IMRAN HAMDULAY
BIO
Imran Hamdulay is a writer and director based in Cape Town, South Africa. He is a Berlinale Talents alumni & Film Independent fellow. He was the recipient of the Robert Bosch Stiftung award and was featured on CNN Inside Africa as one of Africa’s directors to watch. His debut feature, The Heart Is A Muscle (Spanish premiere at AFRIKALDIA 2025) premiered at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival going on to win the Panorama Independent Jury award. His most recent short film, The Wait, premiered at the 3rd edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival and won best short film at the 45th Durban International Film Festival.
His screenplays have featured at various international markets and he has also produced the crime-thriller Sons of the Sea, which premiered at Cinequest (USA). The film went on to win Best Feature Film at the 43rd Durban International Film Festival.
FILMOGRAPHY
The Heart Is A Muscle, 2025. Feature film.
The Wait, 2023. Short fiction film.
Footprints, 2018. Short fiction film.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
The film was inspired by an incident that happened at a friend’s barbecue in much the same way it does in the film. My friend’s kid was found very quickly but this got me thinking about this moment in my life when my friends and I entered a very new, very adult stage of our lives. We’re at a moment where we’re now facing some of the similar challenges our parents had faced, albeit in a very different world.
With a key theme of the film being the role of fathers in our lives, I am looking to explore not just intergenerational trauma, but also generational healing and forgiveness. I am not looking to justify problematic behavior; I am instead trying to explore questions that are difficult to answer in a single sentence. In the end, I want to examine the characters and relationships with compassion, without judgement.
This film is my attempt at deconstructing masculinity and a way for me to wrestle with these questions but also try to be non-judgmental about the characters and the choices they make. To treat Ryan as a complex person who needs time to figure out this new stage of his life while still trying to overcome his past.