The official trailer for Laundry: Uhlanjululo has arrived, offering a powerful first look at filmmaker Zamo Mkhwanazi’s deeply personal feature debut.
Set in 1968 Johannesburg at the height of apartheid, Laundry: Uhlanjululo explores the fragile tension between survival, ambition, and resistance through the lens of a Black family operating under an unjust system designed to erase them. The newly released trailer highlights the film’s striking period detail and emotional core. At its center is Khuthala, a 16-year-old boy torn between his dream of becoming a musician and the harsh realities facing his family.
Laundry: Uhlanjululo follows Khuthala (Ntobeko Sishi), who resents working in his father’s laundry business despite it being the family’s sole means of survival. His father, Enoch (Siyabonga Melongisi Shibe), operates the business in a whites-only area under a rare government exemption—an arrangement that offers temporary access but no real safety. As apartheid authorities escalate their crackdown on Black-owned businesses, the family’s precarious existence begins to unravel.
The cast also includes Bukamina Cebekhulu, Zekhethelo Zondi, and Tracy September, who contributes musically to the film.
Inspired by Mkhwanazi’s own grandfather—who lost his laundry business during apartheid—the film examines the hidden cost of “privilege” within an oppressive regime, and the quiet choices families are forced to make just to endure.
Behind the camera, Laundry: Uhlanjululo is written and directed by Mkhwanazi and produced by Philippe Coeytaux, Jim Stark, and Mkhwanazi himself. Cinematography is handled by Gabriel Lobos, with editing by Christine Hoffet. The film is a co-production between Akka Films (Switzerland), Kude Media (South Africa), and RTS Radio Télévision Suisse.
With its trailer now out, Laundry: Uhlanjululo positions itself as a must-watch historical drama—one that reframes apartheid not just as a political system, but as an intimate force shaping dreams, relationships, and generational legacy.
The film world-premiered in 2025 at Toronto International Film Festival as part of its drama slate and has since drawn attention for its intimate storytelling and historical weight.