Lucky (2011)

Two people with little in common become a family of sorts in this emotional drama from filmmaker Avie Luthra. Lucky (Sihle Dlamini) is a ten-year-old South African boy whose nickname is a grim irony -- his mother has died, his dad is missing, and he's been diagnosed with AIDS. While Lucky has an uncle in Durban, Jabulani (James Ngcob) isn't especially interested in looking after the boy and has already spent the money earmarked for Lucky's education on himself. Lucky has a cassette that his mother recorded for him shortly ... Read More

Two people with little in common become a family of sorts in this emotional drama from filmmaker Avie Luthra. Lucky (Sihle Dlamini) is a ten-year-old South African boy whose nickname is a grim irony -- his mother has died, his dad is missing, and he's been diagnosed with AIDS. While Lucky has an uncle in Durban, Jabulani (James Ngcob) isn't especially interested in looking after the boy and has already spent the money earmarked for Lucky's education on himself. Lucky has a cassette that his mother recorded for him shortly before she died, but he doesn't have a machine to play it; one of his uncle's neighbors, an elderly woman named Padma (Jayashree Basavaraj), has a tape player, but when he tries to sneak into her house to use it, she responds by chasing him out with a broom and hurling racial epithets at him. Lucky and Padma don't much care for one another, but when he has nowhere to go and she learns she can receive payment from the government for taking in a child with AIDS, she grudging agrees to look after him and let him sleep on her porch. In time, Lucky and Padma begin to understand one another and a close bond forms between them, despite Jabulani's interference, and they set out to find the father Lucky believes is still alive. Lucky received its North American premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. Mark Deming, Rovi Read Less