The tagline for Sew The Winter To My Skin, a new film by South African director Jahmil X.T. Qubeka—One man's bandit is another man's champion—frames the essential question at the heart of the story. Distinctly South African in flavor, but universal in its themes is what drew Qubeka to reimagine the story of John Kepe, a legendary outlaw of the early days of apartheid.

"I chose the legend of John Kepe—for me, it was a great canvas for grappling with humanity and all its contradictions," he says. "It allows me to take the archetypes and mess with them."

The film made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and it's the second movie the South African filmmaker has premiered at TIFF. In 2013, his film Of Good Report screened there after it was briefly banned by the South African Film & Publications Board, and withdrawn from the Durban International Film Festival. Qubeka is often dubbed "controversial" because of the blow back, but it's not a label he identifies with. "It's not something I court." Despite the "there is no bad publicity" adage, he says the bad buzz that followed Of Good Report caused more harm than good. In the end, it's just about making movies. "I don't concern myself with overall conclusions," he says. "The minute an audience sees something, it becomes theirs. I consider myself an entertainer."

The story of Sew The Winter To My Skin takes place in the 1950s, not long after the all-white National Party gained power and apartheid became an entrenched system. It covers the last chase of the white Afrikaner sheep ranchers as they close in on the bandit who stole from their flocks to give to the people who were dubbed "natives" in the local press.