Tim Jones and Lubabalo “Lubhi” Mtati met at a school bus stop in Bluewater Bay, Gqeberha, in the mid-1990s, Daily Maverick reports. Both born in 1987, they bonded over football despite pressure to keep apart, went on to study graphic art together at Nelson Mandela University, and stayed close after Jones moved to London.
Their story is the inspiration for APART, an animated short following two boys, Joel and Themba, growing up in South Africa in 1989. Filmmaker Spike Lee helped bring it to the screen.
Since premiering at New York’s Tribeca Festival four months ago, the film has been picked for several North American festivals and is being talked about as an Oscar contender. It has its South African premiere at the Fame Short Film Festival in Cape Town later this month.
Source: Daily Maverick