South Africa Comes of Age

6:00 AM PDT 5/8/2012 by Georg Szalai , Tim Appelo

Diverse locations, low costs and cash rebates have transformed the once-troubled region into a major force on the global film scene.

In February, when the sci-fi hit Chronicle led the U.S. weekend box office, soon followed by the Denzel Washington-Ryan Reynolds thriller Safe House, few viewers realized that both were made in South Africa -- a nation that has emerged from the twilight of apartheid to an increasingly brilliant film and TV future.