( CNN ) -- Arcade game-inspired fashionistas mixing with heavy metal bands grinding out tunes on street corners sounds like a scene you might find in New York 's trendier locales . But this is South Africa -- a country with a young population and a thriving underground youth culture . Last year , Swedish filmmakers Teddy Goitom and Benjamin Taft traveled to Cape Town and Johannesburg in search of a different scene , one which steered clear of the `` media stereotypes of violence , AIDS and safaris . '' The result is `` Stocktown X : South Africa , '' an uplifting and colorful 30-minute documentary which gives a snapshot of the exciting youth scene in some of Cape Town and Johannesburg 's poorest districts . Here , you 'll find artists and designers , musicians and photographers , all making their mark on the community and beyond , fashioning an identity for themselves through the things they create , says Goitom . `` I hope this film is an eye-opener to the stuff happening here , despite media reports of what is going on , '' Goitom said . He and Taft meet heavy-metal band Ree-Burth who play sessions to small , but highly appreciative crowds from a backyard in Pimville , Soweto , and Gazelle , an electro-pop band from Cape Town . Next , they drop in on the creators of fashion brand 2Bop , which designs street-wear inspired by 1980s arcade games such as Nintendo 's `` Street Fighter , '' before catching up with Kepi Mngomezulu , founder of the Soweto-based `` Smarteez '' fashion collective . `` Our styles vary from person to person depending on how we absorb what inspires us . So we have different fashion icons , but the style definitely has a common thread giving an overall Smarteez aesthetic , '' Mngomezulu said . He says the street culture vibe is `` very unpredictable and evolving rapidly '' because people are realizing how self-expression can be used `` as a weapon to shoot your voice for the world to hear . '' Smarteez , and other street culture movements , are giving voice to a new generation , Mngomezulu said . `` Day by day the youth of South Africa -- irrespective of their backgrounds and cultural differences -- are starting to take awareness in what 's happening in the world , '' he said . `` They are starting to take a stand by voicing their opinions literally , or by other means of expression . '' Goitom agrees , saying that the people he met while filming were incredibly well-informed about the wider social and political world . Stocktown X : South Africa is the latest in a series of documentaries in which Goitom and Taft have explored underground urban music scenes in Japan , Australia and Brazil and the United States . He hopes this latest film , which last week premiered at the CinemAfrica film festival in Sweden will , in some small way , encourage young people outside Africa to look in on the continent 's growing pool of creative talent .
New York showcases the sights and sounds of South Africa 's youth scene . Stocktown Johannesburg : South Africa celebrates Cape Town and Johannesburg 's young people . We want to reveal the thriving urban culture away from media stereotypes .