danZ! (2017)

Ashwin, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks, struggles to believe that anyone will ever truly love him and be there for him while Zain, the founder of a community dance school and father figure to many, struggles to keep the doors of his school open and be a decent father to his estranged daughter. In an attempt to try and escape his abusive, drug-dealing uncle Tommy, Ashwin steals a package of drugs from Mamba, a thug who works for his Uncle, in order to sell them and make his own way in life. But, while escaping the clutches of Mamba and Tommy, who are hell bent on finding him, and more importantly, the missing package, Ashwin stumbles upon Zain's dance school, where Zain offers him protection and a chance at building a new life. There, Ashwin meets and befriends Wafiq, the kind boy with a physical disability whose mother, Sharifa, offers Ashwin a home; along with the girl Wafiq has long been crushing on: Christa, an exceptionally trained ballerina who feels emotionally disconnected from her family and is quietly suffering from an eating disorder. However, the shadow of Ashwin's past continues to haunt him. Angel, an impoverished young girl, desperate to be a star; and her dance partner / boyfriend, Titus, an arrogant, entitled heir to his father's empire, feel threatened by Ashwin's arrival, and soon an intense rivalry begins. While Angel seeks to hide her meager circumstances, Titus struggles between his passion for dance and his corrupt and often callous father's expectations of him. Coupled with the arrival of a mysterious new dance teacher, Marlé, who harbors an explosive secret, and things are about to get messy. Set in Cape Town's hotpot community of Salt River and Woodstock, danZ. encompasses a world where people from different backgrounds and economic statutes come together to form one community where the arts are a celebrated. But even the community is undergoing dramatic changes with gentrification looming - threatening the very livelihoods and establishments that have been around for decades. Though conflicts arise and trouble is always brewing for Ashwin, what he must ultimately learn, is that the essence of family and true friendship is born out of trust; and through dance, we can not only find community but purpose. The question is, will the school stand by Ashwin, and will Ashwin choose to stand alone or stay and help save the community he has become a part of? Or is the past something, we can never truly escape.