By Kabelo Abel Mokgalabone
POLOKWANE-Limpopo’s top creative heavyweights have aligned in an explosive new youth feature film that is taking local cinemas by storm just in time for Youth Day celebrations.
Musician Khutšo ‘King Monada’ Kgatle, acclaimed actor Cornet Mamabolo, and veteran comedian Mashabela Galane share the screen in Studying Under the Barrel of a Gun, which made its highly anticipated theatrical debut on Friday, 12 June 2026.
The official glitzy premiere was hosted at Ster-Kinekor Mall of the North in Bendor, Polokwane, following an exclusive Gauteng screening earlier in the week.
Directed and produced by multi-award-winning filmmaker Tebogo Malope, the project is a political-psychological drama film that chronicles the intense student resistance movement against the brutal apartheid military occupation of the University of Limpopo, formerly known as the University of the North or Turfloop, during the late 1980s.
The film arrives at a highly symbolic moment, directly marking the 40th anniversary of the 1986 National State of Emergency when the apartheid regime deployed the South African Defence Force to turn the campus into an active military stronghold.
The screenplay is adapted from the real-life memoir of Ernest Khosa, who served as the university’s brave Student Representative Council (SRC) President during the volatile 1988/1989 and 1989/1990 academic terms.
The narrative traces the harrowing journey of Khosa, played by celebrated stage performer Kgwadi Selolo in his major big-screen debut, as a soft-spoken rural student drawn into the dangerous underground student resistance.
In a major casting highlight, producer Cornet Mamabolo steps in front of the camera to portray the legendary liberation icon Peter Mokaba.
While the production serves as a massive skills-transfer initiative that actively recruited raw actors and technical interns from the Mankweng and Polokwane areas, it features a star-studded powerhouse cast of seasoned South African acting royalty.
Audiences can look forward to powerhouse performances by Nthati Moshesh, Arthur Molepo, Molefi Monaisa, and Nathaniel (Nat) Ramabulana alongside the prominent Limpopo icons.
The movie is currently showing across several provinces, and local moviegoers can catch the action live at Ster-Kinekor theatres at Mall of the North in Polokwane, Mall of Africa in Midrand, Brooklyn Mall in Pretoria, Eastgate Shopping Centre in JHB, Southgate Mall in JHB, and The Zone @ Rosebank.
