is the first-ever South African feature to be screened during the Bermuda International Film Festival (BIFF).

Perhaps just as interesting as the film itself is hearing the road its director, Ntshavheni Wa Luruli, had to travel to become a film-maker.

"During apartheid, the choices were very limited," he explained. "Coming from a very poor family, your ambition was geared towards professions that would help you get out of poverty. If you were brilliant, you could become a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher or a priest. Those were the only options available."

Mr. Wa Luruli completed a bachelor's degree in Dramatic Arts at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa and a received a master's in Fine Arts in Screenwriting and Directing, from Columbia University.

In 1989, he won the Paramount Pictures Writing Award and went on to work as assistant director to Spike Lee on two of his films,and . His first feature as director was in 1999; is his second. He also lectures in screenwriting at the Film and Television School of Dramatic Arts at the University of Witwatersrand.

On his graduation from high school, however, his goal was slightly different. Although he had a strong interest in the arts ? high school saw him participate in one dramatic production after the other ? Mr. Wa Luruli thought his only means of escaping the townships was by attending university and pursuing a degree in law.

When his university shut, he seized the opportunity as a chance to master photography, courtesy of a tiny camera his father had presented him with, on graduation from high school.

"When everybody else was studying for exams, I was busy writing a new play. Needless to say, when, because of the political struggle of the time, schools and universities ? especially black ones ? were closed because of the violence, I looked at it as a blessing in disguise. I took photographs. I would go to the photographic library to learn the technical aspects of photography. And then I decided I wanted to go back to school."

As a black man, the only higher institution offering instruction in drama was closed to him. It took Mr. Wa Luruli three attempts, and finally a threat that he would join the political uprisings, before he was accepted as a student.

"Black people were not allowed to go to white universities at all. You had to get special permission from the Minister of Education at the time. Finally, they relented. I remember it was the first of March. I was so excited to be able to study and I was the only black in the class."

Still there were problems, he said. Although allowed to study at the university, he could not live on the campus; although he was enrolled in film classes, he could not enter the theatres to watch those assigned for viewing by his professor.

"It was a four-year degree and quite a struggle for me because I was black. What my professor did, (to get around that), was to give me a separate project. I would go to the library to watch a video of another film. But it was a struggle all the way. And then I got this scholarship to study in America.

"The problem was, that as a black South African, I was not allowed to have a passport. So the United States officials organised what they called a travelling document. It was a piece of paper which had my identity; my photograph, and was issued under special permission from the United States to be able to travel."

Mr. Wa Luruli left South Africa for New York and Columbia University in the early 1980s, vowing never to return. He completed his studies while working as an intern on Mr. Lee's films and then learned that Nelson Mandela had been released from prison.

"My idea was not to come back to South Africa, ever. And then in 1990, Mandela was released from jail. Being in America, as a South African, I was a stranger. There was no way I could make films that would truly reflect my experience or my culture in America. There were people like Spike Lee, John Singleton and the likes, who could express their experience as African-Americans there.

"For me I was still a stranger no matter how long I lived there. I decided I better go home firstly as part and parcel of getting involved in the development of South African film industry and also to tell my stories. That's when I applied for, and was given, a South African passport. That's when I came back here."

Mr. Wa Luruli said he was particularly interested in making films from the perspective of a black South African ? a perspective that had not been shown in previous films.

"The people who told our stories as black people were white South Africans telling them from their own perspective. Remember, we come from the system of apartheid. We never lived together. Obviously, it was going to be very difficult for someone to write about the life of someone else ? especially those you don't look highly upon.

"Things were tough because I'd been away from the country for ten years. It was difficult to get a job. I was lucky to be able to do my first feature film ? a comedy called which for me, was important. I wanted to show people that black people had some humour too ? that people laugh in South Africa."

The film won five awards in various international film festivals, although people found it hard to believe it was a product of South Africa.

"People were used to seeing the stereotype of South Africa ? very poor, in rundown situations, looking very miserable with babies, with flies all over the place ? people were used to that. This image did not relate to that," he explained.

is Mr. Wa Luruli's second feature. As described by BIFF, the drama looks at the choices made by two young boys after their discovery of a briefcase containing a gun and a camera. Madiba takes the camera and begins filming. Sipho takes the gun and becomes enamoured of its power. Through a strange set of circumstances, the two befriend a young white girl who ? unlike her wealthy parents ? is eager to embrace the new South Africa.

For a while, Madiba, Sipho and Estelle make an unlikely trio. The inevitable death of Sipho, as he follows his own destructive path, shows that change and new attitudes require a sense of discovery and the willingness to give the impossible a chance. Through the budding film-maker, Madiba, we can appreciate the vicissitudes of township and city life in South Africa today, and know that the journey forward is not easy.

"This year South Africa is going to be celebrating its tenth year anniversary of democracy," the director explained. "I was looking at the future of South Africa today; putting the contrast between the older generation, the parents, who are still carrying on with their own prejudices that they cannot change, versus their children.

"These kids were babies, some were not even born when Mandela was released. They do not have any preconceived ideas about racism, about how the struggle was. They just meet and want to be friends because they like each other.

"On the other hand, in South Africa today, there's a lot of crime going on. We had an idealism. The ideal was to fight apartheid. (In ), the kids are together but their ideals are different. For one, it's more of a material thing. Get the gun. Rob the bank. Get the money. Buy the golden chain."

Only a few weeks ago, was awarded a Crystal Bear Award at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival. Fellow South African Charlize Theron received a Golden Bear Award for Best Actor at the same ceremony.

While being a film-maker has afforded him the chance to travel to festivals all over the world, the director explained that BIFF is one he will have to miss.

"Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend," he said. "I have about eight festivals ? Milan, Toronto, Philadelphia, Japan ? coming up. I can't go to all of them. It's just impossible. (The other problem) is that I'm also working here at the university and I'm now in pre-production for a very big television series here, .

"It's a pity because I really wanted to come down to Bermuda. I've never been and it comes under the black, African Diaspora. For me, spiritually, I really wanted to come over there."

q will screen tonight at the Liberty Theatre, at 9.30 p.m. and at 4 p.m. on Sunday, at Southside.

Tickets for the Bermuda International Film Festival are on sale online at www.bermudafilmfest.com and between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the BIFF Front Room box office, Number One Shed, Front Street, Hamilton. Individual film tickets are $10.