Random Die Antwoord Made A Short Film, And Its Backstory Is Even More Absurd Than Its Plot (12 items)

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  (#9) One Voice In The Video Is Apparently An Alien Who 'Sings With His Mind'

  The beginning of the short opens in the dark with a deep, electronically processed voice saying the title of the short over and over. As the voice continues to say "Umshini Wam," it begins to speak slower and grows deeper.

  Even though the voice sounds like it's being run through an effects generator, according to both Ninja and Korine, it actually belongs to an alien. Ninja told Vice, "It's the alien. You know, the big alien with the eyes that shoots rays of light. It's singing with its f*cking mind." Korine agreed, saying that the alien was "born screwed." 

   

   
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  (#3) Locals Were Unbothered By The Excessive Use Of Side Arms

  While the short is set in South Africa, it was filmed near Korine's home in Nashville, Tennessee. Multiple scenes in the movie show Ninja and Yolandi brandishing side arms (an Uzi and "a Glock with an extended neck"), and while you might think it would freak out the locals to see two tatted up zef maniacs firing rounds in a river bed and in front of a restaurant, Korine said people were cool with it: 

  Everyone [in Nashville] was really accommodating. Ninja and Yolandi would walk around with those Uzis and everyone was really relaxed about it for some reason. Maybe because everyone here has [side arms].
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  (#2) Ninja Claims Any 'Tenderness' Between Him And Yolandi Was Forced By Korine

  Aside from showing off their South African zef sensibilities, Umshini Wam presents its two stars as having genuine affection for one another. It's no secret that Ninja and Yolandi were in a relationship at one point and that they even have a child together, but that relationship tends to be left out of their overall presentation and stage personas.

  While speaking with Vice, Ninja claimed Harmony Korine forced him and Yolandi to show tenderness to one another on camera. "I had to force them to do it," Korine said in response. "They were very apprehensive at first, but then they realized it was the right thing to do and they just went for it."
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  (#8) 'Umshini Wam' Was Meant To Be A Music Video

  Prior to committing to making a short film about their ascension to stardom, the duo simply wanted to make a music video. While speaking with Dave Navarro for Interview, Ninja explained the group was in pre-production for the video, but when Interscope told them they had to ask for a budget from the label rather than pay for it themselves, the duo scrapped their initial idea.

  Ninja says that this confrontation was the first step in the duo deciding to leave the major label. He told Navarro:

  Interscope just said 'No, you can’t pay for your own video.' We’re like, 'What?' They’re like, 'Can you send us the script for approval?' That was the beginning of the end. 
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  (#4) Korine Claimed It Was Filmed On 15 Continents

  In the dual worlds of Die Antwoord and Harmony Korine, nothing is as it seems. While presenting the short film via pre-recorded video, Korine claimed that the short took years to make and that production took them all around the world. The director told audiences: 

  We made this movie across 15 continents and over a couple of years and a few million dollars and in the end it was all worth it. I won’t give away too much other than to say I’m really excited you’re there, I wish I was there, I hope you enjoy this and I’ll talk to you very, very soon.

   
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  (#12) It May Be An Adaptation Of Bonnie And Clyde

  1967's Bonnie and Clyde follows the titular dust bowl gangsters as they grow from small-time crooks into a pair of the most famous lawbreakers of the 20th century. Umshini Wam follows the same narrative structure, minus the nihilistic ending of Bonnie and Clyde. 

  Ninja, like Clyde Barrow, wants to see his name in lights. He believes he's going to be the most famous rapper in the world, but in order to do that the pair have to get "real." In just 15 minutes, Ninja and Yolandi get side arms, commit grand theft wheelchair, and slay a racist business owner. While they don't become famous, they do transform from wannabes to real gangsters.

   

   

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