Maleka stars in 'Future Tense', a South African-Australian science fiction drama that had its world premiere at the festival.
Actor and executive producer Lawrence Maleka. Picture: Instagram
South African actor and executive producer Lawrence Maleka has made his international film festival debut at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
The 51st edition of the festival is taking place across venues in Toronto, Canada until 20 September 2026.
Maleka stars in Future Tense, a South African-Australian science fiction drama that had its world premiere at TIFF as part of the festival’s Centrepiece programme.
Directed by Jenna Cato Bass, the film stars Maleka as Lwando alongside Kristen Raath as Tara and Qondiswa James.
Set in a near-future Cape Town facing climate collapse, Future Tense follows a couple who are given the opportunity to travel back to 1647, before colonisation.
What begins as an opportunity to escape their circumstances becomes more complicated when Lwando realises he may be able to change the course of history.
International recognition
Maleka, who also serves as an executive producer on the film, told The Citizen that he is still in awe of the response to the film.
“The movie and the incredible recognition that it’s getting around the world is still kind of surreal. It’s humbling. It’s validation. It’s an incredible feeling to have our movie recognised at the Toronto International Film Festival,” he said.
He said the response reflected the work that went into making the film and the team behind it.
“The amount of hard work that went into making the movie, the tireless hours spent, is just testament to what we as a continent, and more so as South Africa, has to offer in terms of storytelling and craft,” he said.
Maleka said the response also came with a responsibility as he looks to continue working in film production.
“We find ourselves with an immense responsibility in ensuring that these aren’t just words, this isn’t just a recognition, this isn’t just a one-time thing that we do. We hope to replicate this over and over again,” he said.
‘This is the next phase of my professional career’
Maleka said working as part of the executive producer team gave him the opportunity to collaborate with people from different parts of the world.
“I worked with an incredible team. We’ve just had an incredible team of collaborators from all over the world. Australia, New York, just coming together and having people that believe in the project,” he said.
He said the experience had also made him even more excited about future projects.
“We are excited about the prospects of what we can achieve as a production house, the kinds of shows that we wanna tell, the engagements that we wanna have with the audience,” he said.
“We’ve had a lot of talks about people who are interested in what we have to offer, and the kind of programming that we’d like to go into is something that we are really, really excited about, myself included. This is the next phase of my professional career.”
