With the 2005 Oscar for Best Foreign Film ('Tsotsi') and last year's sleeper hit, 'District 9,' South African films are no longer just about apartheid and AIDS, as more films are starting to emerge and become more universally appealing to worldwide audiences.

Coming out this week is the urban gritty crime drama, 'Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema,' which was inspired by a true story.

Directed by Ralph Ziman, the film is based on the story of Lucky Kunene, an underworld figure who in the 1990s took over real estate in the Hillbrow neighborhood of Johannesburg, South Africa.

It's an unflinching look into the crime, corruption and the transgressions of those looking to survive in the most crime-infested district of Johannesburg.

Starting off with simple smash and grabs, and petty crime, Lucky Kunene quickly graduates to more aggressive heists such as armed robbery and carjacking. Soon, Lucky realizes he needs a bigger score to fulfill his goals of making it big, and escaping from the slums, to a dream house by the sea. Kunene hatches an elaborate and violent plan to make his fortune – hijacking buildings from landlords of Johannesburg tenements by winning the favor of the tenants and then holding their rent hostage from the landowners. His high-profile real estate acquisitions attract the attention of the local police force who have no qualms about using unprovoked brutality to bring him down. His trouble with the law, coupled with an escalating war between a local drug lord, creates a tense standoff: both sides are closing in, and Kunene must stay one step ahead-or his empire, and his life, will come crashing down.

Ziman is also a music video director who has done over 400 videos for artists as diverse as Ozzy Osbourne, Elton John, Faith No More, Vanessa Williams, Toni Braxton, Rod Stewart, Michael Jackson, Shania Twain, Rick James, Iron Maiden, Maxi Priest, BAD, Fine Young Cannibals, Donna Summer, Living Color, The Commodores, Alice Cooper, Mango Groove and Chicago to name a few. He has won wide acclaim for his visual flair and originality of vision, including numerous MTV awards.

Black Voices caught up with director Ziman, and one of its stars, Jafta Mamabolo, who makes his first feature film playing young Lucky.

How did you come upon writing this script and what challenges did you face?

Ralph Ziman: I had been looking to South Africa post-1994 and there was this crime wave, which put the country the crime capital of the world and it was ubiquitous all over the world. I had been looking for some time a story what was going on in South Africa and I came across a story first hand of a syndicate stealing buildings in downtown Johannesburg and taking over high rise blocks one after the next. I thought that it was fascinating and it got into so many social and political and it seemed tailor made for a character piece. I'd gone back to South Africa and started doing the research and got in touch with Stephen Khumalo, who was the guy behind it and based Lucky Kunene very much on him from the way he walked and expressed himself. He was also charming, smooth and well spoken.

I also think it gives an insight as to what life is like in inner city Johannesburg. I've always wanted to make an entertaining film that people want to see. I think the film did very successfully in South Africa. I wanted people to look at a window of a world they probably hadn't seen before.

Jafta, how was playing the role of young Lucky?

Jafta Mamabolo: It was a big challenge initially. The characters of Lucky Kunene and Zakes Mbolelo were people I grew up around. It's not like I had to get out of my comfort zone completely to go search for something. The script had already done half the work for me. I didn't have to dig deep in order to find the performance. I had so many guidelines as it was. It was a great character to play because he's very different from who I am.

Many may see that your film is a mix of films that we have seen in America, from 'Scarface' to 'The Godfather.' As a filmmaker, where you trying to avoid any similarities to other films?

RZ: I thought it was a unique South African story in terms of the content. In terms of the genre, it does give a nod to the American gangster films. Lucky Kunene is a guy who probably grew up watching those gangster films. There is a very big cross polarization. There is a point in the film where we used a scene from 'Heat,' the Michael Mann film. That actually happened in 1994 and there were some copycat crimes which really turned Johannesburg to ground zero for those types of robberies. What we did try to do was to focus in on the characters and make them unique and authentic as to who they were and where they came from.

How long did it take for this film to come to the states?

RZ: We finished the film in mid-2008 when we released it in South Africa. It played there in theaters for six months to the middle of December. We had gone through several distributors where deals had fallen apart. I work as a writer and developing other projects. Like all directors, I'm trying to get my next film up and going.

Jafta, what other roles are you looking to do?

JM: AS an actor, I'm always to looking to be versatile. I try to look for different work wherever I go. That's why I appreciated playing this character because it was something completely different. I try to build on last performance when doing and looking for something opposite of that.

Because of the Oscar win for 'Tsotsi' in 2005, and the popularity of last year's 'District 9,' is there a growing trend among South African filmmakers to build on the success of those films?

RZ: Sure. 'District 9' was a very unusual sci-fi film, but universal where an American audience could relate to and be completely immersed in it; but it was uniquely South African in its own way. For years, South African films would be seen differently from the films coming out of Australia, or England. There was the belief that the films coming out of South Africa had to deal with the heavy issues of apartheid or AIDS, and that it had to make a social statement, and with a film like 'District 9,' it shows that it can also shows films of entertainment. Yes, it has certain things to say that is uniquely South African, but for a filmmakers, it's becoming normal like it should be.