Laundry (Uhlanjululo) (2025)

In apartheid South Africa, a young man's aspirations as a musician clash with preserving his family's laundry business amid intensifying racial discrimination against Black entrepreneurs.

Where to watch: Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2026. US Premiere.

South Africa, 1968. Apartheid is the law of the land.

Khuthala, a gifted young musician, wants nothing to do with his family’s laundry business. He dreams of jazz—of a life shaped by music rather than soap and steam. But when the apartheid government begins cracking down on Black-owned businesses, and Khuthala’s father is arrested and brutally beaten, his dreams begin to collapse. To save his father, Khuthala is forced into an impossible choice—one that betrays his closest friends and his own ambitions. In the world of apartheid, even sacrifice is not enough.

Giving up your dreams won’t save you.

An intimate portrait of family, resistance, and artistic survival under apartheid, Laundry is distinguished by its emotional precision, striking cinematography, and evocative jazz-inflected soundtrack—together creating a cinematic experience of rare beauty and restraint.

Official Selection 2026 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Premiere Date: Feb 5, 2026
Running Time: 106 Minutes

Cast

Ntobeko Sishi - Khuthala Sithole
Siyabonga Shibe - Enoch Sithole
Bukamina Cebekhulu - Magdalena Sithole
Zekhethelo Zondi - Ntombentle Sithole
Tracy September - Lilian Mkhize

Crew

Zamo Mkhwanazi - Director, Writer
Gabriel Lobos - Director of Photography
Ael Dallier Vega - Contributing Editor
Gavin Scates - Production Designer
Nompumelelo Sinxoto - Costume Designer
Noni Ntelani - Line Producer
Séverine Pisani - Line Producer
Jim Stark - Producer
Marco Orsini - Co-Producer
Gary Springer - Executive Producer

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