Director's Works
Vimba! pt 1 Monde
Monde is a Johannesburg-based writer and director devoted to crafting precise, deeply human characters through a genre-bending approach to storytelling. His distinctive style has earned him a seat in the director’s chair for brands and artists across South Africa, London, Paris, and the US. Fascinated by complex, often imperfect characters, Monde’s work carries the irreverent spirit of a great South African joke—sharp, unexpected, and always rooted in truth. At his core, Monde is a collaborator, working with agencies, clients, and artists to shape diverse, magnetic narratives that resonate in a modern, global world. Monde is represented by Ocurens in London & Paris, by ROMA in Spain, Kidzfromnowhere in Tokyo/Shanghai and by SHIBOBO! In South Africa.
VIMBA! is a tongue-in-cheek fashion short film set in Dunusa, the thrift capital of Johannesburg, where bales of fast fashion from Europe and America are dumped and sold in an open market. The word Vimba, meaning “block” or “stop them!” is a call to action. It’s a common exclamation heard downtown in Jozi to rally a crowd to give chase after a chancer who might have relieved you of your phone or wallet. Shot on 16mm the day it snowed in Johannesburg for the first time in 11 years, the film embraces a gritty, desparate energy that seeps into the tone of the characters. VIMBA! stars Tamara Moeng (DAZED, i-D, CK, Adidas) as ‘Guppie’, a thrift connoisseur with an eye for uncut gems, and a strong enough stride to walk between the paradoxical lines of the City of Gold. After a morning toiling in the piles, she wins her bounty; a one-of-one piece by high fashion designer Khumo Morojele. Elated, Guppie strides uptown already wearing her badge of honour. VIMBA! takes a turn when our self-dubbed Robin Hood mistakes a disheveled man for a pickpocket. After patting down her pockets confirms the man has taken Guppie’s phone, she yells ‘Vimba!’ and a chorus of characters chase after the man. A beat later, a familiar buzz reveals the phone tucked safely in Guppie’s waistband. By the time she’s realised her mistake it’s too late, we watch her and leave the man to face the wrath of the Buster-Keaten-feeling crowd. Blur: “Gucci, Prada, Calvin Klein. She’s gotta have it all, come hell or high water…” A Guppie is a person whose social stock price rises and falls as they grapple for success and relevance in the City Of Gold. Hungry for status symbols, Guppies source high fashion pieces by thrifting, under the guise of altruism. The film clocks and pokes fun at this tendency without condemning it. Not a sermon or manifesto on the evils of fast fashion, VIMBA! rather celebrates the little swindles pulled to cut through the noise in a city where having a schtick is what pays. In a city where all do the dance and live for the spectacle, there are no heroes. Inspired by Dave Free’s Work For Calvin Klein/Cash App or Donald Glover’s “Do You Like Trees", VIMBA! Explores how culture has been a standing obsession of the fashion and art industries. Glover and Free’s abilities to wield culture like a switch-blade in order to elevate the mundane into darkly comedic windows filled with magnetic characters we hate to love, is spellbinding.