Cape Town has received a lot of attention as the World Design Capital for 2014. According to The New York Times earlier in September, it’s number 1 of the 52 places to go in 2014. With all the attention that the Mother City has received as of late, would it surprise you to know that several films have been produced in Cape Town and more are on the way?

Movies that have been filmed in Cape Town

Going back as far as 2009, these are the films that graced the silver screen and made a deep impression on those that watched them.

The Last House on the Left (2009)

This movie was filmed in the Helderberg Nature Reserve in Cape Town.

It tells the harrowing tale of Mari (Sara Paxton), while on vacation with her parents John (Tony Goldwyn) and Emma (Monica Potter), who encounters and is kidnapped by a gang, lead by the escaped convict, Krug (Garret Dillahunt). After witnessing the gang kill her friend, she is raped and left for dead, and barely manages to find her way back to her parents in their holiday home. But in a twist of fate, a storm forces the gang to take shelter at the very same place.

Invictus (2010)

A film that recalls one of South Africa’s proudest moments, Invictus tells the story of the country’s victory during the 1995 Rugby World Cup, where it was also the host nation. It was filmed in Cape Town.

The movie starred Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar and Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela. It depicts the first years of South Africa’s democracy and Mandela’s battle to unite the nation and how he saw in sport the opportunity to do so.

Safe House (2012)

Safe House tells the story of a young CIA agent, Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) who is the caretaker of a safe house in Cape Town. Trouble starts when he has to take charge of a fugitive named Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington). On the night Tobin is delivered to the safe house, gunmen attack and Matt and Tobin are forced to work together as they escape.

The film was filmed in numerous locations in and around Cape Town.

The Giver (2014)

This sci-fi tale set in a fictional world was filmed in Cape Town, one of the locations being Paarl.

Set in an apparently perfect community where war, pain, differences or choice and suffering do not exist, young Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) is chosen as the Receiver of Memories, to learn from the elderly Giver (Jeff Bridges) about the world of pleasure and pain his society gave up.

Upcoming movies that have been shot in Cape Town and others that are still being shot

These are the movies that are soon to be released and those that are still under development.

Tiger House (2014)

Due for release towards the end of this year, Tiger House was filmed in the Cape Town suburb of Wynberg, which is doubling for Surrey in England.

While recovering from an injury, teenage gymnast Kelly (Kaya Scodelario) finds herself having to defend the home of her boyfriend from a gang of armed robbers.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

The long awaited and 4th instalment of the classic Mad Max franchise has 7 filming locations, one of them being the Cape Town Film Studios.

The post-apocalyptic tale is set in desert land where humanity has degenerated to the point of fighting over the necessities of life. In the middle of this chaos, two figures have the potential to bring order back to the world. Max (Tom Hardy), a man of few words but a lot of action, seeking peace after losing his wife and child to this madness, and Furiosa (Charlize Theron), a woman of action who believes that she can survive if she can cross the desert back to the land of her childhood.

Eye in the Sky (2015)

A movie about the controversial military tactic involving the use of drones, Eye in the Sky began filming in Cape Town this month as actors Helen Mirren and Aaron Paul came to the Mother City to fulfil their part in the filming process.

The edgy action thriller and morally disturbing story focuses on the London-based Madden (Helen Mirren), remotely commanding a secret drone operation to secure the capture of a group of terrorists in their safe house in Nairobi Kenya. The mission escalates to a “kill” when she learns the terrorist are planning a suicide mission that could lead to the disastrous death of numerous civilians. In control of the drone, American pilot Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) is ready to destroy the safe house when a nine year old girl enters the kill zone, escalating the situation to include the possibility of collateral damage, and out of Madden’s hands.