By:
Tshi Malatji
All images sourced from the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival
“And She Didn’t Die” is not an objective and neutral media film that discursively balances accounts of Luaretta’s life. It is a discussion of memory between a daughter and her mother taking place through film. It is a personal film about political revolutionary turned feminist writer, Lauretta Ngcobo, directed by her daughter Kethiwe Ngcobo.
The film combines re-enactments of Kethiwe’s life, excerpts from her literature and present-day recollections of her life. This non-linear format presents Lauretta Ngcobo as a timeless influence over feminist activism and literature, connecting generations of her family in time.
THE RECREATION OF LAURETTA
The form of the film is its most notable aspect, due to how it displays historical events alongside present-day perspectives. The main narrative of the past is Luaretta meeting Pan-African revolutionary Abednego Ngcobo and participating in political resistance against the apartheid state as an envoy while Abednego was imprisoned. This storyline is shown through dramatic re-enactment, which subverts the expectation of cinema verite within the traditional documentary style.
While this compromises on the authenticity of the material, it portrays the scene and environment for an audience, visually depicting events where no footage is available. This allows the film to tell the story of women’s role in the resistance against apartheid where much of this documentation is lost or does not exist.
These fiction-coded elements are supported by the testimony of people who knew Lauretta, who deliver second-hand accounts of her philosophies and way-of-life. The interviews are certainly from the perspective of people who have the interest in portraying the best light of Lauretta, but the film does not shy away from being honest about its agenda to recreate Lauraetta’s story from a limited, but impactful perspective.
Documentaries are expected to depict themselves truthfully, to display its characters, locations and events as they are. But, there is a challenge in Lauretta’s case, and largely within the history of women freedom fighters, where the footage does not exist to do this. Rather than present what-is, this film needs to create and recreate its subject.
Usually, depiction is a balance of construction and deconstruction where a filmmaker delicately weaves a narrative from among the source material they have access to. But, in this case, Lauretta’s material exists in memory and so the film sources from nostalgia, reminiscence and remembrance. We are aware in the film that Lauretta is formed and reformed through the lens of her daughter.
Archival image of Lauretta and Abednego Ncgobo
WRITING OUR OWN STORY
The documentary shows Lauretta’s journey into exile, spending decades of her life disconnected from her roots and loved ones. In this time, she recounts how unfulfilling her stay in Britain is compared to South Africa, a place she has never forgotten. What she does is writing about home, in a way that depicts the persecution of Black women by the apartheid government and the ways in which Black women resist.
We also watch recent footage of Lauretta herself, where she plays a role in her own depiction. We meet a lively and candid woman, whose remarkable and renowned achievements have not compromised her humility. She also displays her knowledge of culture, liberation, and family signifying herself as wise and guiding.
This recent Lauretta seems deeply connected to the historical Lauretta, who was trusted to pass on notes to freedom fighters. She has always been a sort of messenger and conveyor of liberatory information. Unsurprisingly, Lauretta became a prolific feminist writer whose literature foregrounds black South African women, a feat which was uncommon for her time.
So, Lauretta writes herself into history and into the present. She writes herself into South Africa. She writes herself into influence. Apart from memory, this film is about the ways in which we tell our own stories, which carries into the very form of the film.
A HISTORY FROM MEMORY
And She Didn’t Die is more than a documentary, it is an act of reclamation. By weaving together re-enactments, personal testimonies, and Lauretta Ngcobo’s own words, the film constructs a portrait that is as much about memory as it is about history. In doing so, it challenges conventional documentary norms, embracing subjectivity as a necessary lens through which to tell the stories of women whose lives have been marginalized or erased from official records.
The film’s strength lies in its refusal to feign neutrality. Instead, it openly acknowledges its role as a daughter’s tribute, a deliberate act of preservation. Through Kethiwe Ngcobo’s direction, Lauretta emerges not just as a historical figure but as a living influence where her legacy is carried forward through literature, family, and the ongoing struggle for liberation. The blending of past and present underscores how history is not static but continuously reinterpreted, especially by those who inherit its silences.
Ultimately, And She Didn’t Die is a testament to the power of storytelling as resistance. Lauretta Ngcobo wrote herself into existence when archives failed her, and now, through this film, her story is told again. In a world where women’s contributions are often sidelined, the documentary stands as both an act of love and defiance, proving that some narratives refuse to be buried. They persist, they inspire, and like Lauretta, they do not die.
This review emanates from the Talent Press programme, an initiative of Talents Durban in collaboration with the Durban FilmMart Institute and FIPRESCI. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author (Tshi Malatji) and cannot be considered as constituting an official position of the organisers.
