Annual Top Films Lists

Top 100 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2015: #28. Jahmil X.T. Qubeka’s The Riders

Published on January 8, 2015

The Riders

Director: Jahmil X.T. Qubeka // Writer: Susie Brooks-Smith

South African filmmaker Jahmil X.T. Qubeka made headlines in 2013 when his sophomore film Of Good Report was banned shortly before it was set to premiere at the Durban International Film Festival due to sensitive subject matter involving a high school teacher carrying on a sexually charged affair with one of his female students (thankfully, it was programmed and played at TIFF). An homage to film noir, Qubeka’s moody, psychologically inclined thriller announced the filmmaker as an intriguing talent, and though Report is still sadly without US distribution, we’re excited to see he’s working on a UK production, The Riders, with filming to take place in London and Croatia. The film tells the tale of a man searching across Europe for his missing wife with his child in tow.

Cast: Liam McIntyre, Pixie Davies, Alison Carroll

Production Co.: Trinity Pictures

U.S. Distributor: Cinetic Media

Release Date: We can look forward to Qubeka as a rising directorial voice over the next several years, having recently signed with a UK agency that has granted him access to a handful of other developing projects. We look forward to The Riders securing a festival slot in Karlovy Vary or even Locarno before returning to Toronto.

Nicholas Bell

Los Angeles based Nicholas Bell is IONCINEMA.com's Chief Film Critic and covers film festivals such as Sundance, Berlin, Cannes and TIFF. He is part of the critic groups on Rotten Tomatoes, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and GALECA. His top 3 for 2021: France (Bruno Dumont), Passing (Rebecca Hall) and Nightmare Alley (Guillermo Del Toro). He was a jury member at the 2019 Cleveland International Film Festival.