By: Tony Manyangadze

The silence is broken, the dark secrets are laid bare for the world to see what is becoming of South Africa’s learners. Jahmil Qubeka takes storytelling to a rather different platform in his latest feature film ‘Of Good Report’.

Petronella Tshuma and Mothusi Magano who are no newcomers to the big screen star in the locally produced feature film. One of the lead characters, Parker Sithole (Mothusi Magano) is an ex-combatant and a bright young man with a paradoxically disturbing secretive past that haunts him. After coming out of the army, he goes on to becoming a teacher.

It is this fate that led him to doing the ‘unexpected’. He fell in love, unintentionally, with one of his grade nine students, Nolitha Ngubane (Petronella Tshuma). Parker had just arrived in town and being a haunted man, he goes to drink at a local tavern and there he met Nolitha and the two become an item.

On his first day at school Parker is astonished to notice his lover in school uniform. He tries to bury the germinating love but because he was already too deep in love, it was too late. In secret the relationship grew precipitously. Gifts came to Nolitha like it was Christmas in June. She was living in a fantasy land; smartphone in hand it was indeed the dream life, though packed with consequences.

The odd couple took their relationship to cloud nine. On one occasion they were almost caught by the principal having sex in the school’s ladies toilet. A desperate attempt by Parker’s colleague, a male teacher at the school, that rescued the two after he got a text from Parker.

It was only when Nolitha got pregnant that things took a totally new twist. Her once sweet lover’s true colours came to light. In the middle of the night the 16-year-old is taken for a clandestine abortion which almost claimed her life, thanks to the impeccable timing her school colleagues who found her bleeding in the toilet.

Petronella Tshuma who plays Nolitha Ngubane on one of the movie’s thought provoking scenes. Pictures from: www.durbanfilmfest.co.za

After recovering from her near death experience, Nolitha is sent to her father’s farm as punishment. Just as if someone had hit the off-switch on the light bulb, the once passionate love affair just darkened.

Upon her return from the farm, the love she had turned to hate. Nolitha no longer wanted anything to do with Parker. She has a new wealthier boyfriend now. The sight of this drove the madly in love young man to insanity and made him do the unthinkable.

A suspense filled feature film that tells it like it is. For 104 minutes your eyes, your mind and emotions are definitely going to be teleported to what happens at schools and what today’s learners get up to.

Shot in classic black and white and dominated by close up shots to intensely show emotions, the film Of Good Report should be high up on your ‘to watch list’.

Interesting to note is the fact that this film was banned by the South Africa’s Film and Publication board a few hours before actually did good than harm to it. When it was finally unbanned, its World Premiere was highly anticipated and also highly attended as it surely met the expectations of many cinemagoers.