeier (CH), Barney Rachabane, Sipho Mabuse, Hugh Masekela, Khaya Mahlangu, Andile Yenana and Afrika Mkhize, to name a few.