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12

By Sans MOONSAMY

NATIONAL FILM & VIDEO FOUNDATION OF SOUTH AFRICA (NFVF) - as PROMO

Drama - Completed 2016

One midnight the owner of a charity safehouse opens his doors
to a destitute mother, she is then held captive in room number
‘12’ and exposed to a crazy world behind these closed ‘safe’
doors, but when she decides to expose this vile operation and
get revenge, the owner has his own ideas

- Year of production
- 2016
- Genres
- Drama
- Countries
- SOUTH AFRICA
- Languages
- ENGLISH
- Duration
- 85 mn
- Director(s)
- Sans MOONSAMY
- Writer(s)
- Sans MOONSAMY
- Cast
- Pakamisa ZWEDALA, Andile MNGADI, Keneilwe MATIDZA
- Producer(s)
- Sans MOONSAMY, Dev MAHARAJ, Asgar MAHOMED, Anil SIRKISSOON, Mohamed CASSIM, Kerusha KISTEN
- Synopsis
- Zama is a beautiful black woman and when she married affluent businessman Kenneth Marawa, moved into his big mansion on the prestigious 12th
  street in Sandton her life was perfect. They spent almost every night fine dining or attending cocktail parties and lived the high life. She then fell pregnant
  and these ‘parents to be’ could not be happier as their fairytale got even better, but a week before she gave birth Kenneth tragically dies. In the
  immediate aftermath of his death, It was unearthed that Kenneth was in serious financial trouble, his businesses were in debt and being foreclosed, there
  was no insurance and in a sudden whirlwind of events Zama had lost every last cent and was now cast onto the streets with no friends or family willing to
  help. In utter shock and desperation she turned to begging at robots and street corners to survive.
  It was almost midnight on the 12th of December and Albert drives past Zama, She was being robbed on the streets of downtown Johannesburg. Albert
  seeing this whole scene pulls up to her and saves her and offers her a place to stay for the night. She reluctantly but somewhat relieved, accepts. Albert is
  the CEO of a safe house for destitute mothers and children, God’s Haven. At that moment it seemed like an angel had rescued her but this moment
  changed Zama’s life forever. Added to the craziness of this evening Zama gives birth to a beautiful baby boy. After her first week at God’s Haven, she
  starts to find out dark secrets about this place and she realized that she has to get out, she plots her escape but it’s too late, she like so many before her
  were taken to the twelfth floor to the dreaded dark room ‘1212’. Albert hosts weekly parties for his so called ‘private funders’ who eventually go to room
  1212 to ‘pick’ their lady for the night. It turns out to be the first of many horrific nights for Zama. She becomes trapped in a place that is worse than
  prison. Albert is too rich and too well connected so nobody can touch him. She is forced to make friends with a few of the residents and they exchange
  life stories as well as hatch plans to save her son, escape and get revenge but Zama has to constantly watch her back as no one can be trusted in this
  world full of back-stabbers as everyone just looks out for themselves because they too are just trying to survive to tomorrow. Added to the mix Zama’s
  biggest ally is Albert’s right hand man, Jonas who risks everything to help Zama try and take down Albert. There are other intriguing characters that get
  caught up in this gritty drama / thriller / femme fatal chase for rough justice.
  This is a compelling story about hope and survival. It is an authentic African story and a microcosm about candid corruption, human trafficking and how
  money can buy anything....or can it? Zama is a beacon of hope and her survival in a cruel world is testament to the human spirit. It is a simple, heart
  wrenching but beautiful story. The vision and imagery in this film reflects the various connotations of the number ‘12’ that runs parallel to the entire story.