 Drum is a 2004 film based on the life of South African investigative journalist Henry Nxumalo , who worked for the popular Drum magazine , called " the first black lifestyle magazine in Africa . " It was director Zola Maseko 's first film and deals with the issues of apartheid and the forced removal of residents from Sophiatown . The film was originally to be a six @-@ part television series called Sophiatown Short Stories , though Maseko could not get the funding . The lead roles of Henry Nxumalo and Drum main photographer Jürgen Schadeberg were played by American actors Taye Diggs and Gabriel Mann , while most of the rest of the cast were South African actors . 
