Watch the Award-Winning Short Film That Inspired the Cape Flats Thriller Nommer 37
Long ahead of the feature film, Nommer 37 began life as a short film starring Irshaad Ally in the very same role.
Nommer 37, the crime thriller set among the housing blocks of the Cape Flats, began life as an award-winning short film that proved it deserved a feature.
You can watch the original short film for free online, courtesy of Gambit Films, and it’s well worth the twenty-four minutes it takes to get through it.
Nosipho Dumisa, who would go on to direct the full-length version, made the short alongside Travis Taute. Daryne Joshua joined the duo on writing duties. It premiered at KykNet’s Silwerskermfees and picked up two prizes there, for best director and best script, before later scooping the SAFTA for best short film in 2016. It was originally never meant to stand alone either, having been put together as a proof of concept to help get the feature off the ground.
The premise owes a clear debt to Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, swapping the polished New York setting for the much rawer streets of the Cape Flats. This is a different world, one of poverty, loan sharks, gangsters and neighbours who really shouldn’t be watched too closely.
Irshaad Ally returned to lead the feature as Randal Hendricks, with Monique Rockman, Danny Ross, Ephraim Gordon, David Manuel, Amrain Ismail Essop and Sandi Schultz rounding out the cast.
The story follows Randal, a wheelchair user left paralysed after a criminal deal ends badly. Confined to his apartment and struggling with mounting debt, he receives a pair of binoculars from his girlfriend Pam to help pass the time. What begins as harmless people watching soon changes when he witnesses a murder carried out by a feared gangster known as Lawyer.
Believing he has found a way out of his financial troubles, Randal decides to blackmail the killer. He ropes in his unreliable friend Warren, even though doing so places Pam in increasing danger. At the same time, ruthless loan shark Emmie is demanding repayment, while Detective Gail February investigates the disappearance of her corrupt police partner. As all these storylines collide, Randal’s desperate plan quickly spins beyond his control, leaving everyone fighting for survival.
The feature impressed audiences well beyond South Africa. It screened at major international festivals including SXSW, the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival, the Sydney Film Festival and the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal. Dumisa’s direction received particular praise, with the film winning the Best Director award at Fantasia.
If you have only seen the feature, the original short film is well worth watching. It offers an interesting look at how the idea first came together and shows how a proof of concept grew into one of South Africa’s memorable Cape Flats thrillers.
You can watch the short film below via Gambit Films’ YouTube channel.
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