Going into uncharted territory is no easy feat, especially when you feel alienated by circumstance. In many ways the feeling can be a universal one that cuts across location, faith, gender and expression but it’s also a feeling that can be defined by those very things. This is part of why I love the coming-of-age genre. It’s an amazing canvas for exploration, identity and understanding how different characters react to new experiences. Black Burns Fast is an exuberant and quirky addition to coming-of-age films that centres South African black girlhood and experiences with the pressures, joys and abnormalities of navigating identity within a predominantly white private boarding school.

Written and directed by Sandulela Asanda, Black Burns Fast follows Luthando; a high-achieving scholarship student whose world is turned upside down by the arrival of a mysterious new student Ayanda. As Luthando navigates her feelings, she struggles to juggle multiple identities whilst coming to terms with her sexuality and her sense of self. Asanda describes the film as a celebration of black joy, a love letter to her younger self and the friends she had in high school; and this sentiment is everpresent and felt throughout the movie. It brims with black joy, personality and charisma, from its cast of vivacious characters to its immersive visual language and saturated cinematography.

Sandulela Asanda fills the script with an array of amazing one-liners and banter that ranges from playfully cheesy and awkwardly hilarious to dialogue that is smart and contextually aware. Black Burns Fast is filled with dozens of quotable one-liners that are spread across a refreshingly confident ensemble of black femme characters who deliver them with incredible aplomb. So many that I’ll put a couple of my favourite exchanges at the end of this article. Esihle Ndleleni shines as Luthando, being earnest whilst delivering outrageous lines and epiphanies like “I think I’m in lesbians with Ayanda”. Great care is given in how Luthando’s single mother, played by Faniswa Yisa, is portrayed as a conservative and wounded mother who is trying her best to protect her daughter from life’s heartbreaks. Mila Smith, Muadi Ilung and Khensani Khoza are scene-stealing foils that devour each comedic one-liner that Jodie, Ayanda and Zenande are given, whilst Basetsana Motloung and Ntsimedi Gwangwa entertain in sparing moments of physical comedy. Black Burns Fast’s vivacious cast, dialogue and visual language charismatically carry the soul, spirit and energy of the film. The story for me, however, is one of two halves that interestingly to me feels like it mirrors Luthando’s treatment as a character.

The comedy’s first half feels whimsically inventive from its communal approach in capturing girlhood to its immersive and often hilarious use of visual effects and shifting perspectives. A lot of my favourite moments within this table-setting half lie within the film’s communal and ensemble approach. Part of that essence gets stripped away in the film’s second half as the film chooses to fully zero-in on Luthando. Black Burns Fast third quarter fully centres Luthando experiencing black girlhood and queer love whilst choosing to rebel against the pressures of being a model black student in a primarily private white school. However, the film does this whilst continuously avoiding the very complex and unique tensions that Luthando’s own actions are having on her best friend and romantic prospects. Jodie, Ndumiso and Ayanda all disappear and get an out-of-sight, out-of-mind treatment at critical junctures of their story arcs and character tensions. Jodie and Ayanda’s presence on-screen both disappear when they’re in conflict with Luthando despite these characters sharing classes and living in the same boarding school environment. Ndumiso’s development as Luthando’s beard happens entirely off-screen despite this being a major driving issue within the film’s climactic turning point. This dampens the film’s rich character dynamics and some of the unique stakes that the first half sets up space for, it also dampens the interiority for Luthando and these characters within this section. The ship does land but there are some significant emotional gaps left in how we get there.

Ultimately, Black Burns Fast is a refreshing, lovable film that expands the scope of African and queer coming-of-age stories. It offers a valuable representation of an uplifting, vibrant and joy-filled African teenage experience that is entertaining, enjoyable and provides considerable replay value. It’s a film that goes into uncharted territory with confidence to assert that there is indeed so much more to explore for the next generation of African artists and storytellers. It’s charismatic, it’s charming, it’s chaotic, it’s figuring itself out but against all odds it’s here and it joyfully claims its space in being here. Black Burns Fast is currently available in cinemas nationwide, make sure you see it and let me know you find it.

A few of my favourite teen quotes & interactions from Black Burns Fast

• “Oh, she’s a coconut” – Zenande after Ayanda explains her anime interests

“Friend!” – Lazola

“… I mean, we basically all are though” – Zenande

• “I think I’m in lesbians with Ayanda” – Luthando as she comes out to her best friend

“… Am I supposed to be surprised?…” – Jodie

“I know this is a shock and I swear I wasn’t hiding it… Wait, what” – Luthando

• “You can take a man, but you can never take him seriously” – Zenande

• “You are setting a great example, Luthando. You are breaking multi-generational chains!” – Jodie

“Ok… Okay…  Okay Jo… Thank you, I got it. The pleasure of every woman is resting on my shoulders.” –  

“…I may have gone a bit overboard.” – Jodie

• “Are those pads” – Chulu

*Anele brilliantly breaking the fourth-wall with a knowing look.

• “You’re still coming to my concert, right?” – Jodie

“Yes, of course I’ll be there. I even have an idea for my next sign. Either ‘Bach better have my money!’ or ‘Can you Handel it?”… – Luthando

• Bucky The Hamster’s funeral. The whole thing.