Ivy is a beautician running her own successful business. Year in, year out, she makes the rich, mostly Jewish ‘madams’ in Johannesburg look and feel great. She shares the most intimate details of their lives. She gossips with them, cares about them, and gives them sound advice. To her clients, she is the best therapist around—rejuvenating the body and the spirit. But Ivy is no hollow sounding board. Being her client is to take on Ivy herself—her views, her knowledge, her life. She breaks down racial and social boundaries and allows these women of financial substance a rare and real insight into her life in Alexandria. Hot Wax is an intimate, heart-warming documentary where bridges are crossed and deep friendships forged under the guise of a superficial quest for beauty.

Volume 1 of Real Stories from a Free South Africa, a 5 video series developed and commissioned by SABC 1 and supported by South Africa’s National Film and Video Foundation:

• Volume 1: Hot Wax
• Volume 2: Cinderella of the Cape Flats
• Volume 3: Belonging
• Volume 4: Umgidi
• Volume 5: Nabantwa Bam’