Duma

Duma (2005) is a family adventure directed by Carroll Ballard, filmed on location in South Africa, and available to watch online on iFILM. Twelve-year-old Xan has raised a cheetah from a cub — but the animal is growing up, and Xan knows he has to take it back to the wild before it's too late.

The journey covers hundreds of kilometers across the South African bush: flooded rivers, crocodiles, open savanna with no roads. Along the way Xan crosses paths with Ripkuna, a wandering stranger who sees the cheetah as a payday. Alex Michaeletos plays Xan with a quietness that feels earned rather than coached, and the landscapes filmed in the Northwest Province do half the storytelling on their own.

Carroll Ballard directed The Black Stallion (1979) and Fly Away Home (1996) — films where the relationship between a child and an animal carries the full emotional weight. Duma follows the same tradition: unhurried, shot in real terrain, and free of the contrivances that usually flatten this kind of story. Stream Duma (2005) online on iFILM.