We are a mobile cinemathat converts solar power into social impact.

Through screening various types of dynamic educational, interactive content, & media training workshops, we address social and environmental challenges through community partnerships. Since 2013 we have screened to over 8000 direct audience members across Southern Africa.

We are a mobile cinemathat converts solar power into social impact.

Some of our screenings

Ignite Your Rights Tour

Sunshine Cinema recently wrapped our first Ignite Your Rights Tour. On the tour we screened African social impact films aimed at sparking conversation.
We visited 3 countries: South Africa, Botswana and Zambia and met our 10 young Sunbox Ambassadors who are running mini solar cinema screenings for the next six months. At each site we launched the Ambassadorship with a large screening introducing the project to local organizations and the community at large.

Before the tour we selected, in partnership with The Children’s Radio Foundation, young people to be the drivers of the Sunbox Ambassadorship Program. For the next six months they will run mini solar cinema kits in Alice, Qwa Qwa, Lebowakgomo, Gaborone and Kitwe. We trained them to be impact producers, using documentary and feature films to spark and inspire social change in their communities.

During the tour we ran workshops, and hosted screenings of films such as Winnie Mandela Documentary; Whispering Truth to Power; Inxeba – The Wound and I Am Not a Witch.

Since the tour has ended our Ambassadors continue to take African films into under-resourced communities and create discussions around issues that have been no-go areas in the past. We will keep celebrating film whilst inspiring active citizenship.

How do we spread sunshine?

Our Story

Sunshine Cinema is more than just a mobile cinema, it is a grassroots movement on the move.

Africa has the largest youth population in the world and the largest potential audience for film. In the past it could be argued that the main challenge facing African cinema was the making of films. Now the real challenge is to reach wider audiences more effectively. There are so many great films from Africa, but not enough cinemas! The potential of local film industries has been held back by challenges like distribution and exhibition. The more local content is shared, the more the industry will grow.

How we work

Sunshine Cinema is more than just a mobile cinema, it is a grassroots movement on the move.

We train and employ youth to be impact producers hosting solar powered screenings on mini cinema kits (the Sunbox). We use relevant documentary and feature films to spark dialogue, educate, and inspire social change.

We currently work in Alice (EC), Qwa Qwa (FS) and Lebowakgomo (Limpopo) and Kitwe (Zambia) and are fundraising to expand across all 9 provinces of South Africa in 2019.

Our Sunbox Ambassadors

Sunshine Cinema is more than just a mobile cinema, it is a grassroots movement on the move. Thanks to SAE and our patron Hlubi Mboya.

We have created an Ambassadorship Program which empowers young entrepreneurs from resource scarce communities, by giving them a mobile sunbox to hold screenings in their own and surrounding communities. Their responsibilities range from logistics organisation, ensuring involvement of the community and relevant stakeholders, and facilitating communication. They use screenings to stimulate meaningful engagement with relevant themes. We believe that creating such spaces for young arts entrepreneurs will serve as powerful platform for behavioural change around these key social issues. Each film is chosen for its theme that needs to be urgently explored and engaged with by young people in the relevant communities. Many times these young people live in a context negatively affected by socio-economic inequality, and which is prejudiced, exclusive and discriminatory to people who do not identify with gender norms or conventional identities. The screenings open doors to this engagement in safe artistic spaces which are rarely available to them.

“The thing that I love about movies is that the films that we are screening are very educational.” (Nomtha, Alice, Eastern Cape)

“I love movies because they challenge my level of thinking. Movies educate me and I get to express my true feelings or personal experiences.” (Junior Missherbacks, Lebowakgomo, Limpopo)

“Movies are able to affect your emotions they can make you realize your dreams can come true.” (Mwape, Kitwe, Zambia)

#SpreadALittleSunshine

Sunshine Cinema isn’t just a mobile movie theater. We are an ethically-minded media company that produces films with a meaningful message. To do this we partner with socially and environmentally conscious individuals and organisations to create compelling content that changes lives for the better. These films range from practical ‘how to’ demo videos that teach viewers valuable and practical life skills through to documentaries on a wide variety of socially relevant subjects. We then take these carefully curated stories into the heart of the communities that need to see them most. That’s where our fully-kitted out mobile solar powered Sunshine Cinema’ comes into play. Our ‘sun bus’ allows us to create a communal cinema experience in places that don’t often have access to film media of any kind. From peri-urban areas to rural villages and everywhere in-between, we turn solar energy into social impact, one cinema screening at a time. These experiences include dynamic and empowering post-cinema workshops and audience outreach programs that are intended to educate, uplift and inspire. We like to think that we spread a little sunshine wherever we go.

The Sun Bus

Audience Outreach Programs

Sunshine Cinema's Educational Workshops

#SunBox

Get The Box That Rocks

Sunshine Cinema wants to spread sunshine far and wide and so we created the Sunbox, which we sell to interested parties and individuals across Africa. We are also always looking to expand our network of Sunbox Ambassadors. These are passionate people who we give a Sunbox to so that they can host their own Sunshine Cinema screening.

The Sunbox is a mini solar-powered cinema that includes:

a solar panel and battery
mini-projector
speakers
full instruction kit
bright yellow hard case

The complete Sunbox package enables users to turn any laptop or mobile phone into an instant communal media hub that is powered by the sun. The benefits of the Sunbox are numerous:

It’s light
It’s simple to use
It’s green
It can be used anywhere
It’s sturdy
It’s fun
It’s a powerful tool for good

Sunbox Ambassadors Network

What your SunBox contains

Sunbox Media Hub

#SunRoom

We are proud South African pioneers in the field of Virtual Reality (VR). We create cutting-edge VR content and we can also showcase these films at any Sunshine Cinema event inside our custom-built ‘Sun Room’. This fully immersive filmic experience has the power to transform the way people learn, grow and impact the world around them.