I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Awesome! Its good to see that there are many more people like me here who've struggled with identifying the name of the movie they've loved and have vivid images of, years after they have watched it. I must have watched it about 19 years ago as a kid, and i remember crying over it, feeling scared and finally happy that the boy and his dog made it.Was there a stalking hyena in this movie? The hyena scenes are still so embedded in my head and i think those parts were the most fear inducing for me. I searched all over the net for a movie with a kid and a stalking hyena-0 results. Then i began to think may be i was mistaking the gods must be crazy -2 for this movie.I loved the movie, purely for it's sense of adventure and it's ability to invoke so many emotions in a 7 year old. Even though i had a series of nightmares after the movie for a few days, I remember thinking i should be like him, strong and brave. Totally recommend it. The fact that so many of us still remember the movie, even though we didn't remember it's name and made the efforts to figure it out, speaks for the movie.

I can't believe I've finally found others that have seen this excellent movie. Like almost everyone else here, I saw it as a B-movie feature when I was nine years old, and no, I cannot remember what the other film was! I was blown away by this, as was the rest of my family and I have been searching the internet for ages for any other references to it. I too, thought it was an Australian film and the images that so many of you remember, such as the leaflet drop and the ostrich egg still make me shiver when I think of them. I have never seen this film on any British television channel but as the title had been changed, I would not have noticed it in the TV listings as I had forgotten the boy's name. I'll be looking to buy a copy to show to my son and my husband and maybe I'll write to the TV companies in the hope that they will show it again soon. A truly memorable film that definitely deserves a wider audience!

I have just finished watching the film "Duma" on one of the movies channels on Homechoice in the UK and throughout kept having flashes of a film I half remembered which I saw as a kid. At first I thought "Duma" must be a remake but there were too many deviations.After a phone call to South Africa and a lot of arguing my Mother reminded me that as a kid we saw a movie called "Dirkie" at the drive-in in Joh'burg. I wasn't even at school and she has never yet managed to remember both plot and title. I was sure she was wrong. I'd never heard of "Dirkie" and then I looked up the title on the Internet and had a great time reading all the comments. I too remember this poor kid being chased by ostriches and getting stung by a scorpion. And walking for ever through the sand. Were the chapped lips and mouth that was stuck together the reason there was so little dialogue? Or was it that the boy was Afrikaans-speaking and the movie was being sold outside of SA?So if you want to watch something similar (or perhaps you're a home-sick South African sitting in a freezing cold London) I recommend "Duma". It is a kid's movie but very touching. I think I'll have to find an excuse to watch it again.

I'm amazed that this is a real movie. I was almost certain it was a child's hallucination. Or perhaps a real movie made by hippies on lsd.I was somewhat frightened that it was an allegorical dream I was supposed to be applying to my life. I really need to watch this movie again. Do they carry it in video stores? I also thought it was Australian. Does the leading man have an oz sound to him? Also...was there a top hat or a bowler's hat or something? I won't know until I can finally see it again! We should form a club of those disturbed by Dirkie. Dirkie's kids.!